From Prussia with Love

Join the HSQ at their first concert of the 2018-2019 season as they explore two Czech masterworks, Antonín Dvořák’s “American” String Quartet, and Leoš Janáček’s “Intimate Letters.” Dvořák’s quartet, composed during a visit to the United States in 1893, overflows with joyous, folk-inspired melodies and imagery from his travels across the US and is one of the most cherished quartets in the repertoire. Leoš Janáček, known for his inventive, colorful harmonic language and declamatory style, spent the later part of his life infatuated with the much younger Kamila Stösslová. While the true depth of their relationship is unknown, over 700 letters between the two survive, and Janáček turns his passion for his muse into musical genius in the second string quartet, titled by the composer “Intimate Letters.” The work, meant to be a reflection of his relationship with Kamila, is described by the composer as, “…a work as if carved out of living flesh. I think that I won’t write a more profound or truer one.”

Leoš Janáček, String Quartet No. 2, “Intimate Letters” (1928)

Antonín Dvořák, String Quartet in F Major, Op. 96, “American” (1893)