Dvorak, Concerto in B Minor Op. 104 for Cello and Piano (Barenreiter)

Concerto for Cello and Orchestra in B minor, Op. 104, is undoubtedly one of the most popular works from the worldwide cello repertoire, and it is the last composition by Dvorak (1841-1904) written in America during his three-year stay when he worked as the director of the National Conservatory of Music in New York (1892-1895). The composer was not particularly fond of the cello as a solo instrument because he was convinced it could only sound wonderful in the orchestra or chamber ensemble since only its-middle pitch was refined (as he once commented: ‘up there it mumbles and down there it rumbles’), yet it is interesting to note that he wrote this concerto for the cello, apiece sincerely and unreservedly admired by artists and audiences the world over. This title is a critical edition based on the composer’s manuscript and is part of the first Complete CriticalEdition of works by Antonin Dvorak. Only exceptionally does this edition use a more modern method of cello notation for direct transition from bass to treble clefs – in these cases the cello sounds the way it is written. For this edition the composer’s adaptation for piano was supplemented and revised by Karel Solc. The violoncello part is published in a revision by Ladislav Zelenka, former member of the famous Bohemian Quartet.