String Quartet No. 12 (Dvořák)

For the London premiere of his New World symphony, Dvořák wrote: "As to my opinion I think that the influence of this country (it means the folk songs as are Negro, Indian, Irish etc.) is to be seen, and that this and all other works (written in America) differ very much from my other works as well as in couleur as in character,..."[9][10]

Dvořák's appreciation of African-American music is documented: Harry T. Burleigh, a baritone and later a composer, who knew Dvořák while a student at the National Conservatory, said, "I sang our Negro songs for him very often, and before he wrote his own themes, he filled himself with the spirit of the old Spirituals."[11] Dvořák said: "In the Negro melodies of America I discover all that is needed for a great and noble school of music."[12] For its presumed association with African-American music, the quartet was referred to with nicknames such as Negro and Nigger, before being called the American Quartet.[13][14] The older nicknames, without negative connotations for the composition, were abandoned after the 1950s.[15][16][17]

Dvořák wrote (in a letter he sent from America shortly after composing the quartet): "As for my new Symphony, the F major String Quartet and the Quintet (composed here in Spillville) – I should never have written these works 'just so' if I hadn't seen America."[18] Listeners have tried to identify specific American motifs in the quartet. Some have claimed that the theme of the second movement is based on a Negro spiritual, or perhaps on a Kickapoo Indian tune, which Dvořák heard during his sojourn at Spillville.[19]

A characteristic, unifying element throughout the quartet is the use of the pentatonic scale. This scale gives the whole quartet its open, simple character, a character that is frequently identified with American folk music. However, the pentatonic scale is common in many ethnic musics worldwide, and Dvořák had composed pentatonic music, being familiar with such Slavonic folk music examples, before coming to America.[20]

Specific American influences have been doubted: "In fact the only American thing about the work is that it was written there," writes Paul Griffiths.[21] "The specific American qualities of the so-called "American" Quartet are not easily identifiable, writes Lucy Miller, "...Better to look upon the subtitle as simply one assigned because of its composition during Dvořák's American tour."[22]

Dvořák's transcription of the song of a bird that he believed to be a scarlet tanager (top) and the appearance of the song in the third movement of the quartet. The identification of this bird as a scarlet tanager is questionable.

Some have heard suggestions of a locomotive in the last movement, recalling Dvořák's love of railroads.[23]

Dvořák quoted in the third movement, measures 21-24, a bird that he believed was a scarlet tanager, an American songbird. The song appears as a high, interrupting strain in the first violin part.[24] Dvořák was annoyed by this bird's insistent chattering, and transcribed its song in his notebook. American ornithologist Ted Floyd showed in 2016 that the bird quoted by Dvořák likely was not a scarlet tanager; instead, the bird was probably a red-eyed vireo, another American songbird.[25]

The opening theme of the quartet is purely pentatonic, played by the viola, with a rippling F major chord in the accompanying instruments. This same F major chord continues without harmonic change throughout the first 12 measures of the piece. The movement then goes into a bridge, developing harmonically, but still with the open, triadic sense of openness and simplicity.

The second theme, in A major, is also primarily pentatonic, but ornamented with melismatic elements reminiscent of Gypsy or Czech music. The movement moves to a development section that is much denser harmonically and much more dramatic in tempo and color.

The development ends with a fugato section that leads into the recapitulation.

After the first theme is restated in the recapitulation, there is a cello solo that bridges to the second theme.

The theme of the second movement is the one that interpreters have most tried to associate with a Negro spiritual or with an American Indian tune. The simple melody, with the pulsing accompaniment in second violin and viola, does indeed recall spirituals or Indian ritual music. It is written using the same pentatonic scale as the first movement, but in the minor (D minor) rather than the major. The theme is introduced in the first violin, and repeated in the cello. Dvořák develops this thematic material in an extended middle section, then repeats the theme in the cello with an even thinner accompaniment that is alternately bowed and pizzicato.

The third movement is a variant of the traditional scherzo. It has the form ABABA: the A section is a sprightly, somewhat quirky tune, full of off-beats and cross-rhythms. High in the first violin there appears the song of a bird the composer believed to be a scarlet tanager; however, the song was likely not that of the tanager.[25]

The B section is actually a variation of the main scherzo theme, played in minor, at half tempo, and more lyrical. In its first appearance it is a legato line, while in the second appearance the lyrical theme is played in triplets, giving it a more pulsing character.

The final movement is in a traditional rondo form, ABACABA. Again, the main melody is pentatonic.

The B section is more lyrical, but continues in the spirit of the first theme.

The C section is a chorale theme.