Cello Concerto in B Minor

A noble and expansive pillar of the cello repertoire, Dvořák’s Cello Concerto is infused with the homesickness he had harboured since leaving his native Bohemia. He composed the Concerto in 1894 during his third and final year as director of the National Conservatory of Music in New York. Inspiration flowed from multiple sources, including the Second Cello Concerto of Victor Herbert, which showed Dvořák how to effectively balance a cello soloist and orchestra. Dvořák was anticipating a happy and definitive return to his homeland, and he invoked the spirit of Czech folk music, especially in the finale. Yet happiness would be tempered by personal news. After a sombre first movement marked by two potent and memorable themes, the “Adagio” is a tribute to Josefina Kaunitzová, Dvořák’s sister-in-law (and a former piano student) who had become seriously ill. It features a quotation of his own song, “Lasst mich allein” (“Leave Me Alone”), a special favourite of Josefina’s. While writing the dance-like finale, Dvořák learned of her death and added a contemplative coda as a memorial. “The finale closes gradually diminuendo, like a sigh,” he wrote, “then swells again, and the last bars are taken up by the orchestra and the whole concludes in stormy mood.” When Brighton-born cellist Leo Stern gave the 1896 premiere in London under the composer’s baton, it was an immediate success.