When Dvořák suddenly became internationally famous in 1878 with his Slavonic Dances, he received, among other things, a request for a new string quartet from Jean Becker, the first violinist of the renowned Florentine Quartet. The composer promptly began working in December 1878 and was able to complete the new piece three months later. Dvořák complied in a special way with the wish for a composition in “Slavonic style”: each of the four movements is informed by melodies and rhythms in the style of Czech folk dances and songs. Since then, opus 51 has not only ranked among the most important works in Dvořák’s “Slavonic period”, but also among the most popular in his chamber music oeuvre in general. Besides the first editions of the score and parts, all surviving autograph sources were consulted for this Henle Urtext edition.
G. Henle Publishers stands for Urtext sheet music of the highest quality. The Urtext editions not only provide the undistorted and authoritative musical text but are also aesthetically pleasing, optimised for practical use and extremely durable. And then there is the strong, distinctive blue profile: (almost) all of the Urtext editions are bound in the characteristic blue cardboard.
Musicians trust Henle's blue Urtext editions because they:
- provide an undistorted, reliable and authoritative musical text
- offer superb, aesthetically appealing music engraving
- are optimised for practical use (page turns, fingerings)
- are of high quality and durable (cover, paper, binding)
- contain a short preface that introduces the work (particularly useful for AMEB exams) in German, English and French, as well as explanatory footnotes for particularly interesting passages in the score
- contain a description of the sources, an evaluation of the sources, readings and a documentation of the corrections made (= "Critical Report") in German and English, and often also in French
