1. Allegro ma non troppo
2. Dumka: Andante con moto — Vivace
3. Romanza: Andante con moto
4. Finale: Allegro assai

The nineteenth century saw a rise in political independence movements that were embraced by artists, such as the Czech nationalism movement which sought independence from Austro-Hungarian governance. Composers like Bedřich Smetana, and later Antonín Dvořák, would compose with Bohemian folk melodies and themes to convey Czech identity. Dvořák developed an internationally appealing skillset as a composer that led him to be the most important musical voice for Czech nationalism and a model for musical nationalism in general. 

In the 1870s, Dvořák was struggling in Prague as a provincial composer, but his fortunes and reputation improved when he won the vaunted Austrian Prize both in 1874 and 1877. Johannes Brahms took notice and became an important ally, setting him up with the publisher Simrock who commissioned the Op. 46 Slavonic Dances. With his Slavonic-themed works exploding in popularity, violinist Jean Becker of the Florentine Quartet commissioned Dvořák for a string quartet to match. Often bearing the nickname “Slavonic Quartet”, Dvořák’s String Quartet No. 10 of 1878 was dedicated to Becker.

The work embraces the challenge with many cultural references, and the opening movement initializes the mood, shining with a breezy bucolic contentment. The rhythmic lilt is reminiscent of a Bohemian polka, and the subtle shifts from major to minor hint at Eastern European music. 

The second movement is an elegiac dumka, a melancholic folk ballad closely tied to Slavic cultures. Dvořák composed often in this dumka style, and here the mournful call-and-response melody is supported by a strummed cello. An abrupt change in mood welcomes a vibrant scherzo, but the opening refrains return, that is, until the movement’s final Vivace bars.

The nocturnal Romanza is not specifically Slavonic but beholds Dvořák’s characteristic charm for a slow movement. The intimate beginning is transformed as pizzicato cello breathes playful life into the movement. The sunny finale is a rondo that draws from a tradition of Czech dance fiddle music, with playful diversions that include dark lyricism and a fiery fugue.

1. Molto moderato quasi lento – Allegro
2. Lento con molto sentimento
3. Allegro non troppo ma con fuoco

César Franck was a promising pianist but preferred the steady work as organist for Paris’ Basilica of Saint Clotilde, a post he held from the church’s 1856 opening until his death in 1890. He grew a reputation as a performer, improviser, and teacher, while also composing works that were often sacred and involved organ or choir.  

In 1871, Franck was among a group of composers who wanted to bolster patriotic feelings by establishing the Société nationale de musique to promote the music of French composers. Among his colleagues in the Société was Camille Saint-Saëns, who recommended Franck to fill the Paris Conservatoire’s vacant organ professor position in 1873.

Over time, his faculty and family relationships worsened as his teaching encroached into composition with a growing list of adoring pupils who influenced his work with feedback.  

One such student was composer Augusta Holmès whose beauty caused obsessive infatuation for both Franck and Saint-Saëns and motivated Franck’s 1879 Piano Quintet. Perhaps as a gesture to repair their deteriorating relationship, the quintet was dedicated to Saint-Saëns who begrudgingly sightread the work in its premiere. The romantic motivation was not lost on either the jealous Saint-Saëns or Franck’s wife, and both were open about their detestation of the work. Even if Franck’s reputation as a composer suffered with his peers and family, his student relationships helped establish his modern reputation with most of his memorable works coming in his final 15 years. 

The introduction alternates between a yearning string quartet and a gentle piano until the group combines for the swelling Allegro. Here, a second theme appears that is later recycled, binding the work in key moments. The Lento features delicate string melodies ushered by a rhythmic piano. A hallmark of Franck’s later style, his preoccupation with Wagnerian tonality is on display with frequent and exotic key changes colored by extensive chromaticism.

The finale’s tension is immediately established with a frenetic tremolo violin with foreboding bell tones coming from the piano. The tension develops into the movement’s principal themes and subject to development that is symphonic in scope. The movement reaches a climactic apex, with the final bars collapsing from emotional exhaustion.