I'm playing this in a quartet for ISSMA Ensemble Competition... This is an excellent reference for passages I'm not sure about. You do a beautiful job of balancing the harmonies that I can't usually hear in recordings. Thank you for posting it :)
Gorgeous colorful, rhythmic work---half Czech, half Iowa!! The Santa Fe chamber music festivel never plays this masterwork and crowd pleaser. I have to ask the artistic director WHY NOT???? Mmmm??
@TheSoundDepo I'm sorry because I didn't notice that I was able to talk with the musicians directly. I would like to say that more than a bad performance I was talking about some details that could be improved ;). I'm a double bass player and when I listen this recording I can't find a main instrument. I think that you should be more important in the quartet and the others must play "behind" you. Just and advice. Congratulations anyway because I'm listening this constantly :).
@neptuno92 String quartets aren't usually written in a "melody and accompaiment". Think of it more as a disscusion between four people. The first violin in fact SHOULDN'T be the primary voice all the time, because then the delicate balance is lost.
i agree with hjulian, i think the second violin is the best musician in this quartet, he plays with a lot of dynamic and spontaneity and he looks and sounds very relaxed
I will have to differ here, sorry! The VLA has a good INSTRUMENT but that doesn't mean he PLAYS good. I am a violist myself, from the beginning, so I am missing the more "raw" viola technique on this VLA, sorry! To me, the outstanding musician in this quartet is the 2nd VLN! Excellent accompaniment, excellent solos! Bravo! The VCL could have brought out more out of such a good instrument, loved the solos, though. The 1st VLN sounded tense but kept group together. All in all, great job!
awesome! I know there's also on youtube a version of a french clarinet quartet playnig the american quartet. it's weird but pretty good. interesting in fact because of the way they play this. they offer a different point of view. I think they are available on itunes. they are called quatuor anches hantées
I am starting it at my camp on Monday!! I am so excited.
I switched from the other quartet I was listening to a second ago to this one and OH MY WORD, such a difference...i mean, I didn't even realize on the last recording that this was even a energetic recording!
Haha oh dear...here come the many users of youtube who somehow take something as relaxing as dvorak and are able to turn it into a place to have a virtual fight.
Disagreed; "it's too fast" is an opinion, mine is this is a perfect tempo. "It's too fast" is also a fact, would you play Mahler's second symphony at quarter note = 208?
haha I was quoting some other disgruntled comments (hence the "quotation marks") I also think the tempo is pretty much perfect. It speeds up during the exciting parts and slows down during the expansive parts
I enjoyed this performance. We (The Phoenix String Quartet) play it at the same speed well. This is an exciting work with exceptional lyrical contrasts.
I think they did a fabulous job with it, however, and I too felt it was a little fast at first. But a lot of people take it this fast, and it's growing on me.
this is soooooo beautiful. i heard this on the LA KUSC classical radio station a while ago. it makes me feel all warm inside. my school quartet played this song
Where did you get this information? Dvorak was the director of the National Conservatory in NYC from 1892-1895. This school encouraged minorities to apply and waived tuition if the cost was out of reach. While there he became quite close to a black man named H.T. Burleigh whose singing inspired Dvorak to claim that Black Spiriturals were just as valid an art form as "classical" music. Dvorak was no racist, in fact he took a stand against racism in a time when it was not easy to do so.
I actually got it out of the oxford encyclopedias of music. Remember the 1890s was not a "politicallly correct" time in society. People who even weren't racist used the word "nigger" to describe black people back then. Dvorak named this quartet, the "Nigger" Quartet. It has been renaimed. Don't swallow everything your yuppie professors teach you. Think outside the box. It's just history my friend.
Aren't you "swallowing" what the "yuppie" Oxford Dictionary is telling you? I wrote a paper and lectured on Dvorak's time in America and on the American Quartet and Quintet, I looked over pages and pages of source material, letters, newspaper articles from the 1890s etc. and found no evidence of your claim. Is it possible? Yes, of course. You are correct that the 1890s was not a pc age, but who is doing the "swallowing" here?
You are doing the swallowing. Look at the full encyclopedia. Look up Dvorak, and his works. You'll find it. My oxford's were written in the 50s. maybe that's why you can't find it. The problem is, society has created an eggshell with this political correctness bullshit and swept a lot of history under the rug. It's truth.
Ok grandpa, I'll concede that he probably did use the word, though I never saw reference to it myself in the many stacks of source material I poured over, I guess I missed the Oxfords. I just think it is funny that you are chastising me for "swallowing" info from professors and you get your info from dusty Oxfords. "In my day, we walked 10 miles to school and our encyclopedias used the word nigger." Congratulations.
what's wrong? Am I not full enough of political bullshit for you? I'm 25 years old, I have been spoonfed by the modern system since as long as I can remember. But I believe our system is twice as bad now than it ever was. You should be able to percieve knowledge anyway you want, not just one way. You can learn a thing or two from history instead of sugarcoating it the whole time.
Oh yes, your "sources." The one reference from the 1950s. My info that I have pulled "out of my ass like the yuppie hippie political bullshitters do" goes back to 1893 to present day. Once you have read a bit more about it, get back to me. I'm no expert, but I feel that Dvorak was an enlightened human being and you just grasped onto a bit of sensationalism. Perhaps he did use the word, I don't know and you don't either. Either way, he was an extraordinary composer and humanist.
I'm not trying to degrade Dvorak in anyway by painting him as a racist or a bigot. All I am stating is what I have learned about him from studying and reading about him. I know he is one of the earlier composers who included African American styles and Native American styles in his music such as this quartet and as well as the New World Symphony. He is one of my favorite romantic period composers. I am not disagreeing with you in anyway, I am just stating a fact from his repertoire of music.
Another example is the vaudeville plays of the 30s. They were some of the most stereotypical musical plays that whites have created by todays standards. Though they created them not really for their hatred of blacks, but more for their inside love of the music of black Americans.
Dvorak himself did not refer to Opus 12 as his "Nigger Quartet". That name was used derisively by his American contemporaries, who didn't believe that African-Americans had anything worthwhile to contribute to classical music.
I am trying this piece by myself, just for something to work on. I am trying it on viola, and I really like this piece. You guys really capture it, and I've watched this video at least a million times!
Oh yeah? What kind of idiot says this piece of literature is easy?
There's no such thing as an easy piece, and if you say it's easy, you obviously haven't worked on it hard enough, saying that it sounded stupid if you played it!
Also saying you're not a good musician. They do not judge a piece by how easy or hard it is, but how well they can play it!
At first I thought this would've been played too fast like many other quartets play it.....but I think it turned out really well played. It's better than the other youtube versions I've heard....Bettter than the Strathcona string quartet. X
I loved this!
Maebius 1 month ago
I'm playing this in a quartet for ISSMA Ensemble Competition... This is an excellent reference for passages I'm not sure about. You do a beautiful job of balancing the harmonies that I can't usually hear in recordings. Thank you for posting it :)
XCcellist 1 month ago
I had to play this for camp during summer, it was such a fun and beautiful piece, but starting it is super hard :P (I play cello)
Kasuhaku 1 month ago
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MrHownl 1 month ago
Gorgeous colorful, rhythmic work---half Czech, half Iowa!! The Santa Fe chamber music festivel never plays this masterwork and crowd pleaser. I have to ask the artistic director WHY NOT???? Mmmm??
windstorm1000 2 months ago
Yeah, 6:32 is much better. Great 2nd violin solo.
Rafavr10 2 months ago
If they ever make a new Lewis and Clark movie, this HAS TO BE THE THEME SONG!
reesepieces321 2 months ago
@missdt08 REPRESENT! :)
bckm54 3 months ago
5:30 best part ever :D
MrHownl 3 months ago
I LOVE LOVE LOVE this piece! THANK YOU for youtubing it! Iit's AWESOME!
JDvorak2009 4 months ago 2
Awesome viola is awesome.
Wiizard22 4 months ago 2
your screen name is imbetterthanmost? well at least you are humble- id like to meet you in person- then we could see if thats true
JackofRoses87 5 months ago
i love 3:17 where they swap melodies.
ChoZoxKnightx 5 months ago
the violist is always a beast psht :P but seriously, this is wonderful! I can't wait to play this piece with my quartet!
Nakiki18 6 months ago
Oh how I love the viola.
Anya817 6 months ago 2
Great group balance and blending. This is a lovely performance!
azndaemon95 7 months ago
Lovely. Just a bit more of a dynamic contrast and it would be ace!
1993allende 7 months ago
@TheSoundDepo I'm sorry because I didn't notice that I was able to talk with the musicians directly. I would like to say that more than a bad performance I was talking about some details that could be improved ;). I'm a double bass player and when I listen this recording I can't find a main instrument. I think that you should be more important in the quartet and the others must play "behind" you. Just and advice. Congratulations anyway because I'm listening this constantly :).
neptuno92 8 months ago
@neptuno92 String quartets aren't usually written in a "melody and accompaiment". Think of it more as a disscusion between four people. The first violin in fact SHOULDN'T be the primary voice all the time, because then the delicate balance is lost.
principalbass 7 months ago 2
In my opinion is not a good performance of the first violin...
neptuno92 9 months ago
@neptuno92 Agreed. But it I couldn't do any better either lol
TheSoundDepo 8 months ago
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Listening to this sends a chill up my spine. Very beautiful indeed!
addict245 9 months ago
Listening ti this sends a chill up my spine. Very beautiful indeed!
addict245 9 months ago
Very nice!!!
iluvmusik16 11 months ago
6 people weren't American.
trackguy1 1 year ago 2
@trackguy1 you don't have to be american to appreciate Dvorak. Dvorak himself was Czech.
5pointer5 1 year ago
@5pointer5 It was a joke. Don't be so uptight about a comment on YouTube.
trackguy1 1 year ago 2
I wish they brought out the cello a little more, especially when she had the that awesome melody near the end
pokenintendo 1 year ago 2
My opinion is the same like VieChaya's and hjulian09's
japanspitzfan 1 year ago
i agree with hjulian, i think the second violin is the best musician in this quartet, he plays with a lot of dynamic and spontaneity and he looks and sounds very relaxed
VieChaya 1 year ago
: ) it's so american.
thrumymind 1 year ago
I will have to differ here, sorry! The VLA has a good INSTRUMENT but that doesn't mean he PLAYS good. I am a violist myself, from the beginning, so I am missing the more "raw" viola technique on this VLA, sorry! To me, the outstanding musician in this quartet is the 2nd VLN! Excellent accompaniment, excellent solos! Bravo! The VCL could have brought out more out of such a good instrument, loved the solos, though. The 1st VLN sounded tense but kept group together. All in all, great job!
hjulian09 1 year ago
because everyone knows that the viola is the best instrument eva!
Aryafire 1 year ago 15
@Aryafire AND Cello ;)
Kasuhaku 1 month ago
no one like my instrument ;( god save the cello :D
FedericoAndreas 1 year ago 4
the violist is amazing :))
orangekiss519 1 year ago
awesome! I know there's also on youtube a version of a french clarinet quartet playnig the american quartet. it's weird but pretty good. interesting in fact because of the way they play this. they offer a different point of view. I think they are available on itunes. they are called quatuor anches hantées
TheClarinetfan 1 year ago
eyyyyyyy viola!! :)
doublabatteries 1 year ago
wow!!! beautifully done! great job violist!
Calebnthill 1 year ago 13
@Calebnthill
Ditto!
cec98 1 year ago
Love it! My brother and and his friends played this, and it's just amazing.
kaylaaaxxrawr 1 year ago
I love it ( and i love playing it ) at 5: 32!!!
triBond151 1 year ago
I love this peice...just as of today:)
I am starting it at my camp on Monday!! I am so excited.
I switched from the other quartet I was listening to a second ago to this one and OH MY WORD, such a difference...i mean, I didn't even realize on the last recording that this was even a energetic recording!
triBond151 1 year ago
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triBond151 1 year ago
awesome peace of music !!!!
laadyyyy 1 year ago 3
definitely one of the most beautiful string quartets ever written.
wonderful job! that violist is giving me tingles all over
naget94 1 year ago
american quartet is prolly the best quartet music EVAH!!!
woodmaster413 1 year ago
Haha oh dear...here come the many users of youtube who somehow take something as relaxing as dvorak and are able to turn it into a place to have a virtual fight.
buhchidiot 1 year ago
"it's too fast" = "I can't play it that fast"
don't worry I think it sounds great
codycoderson 1 year ago
Disagreed; "it's too fast" is an opinion, mine is this is a perfect tempo. "It's too fast" is also a fact, would you play Mahler's second symphony at quarter note = 208?
But it does sound great.
Steroid0Strad 1 year ago
haha I was quoting some other disgruntled comments (hence the "quotation marks") I also think the tempo is pretty much perfect. It speeds up during the exciting parts and slows down during the expansive parts
codycoderson 1 year ago
Dvorak is my favorite composer. That's all I have to say. :)
samanthavillalobos 1 year ago 3
I enjoyed this performance. We (The Phoenix String Quartet) play it at the same speed well. This is an exciting work with exceptional lyrical contrasts.
creiter1101 2 years ago
it's absolutely too fast ...
camkiblue 2 years ago
@camkiblue
I think they did a fabulous job with it, however, and I too felt it was a little fast at first. But a lot of people take it this fast, and it's growing on me.
The Emerson String Quartet plays it faster, btw.
AlwaysReading2 2 years ago 2
You think what you want , but I prefer the version of the Hagen quartet .
camkiblue 2 years ago
mhmm, i agree. it IS kind of cool that they can play it so fast, but after a certain point, it loses musicality...
42x42x564 2 years ago
you think? but isn't that exciting? XD
shintee 1 year ago
love the violist
xmikeyyc 2 years ago
this is soooooo beautiful. i heard this on the LA KUSC classical radio station a while ago. it makes me feel all warm inside. my school quartet played this song
magneticmpokiman 2 years ago
I just discovered this piece. Beautiful music performed beautifully.
Lineberrys 2 years ago 2
Wow much better than when my quartet played it. Of course we are a high school group and they are far more advanced. they did a lovely job.
MissChristineDaae1 2 years ago
Bravo !!! really nice. thx for sharing
viola128 2 years ago
This is a fact that is offensive, not an offensive comment!
poonchop 2 years ago
did you know this was actually referred to by Dvorak as the "Nigger Quartet"?
gajda1984 2 years ago
Where did you get this information? Dvorak was the director of the National Conservatory in NYC from 1892-1895. This school encouraged minorities to apply and waived tuition if the cost was out of reach. While there he became quite close to a black man named H.T. Burleigh whose singing inspired Dvorak to claim that Black Spiriturals were just as valid an art form as "classical" music. Dvorak was no racist, in fact he took a stand against racism in a time when it was not easy to do so.
Unclescrot 2 years ago
I actually got it out of the oxford encyclopedias of music. Remember the 1890s was not a "politicallly correct" time in society. People who even weren't racist used the word "nigger" to describe black people back then. Dvorak named this quartet, the "Nigger" Quartet. It has been renaimed. Don't swallow everything your yuppie professors teach you. Think outside the box. It's just history my friend.
gajda1984 2 years ago
Aren't you "swallowing" what the "yuppie" Oxford Dictionary is telling you? I wrote a paper and lectured on Dvorak's time in America and on the American Quartet and Quintet, I looked over pages and pages of source material, letters, newspaper articles from the 1890s etc. and found no evidence of your claim. Is it possible? Yes, of course. You are correct that the 1890s was not a pc age, but who is doing the "swallowing" here?
Unclescrot 2 years ago
You are doing the swallowing. Look at the full encyclopedia. Look up Dvorak, and his works. You'll find it. My oxford's were written in the 50s. maybe that's why you can't find it. The problem is, society has created an eggshell with this political correctness bullshit and swept a lot of history under the rug. It's truth.
gajda1984 2 years ago
Ok grandpa, I'll concede that he probably did use the word, though I never saw reference to it myself in the many stacks of source material I poured over, I guess I missed the Oxfords. I just think it is funny that you are chastising me for "swallowing" info from professors and you get your info from dusty Oxfords. "In my day, we walked 10 miles to school and our encyclopedias used the word nigger." Congratulations.
Unclescrot 2 years ago
what's wrong? Am I not full enough of political bullshit for you? I'm 25 years old, I have been spoonfed by the modern system since as long as I can remember. But I believe our system is twice as bad now than it ever was. You should be able to percieve knowledge anyway you want, not just one way. You can learn a thing or two from history instead of sugarcoating it the whole time.
gajda1984 2 years ago
and i'm just saying, there are solid references where i got it. i didn't just pull it out of my ass like the yuppie hippie political bullshitters do.
gajda1984 2 years ago
Oh yes, your "sources." The one reference from the 1950s. My info that I have pulled "out of my ass like the yuppie hippie political bullshitters do" goes back to 1893 to present day. Once you have read a bit more about it, get back to me. I'm no expert, but I feel that Dvorak was an enlightened human being and you just grasped onto a bit of sensationalism. Perhaps he did use the word, I don't know and you don't either. Either way, he was an extraordinary composer and humanist.
Unclescrot 2 years ago
I'm not trying to degrade Dvorak in anyway by painting him as a racist or a bigot. All I am stating is what I have learned about him from studying and reading about him. I know he is one of the earlier composers who included African American styles and Native American styles in his music such as this quartet and as well as the New World Symphony. He is one of my favorite romantic period composers. I am not disagreeing with you in anyway, I am just stating a fact from his repertoire of music.
gajda1984 2 years ago
Another example is the vaudeville plays of the 30s. They were some of the most stereotypical musical plays that whites have created by todays standards. Though they created them not really for their hatred of blacks, but more for their inside love of the music of black Americans.
gajda1984 2 years ago
Dvorak himself did not refer to Opus 12 as his "Nigger Quartet". That name was used derisively by his American contemporaries, who didn't believe that African-Americans had anything worthwhile to contribute to classical music.
platero55 2 years ago 2
well you could be right. i am just saying that I did see it in a major encyclopedia used by music student's. though you could be right.
gajda1984 2 years ago
At 2:55 (( I think )) was the most obvious the tuning was off, but still...
I can't stop watching this video & the violist.
Soooo amazing.
llPOCKYll 2 years ago
the viola and cello over play and cover up the 1st violin...one of the best 2nd violins i've ever seen...some of the tunning is off...ugh
thelilshortman 2 years ago
6:33のVn.Ⅱのソロが大好きです^^
gsfolte 2 years ago
I am trying this piece by myself, just for something to work on. I am trying it on viola, and I really like this piece. You guys really capture it, and I've watched this video at least a million times!
kazimera 2 years ago 3
viola power!
DSofthemooon 2 years ago 3
the violist is beast! beautifully done! :)
jadorejoycey 2 years ago 39
@jadorejoycey Yeah, you said it buddy:D
HahnPotterishFowlnut 10 months ago
I love this piece. This ensemble plays very well together.
ljquillen 2 years ago
This comment has received too many negative votes show
Wow! Way to help the middle schooler out, AzNDum-ur kind of a pompous little prick aren't ya
what do you play....viola?
sou1tabme 2 years ago
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AzNDuM 2 years ago
Oh yeah? What kind of idiot says this piece of literature is easy?
There's no such thing as an easy piece, and if you say it's easy, you obviously haven't worked on it hard enough, saying that it sounded stupid if you played it!
Also saying you're not a good musician. They do not judge a piece by how easy or hard it is, but how well they can play it!
jameshlee94 2 years ago
Oh, and dont forget that he called it a song...
shinjitsu85 2 years ago
It's not too bad, each part by itself, but if you try playing them all together, it's much more difficult.
dpap314 2 years ago
I have to play this for AFA and im only in middle school. :P im first violin and its kickin ma butt but i got the first half of it!
MelloMorello 2 years ago 4
Generaly this group does very well. But I would like to see a better contrast in dynamics. There interpretation is awesome though.
Strad615 2 years ago 14
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triBond151 1 year ago
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triBond151 1 year ago
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triBond151 1 year ago
@Strad615 I agree they were kind of loud on parts that probably should have been much quiter, otherwise they were great!
Imbetterthanmost 8 months ago
Such an energetic group, completly suits the peice.
Heyjohn843 2 years ago 4
GENIAL !!!!
yannfab 2 years ago 2
I keep imagine that I'm in the US whenever I listen to this!
BPFanatico 3 years ago 6
my quartet plays this piece :D beautifuuullll
shizzelated777 3 years ago 3
Such warmth, such romance, passion!Love the bowings.
gawgul 3 years ago 2
...so beautiful!!!!
giueensax 3 years ago 3
I really love this piece♥
Viola312 3 years ago 3
At first I thought this would've been played too fast like many other quartets play it.....but I think it turned out really well played. It's better than the other youtube versions I've heard....Bettter than the Strathcona string quartet. X
frederickos1 3 years ago 2
very nice
goldelite8 3 years ago 3
at first i thought the tempo was a bit fast but i actually really like it. this is definitely the best i've heard so far.
crazyforallthat 3 years ago 3
this has got to be the best version i've heard.
dkdavey 3 years ago 3
love itttt
ninafro 3 years ago 5
very nice performance!
marta1386 3 years ago 5