Master Class: Dvořák Cello Concerto in B minor, Op. 104, Mvt. 1

This video is fromthe 1960 Pablo Casals masterclass at the Universsity of California, Berkley. .Joanna deKeyser is the student cellist.

Antonín Dvořák’s time in the United States (1892 to 1895) was facilitated by Mrs. Jeanette B. Thurber, a passionate advocate for an American musical identity. She established the National Conservatory of Music in New York which eventually became the Juilliard School, and approached Dvořák to be the first director. He was drawn to this opportunity to come to the United States, both by the attractive salary and his interest in integrating American folk music into his compositions. During his stay in America, Dvořák composed several significant works, including String Quartet in F Major, Op.96, ” the American”; Symphony No. 9; and the majority of his Cello Concerto. His friend, cellist Hanus Wihan, had long requested a concerto, but the final push came after Dvorak heard Victor Herbert’s Cello Concerto No. 2 performed by Herbert and the New York Philharmonic. Inspired by this performance, Dvořák began writing his own concerto shortly before returning to Bohemia. During composition, he learned of the serious illness of his sister-in-law, Josefina Kaunitzová, with whom he had been in love years earlier. As a tribute, he revised the ending of the concerto to express his grief and incorporated a reference to her favorite song, “Leave me Alone”.