Piano Quintet No. 2 in A Major, Op. 81

Composer: DVOŘÁK, Antonín
  • Dvořák wrote his second piano quintet (scored for piano, violins, viola, and cello) in 1887. The piece consists of four movements:1
    1. Allegro ma non tanto
    2. Dumka. Andante con moto
      • A Dumka (“DOOM-kah”) is a folk song and poetry genre of Ukrainian origin which was used in Poland and Bohemia in the 19th Century. Musically, it features melismatic sections alternating suddenly with slow, mournful music or fast, lively material.2
    3. Scherzo (Furiant)
    4. Finale. Allegro
  • Fun fact – 15 years earlier, Dvořák’s first piano quintet (Op. 5) was scored for the same instrumental ensemble and written in the same key.
  • From the time of its premiere in 1888 onward, listeners loved Dvořák’s Piano Quintet No. 2. The piece would become one of the composer’s most frequently performed works.
  • Listen for – Dvořák’s characteristic inclusion of Slavonic music, including the Dumka in the 2nd movement and a Czech folk dance in the 3rd movement.
  • Dvořák dedicated Piano Quintet No. 2 to Dr. Bohdan Neureuther, a university professor known for his patronage of young musicians in Prague.3

Sources

  1. “Piano Quintet No. 2 in A major, Op. 81, B155,” Antonín Dvořák, accessed July 30, 2025, https://www.antonin-dvorak.cz/en/work/piano-quintet-no-2-in-a-major-op-81-b155/.
  2. Harvard Dictionary of Music, 4th ed., s.v. “Dumka” (Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press, 2003).
  3. “Piano Quintet No. 2 in A major, Op. 81, B155,” Antonín Dvořák.

Cut IDs

41869 45000 21679 23018 27337