Impromptu in D minor, B129
Opus number
–
Burghauser catalogue number
129
Date of composition
(?) January 1883
Premiere - date and place
(?) 23 November 1884, Plzeň
Premiere performer(s)
(?) Heřman Šikl
First edition
Humoristické listy (J. R. Vilímek), 1883 Prague
Duration
approx. 5 min.
Impromptu in D minor is an occasional piano piece which Dvořák wrote at the beginning of 1883 at the request of his friend Václav Juda Novotný for the music supplement of the magazine Humoristické listy. It is constructed upon three exalted themes prized for their masterful treatment, range of moods and strong emotional impact. The work features a symmetrical A-B-A form, while the thematically identical outer parts are reminiscent of some of Dvořák’s dumkas. After its publication in the magazine, the composition was forgotten and the autograph was long considered lost. It was only after many decades that it was later discovered in a private collection.