O Sanctissima, op. 19a, B95B, B95BBis

Opus number

19a

Burghauser catalogue number

95B, 95Bbis

Date of composition

6 September 1879

Premiere - date and place

8 September 1879, Sychrov

Premiere performer(s)

Anna Dvořáková, Alois Göbl, Antonín Dvořák

First edition

Emanuel Starý, 1883, Prague

Text

Liturgical Latin

Duration

approx. 3 min.

This duet for alto and baritone with organ accompaniment is written to the text of a Latin sacred song. Dvořák wrote it on one of his visits to Sychrov castle to see his friend Alois Göbl, to whom the duet is also dedicated. It was performed in the local castle chapel by Gobl and the composer’s wife Anna on Dvořák’s 38th birthday, on 8 September 1879. The duet was first published in 1883 in Prague by Emanuel Stary. Dvořák subsequently wrote an arrangement for soprano and alto in 1890 (B95Bbis), discovered during the 1970s.