Polonaise for Cello and Piano in A major, B94

Opus number

Burghauser catalogue number

94

Date of composition

June (?) 1879

Premiere - date and place

29 June 1879, Turnov

Premiere performer(s)

Alois Neruda, Antonín Dvořák

First edition

Universal Edition, 1925, Vienna

Main key

A major

Duration

approx. 8 min.

This short piece was written for a concert of Dvořák’s works held in Turnov on 29 June 1879. The main item on the programme was his Piano Trio in G minor, but all three players were also to perform as soloists. For cellist Alois Neruda, Dvořák wrote a polonaise with piano accompaniment. The whereabouts of the autograph is unknown, but the polonaise survived as a copy which was discovered in Vienna in 1925. The polonaise follows a symmetrical A–B–A form, and is preceded by a quasi-improvisational introduction. In terms of rhythm and expression, the main theme respects the traditional polonaise style; the middle section is more serene and lyrical in tone. Dvořák later used a variant of the polonaise’s thematic material in his String Quartet in C major.