Hymn to the Most Holy Trinity, B82

Opus number

Burghauser catalogue number

82

Date of composition

14 August 1878

Premiere - date and place

(?) 15 August 1878, Sychrov

Premiere performer(s)

Alois Gobl, Antonin Dvorak

First edition

Sodalitas s. Cyrilli, 1911, Prague

Text

Liturgical Latin

Duration

approx. 2 min. 30 sec.

This short song for a middle-register voice and organ is based on a traditional liturgical text extolling the Holy Trinity. The main part of the piece is surprisingly in G minor, while the closing doxology is written in G major. Dvorak wrote the Hymn on 14 August 1878 while staying with his friend Alois Gobl at Sychrov. It was probably premiered the very next day in the Sychrov castle chapel, with Gobl performing the solo, accompanied by the composer at the organ. Dvorak’s manuscript of the Hymn was kept by Gobl until his death in 1907, after which it was transferred to the Dvorak family estate; it was published for the first time in 1911 as a supplement to the fifth issue of the music journal Cyril.