O Sanctissima, op. 19a, B95B
Opus number
19a
Burghauser catalogue number
95B, 95bis
Date of composition
6 September 1879
Premiere - date and place
8 September 1879, Sychrov
Premiere performer(s)
Anna Dvorakova, Alois Gobl, Antonin Dvorak
First edition
Emanuel Stary, 1883, Praha
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. Dvorak wrote it on one of his visits to Sychrov castle to see his friend Alois Gobl, to whom the duet is also dedicated. It was performed in the local castle chapel by Gobl and the composer’s wife Anna on Dvorak’s 38th birthday, on 8 September 1879. The duet was first published in 1883 in Prague by Emanuel Stary. Dvorak subsequently wrote an arrangement for soprano and alto in 1890 (B95Bbis), discovered during the 1970s.