O Sanctissima, op. 19a, B95B

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.