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.