Polonaise for Cello and Piano in A major, B94

This short piece was written for a concert of Dvorak’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, Dvorak 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. Dvorak later used a variant of the polonaise’s thematic material in his String Quartet in C major.