Dvořák had been unhappy with an earlier piano quintet in the same key, his Op. 5. Fifteen years later he began revising it, but seems to have decided to write a completely new work instead. He composed it between August and October 1887 at his summer home in Vysoká, and it was first performed in Prague in January 1888. Simrock published it in Berlin the same year.
It borrows the moods and rhythms of Czech folk music without quoting folk songs. The slow movement is a dumka, where a sad refrain keeps returning between quicker, brighter episodes, and the scherzo is titled a furiant, after a fast Czech dance. The finale ends with bright runs on the five-note scale that point toward the music Dvořák later wrote in America.
No performances in New York, Boston, the Bay Area or Los Angeles on our listings right now. We update them every week.