Violin Sonatina (Dvořák)

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The Sonatina in G major for violin and piano, op. 100, B. 183, was written by Antonín Dvořák between November 19 and December 3, 1893, in New York City. It was the last chamber composition he wrote during his sojourn in America. Dvořák catered the sonatina to the gradually developing musical abilities of his children, especially those of his 15 year-old daughter Ottilie and 10 year-old son Toník. In a letter to Fritz Simrock on January 2, 1894, Dvořák conceived the piece in the following terms: "It is intended for youths (dedicated to my two children), but even grown-ups, adults, should be able to converse with it..." The four short movements of the sonatina each exhibit a simple and clear, formal structure (hence the diminutive, cf. sonata). They all contain themes, which, like those already found in his other American chamber works (the String Quartet in F and the String Quintet in E-flat), owe their inspiration to Indian melodies and Negro spirituals, which are characterized by pentatonic scales and syncopated rhythm, among other traits. The sonatina was published by Simrock in Berlin in 1894.