String Quartet Trans Winds No 12 F Op 96 Score/Parts

AntoninŠDvorak composedŠthe quartet in F Major, op. 96 “The American” in the summer of 1893 during hisŠsummer vacation in Spillvale,Iowa. From 1892-1895, Dvorak served as director of the National Conserv atory of Music in NYC. He had been interested in “AmericanŠMusic” and felt that Native American and Afro-American music could inspire anŠ“American Music” distinct from European influences. He was inspired by (HenryŠThacker) Harry Burleigh, his student in New York and one of the firstŠAfro-American composers.

While it isŠimpossible to know why Georges Barrere chose Dvorak's F Major Quartet toŠtranscribe for Woodwind Quintet, we may easily hazard several guesses. Firstly,Šit was a work much beloved by the public and very respected by professionalŠmusicians. As an immigrant himself, Barrere could easily sympathize withŠDvorak's desire to create a distinctly American work. A work in the key of FŠMajor, it lent itself easily to wind transcription. While known as the BarrereŠtranscription, it turns out that Samuel Baron, one ofBarrere's most famousŠstudents and a long time member of the New York W oodwind Quintet, who has toŠhis credit a long list of wonderful transcriptions for woodwind quintet, playedŠa significant role in the transcription.