Dvořák: Symphony No. 4 in D minor, Op. 13, B 41 (with Score)

Antonín Dvořák:
Symphony No. 4 in D minor, Op. 13, B 41 (with Score)
Composed: 1 January - 26 March 1874 (revisions 1887, 1888)
Conductor: István Kertész
Orchestra: London Symphony Orchestra

00:00 1. Allegro (D minor)
12:46 2. Andante sostenuto e molto (B-flat major)
24:04 3. Scherzo: Allegro feroce (D minor)
30:27 4. Finale: Allegro con brio (D minor - D major)

Late 1873 and early 1874 saw a turning point in the development of Dvořák’s musical expression. After a period of major influence from the German Neo-Romantics, Dvořák's distinctive compositional style came into its own, characterised by a departure from his “unending” melodies in favour of more concise and more periodic thematic treatment, and a more conscientious selection of musical material and its formal arrangement within the individual movements. The composer’s instrumentation was also no longer the dense Wagnerian score, adopting a simpler yet more vibrant expression and clearer sound. The first representative of this period is Symphony No. 4 in D minor. In view of the fact that the work is attributed the same key as the seventh symphony, the Fourth is sometimes given the subtitle “Little”, to distinguish it from the heroic “Great” seventh symphony.