Janá ek?s 2nd String Quartet Intimate Letters is regarded as a highlight of the modern string quartet literature. It was written during the composer?s last year of life between 29 January and 19 February 1928 inspired by the ageing Janáèek?s exceptional love for Kamila Stösslová. The Moravian Quartet devoted themselves to this impressive work; Janá ek attended a total of three of their rehearsals in May and June 1928. This had several consequences including his abandoning his original idea of using a viola d?amore. After Janá ek?s unexpected death (12 August 1928) the uncertain genesis of the work became the greatest problem of the IntimateLetters : the surviving copies were not definitively authorised. The editors of this new edition have reverted to Janá ek?s autograph sketches as the main most reliable source and using these as a basis have reconstructed the work as it stood at the point of Janá ek?s death. The musical text taken from the Critical Complete Edition of the Works of Leo? Janá ek (Vol. E/4) therefore contains clear differences in comparison with older editions.

COMPOSER'S NOTESThe music of these violin duos has been influenced by the centuries-long flow of traditional music from the British Isles to North America and back again. The compositions are dedicated toseveral people who are keeping that transatlantic musical flow in motion today.Sleep Sound Ida Mornin'Sleep Sound ida Mornin' is a very short duo for two violins based on a traditionaltune which I first heard in the Orkney Islands although played there on the banjo by a native of Kansas. My extended version with a slow introduction was first played in Boston on 29th January 1995 by Lesley Chen and NathanSchmidt members of the New England Conservatory's Preparatory Division during their annual weekend festival of contemporary music. This very remarkable and encouraging event was devised and organised by Rodney Lister to whomthis piece is dedicated.Duration c. 2 minutes.Atlantic DriftAn earlier even shorter version of Atlantic Drift written for violin and piano was first performed by PeterSheppard Skaerved and Aaron Schorr at the Royal Academy of Music London on 9th May 2006 in a concert to celebrate the 70th birthday of the American composer and transatlantic communicator Elliott Schwartz. The melody isoriginal though clearly influenced by the music and perpetual tides of the Hebrides. Duration c. 3 minutes.Rain and Mist are on the Mountain I'd Better Buy SomeShoesThis four-movement duo for two violins is based on a fragment of a Gaelic folk song from Barra in the Western Isles of Scotland. The title suggests that although the Gaels of yesteryear were rich inpoetic expression and the beauties of nature they were otherwise not very affluent. Rain and Mist was first performed at the Wigmore Hall London on 6th February 2005 by Corina Belcea and Laura Samuel.Duration c. 6

The String Quintet in E-flat major Op.97 (with two Violas) is the third work Dvo ák composed during his stay in America. ?This quintet may be said in three of its movements to show the influence of American life and American music upon the composer? wrote the American music critic Henry Krehbiel on 7 January 1894. The use of particular melodic and rhythmic elements in his American compositions as typically found in Afro-American gospels strengthened the gathering conception considering Dvo ák to be the founder of an American national style of music. The String Quintet in E-flat major was premiered on 12 January 1894 at the Carnegie Halland was published shortly afterwards in score and parts by Simrock. This first edition is the main source for this publication.Reprint from the Complete Edition of the Works of Anton n Dvo ák Vol. IV/8New foreword (Cz/Eng/Ger) by David Beveridge with an evaluation of the origin of the composition.