Overview

Dvorak had long refused the repeated requests for a cello concerto from his friend, the renowned cellist Hanus Wihan (1855-1920) until he attended the premiere of Victor Herbert's second concerto in New York in the fall of 1894 during his tenure as director of the National Conservatory. The second movement of Herbert's concerto was in B minor, which might have been a factor in Dvorak's choice of the same key for his own concerto, which was started in New York on November 8, 1894 and completed on February 8 of the following year. Despite the dedication to Wihan, the first performance was given by the English cellist Leo Stern in London's Queen's Hall on March 19, 1896 with the composer conducting the London Philharmonic. This new study score is a reprint of the critical edition prepared by Fratisek Bartos for the Collected Works issued by the Czech State Publisher in 1955. Unlike so many of the on-demand scores now available, this one comes with all the pages and the images have been thoroughly checked to make sure it is readable.