# Looked for a Dvorak string quartet, found something else



## Mister Meow (10 mo ago)

I had an interesting experience yesterday that I thought I would share. I had been thinking about adding some chamber music to my relatively small CD collection, and decided that I might like some Dvorak. I remembered a fragment of a piece that I had heard some time ago and had liked, and I was pretty sure that it was Dvorak (correct) and that it probably came from a string quartet (incorrect).

So I went to the Presto Music web site and found an item with the complete Dvorak string quartets, and I listened to all of the samples, which took a while. Those of you who are familiar with the site know that you can hear about the first thirty seconds of each movement of every piece on the recording, and that's what I did. I found a couple of quartets that I liked, but didn't find the piece that I remembered and was hoping to find. I figured it must be some other work, and I left the search idea in the back of my mind and went on with the rest of my day.

Later, I was in front of my computer, getting ready to login to work, and out of the blue, a word literally popped into my mind: bagatelles. So I wrote down the word, finished up my work, then went back to the Presto site to see if Dvorak wrote any bagatelles. Sure enough, I found some recordings, started listening to the samples, and immediately found the tune that I had remembered! Now I just need to find a recording with the bagatelles and perhaps some or all of the quartets.


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## Oldhoosierdude (May 29, 2016)

Mister Meow said:


> I had an interesting experience yesterday that I thought I would share. I had been thinking about adding some chamber music to my relatively small CD collection, and decided that I might like some Dvorak. I remembered a fragment of a piece that I had heard some time ago and had liked, and I was pretty sure that it was Dvorak (correct) and that it probably came from a string quartet (incorrect).
> 
> So I went to the Presto Music web site and found an item with the complete Dvorak string quartets, and I listened to all of the samples, which took a while. Those of you who are familiar with the site know that you can hear about the first thirty seconds of each movement of every piece on the recording, and that's what I did. I found a couple of quartets that I liked, but didn't find the piece that I remembered and was hoping to find. I figured it must be some other work, and I left the search idea in the back of my mind and went on with the rest of my day.
> 
> Later, I was in front of my computer, getting ready to login to work, and out of the blue, a word literally popped into my mind: bagatelles. So I wrote down the word, finished up my work, then went back to the Presto site to see if Dvorak wrote any bagatelles. Sure enough, I found some recordings, started listening to the samples, and immediately found the tune that I had remembered! Now I just need to find a recording with the bagatelles and perhaps some or all of the quartets.


Don't you love it when the word bagatelles pops into your mind?

I will have to look up Dvorak bagatelles. I am not familiar.


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## Fantastico (5 mo ago)

I don't know about the bagatelles - I will give them a listen. But the Dvorak string quartets are real treasures! Apart from the famous 'American' there are so many other, possibly even greater, jewels. For me right now, number 9 in D minor is very special - I seem to remember that there is a good recording with the Prague string quartet.


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## Mister Meow (10 mo ago)

I found this recording on Hoopla:


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