Moving Talent: Altviolist Sunniva Skaug Follows Dvořák to America

Viola player Sunniva Skaug places Dvořák's string quintet within the narrative of his American years. Through folk music and letter fragments, she brings his sources of inspiration to life. Violist Sunniva Skaug

Viola player Sunniva Skaug has chosen a program centered on Antonín Dvořák's Third String Quintet for Moving Talent. In this masterpiece, his Czech roots resonate alongside the impressions he gained during his stay in the United States. From this string quintet, Skaug develops a concerto in which music, Czech folk music, and historical letter fragments combine to shed new light on Dvořák's life and work. Dvořák was a violist himself and gave the viola a remarkably rich and colorful role in this quintet. It is precisely from this voice that Sunniva Skaug tells the story of a composer who was open to new influences without losing his musical identity.

Dvořák Between Two Worlds

Dvořák between two worlds forms the common thread of this program. During his stay in Spillville, Iowa, Dvořák found inspiration in the Czech community as well as in the music and culture he encountered in America. Those experiences resonate in his Third String Quintet. With Czech folk music and historical letter fragments, Sunniva Skaug places the quintet in its original context. The result is a concert that demonstrates how a composer caught between two worlds grew into one of the most personal voices in chamber music.