It is difficult to overstate the importance of Dvorak's Cello Concerto. Composed in 1894, at the end of his residency in America, the cello concerto is Dvorak's most perfect work, and arguably, the greatest concerto ever composed.
Much of the success of Dvorak's Cello Concerto can be attributed to it's symphonic scale, clever orchestration, technical difficulty, balance between the soloist and ensemble, passionate lyricism, and virtuosic passages with contextual relevance to the thematic material. In addition, the work is slightly programatic in that it is a tribute to his sister-in-law Josefina whose illness and subsequent death affected the composer profoundly.
Movement I is epic in scale, featuring a tonal struggle between B Minor and B Major. Unusually, the recapitulation begins with theme two, thereby ending the movement with theme one, to great effect.
Movement II is achingly beautiful and dramatic, with a profundity that can only be described as sublime. The finale is a rondo of considerable intensity whose coda recalls themes from previous movements, linking the work together in a searingly heartfelt resolution.
