Antonín Dvořák

Violinist Jessie Grimson, among the first female members of Henry Wood’s Queen’s Hall Orchestra, began the recital she gave with Frederick Sewell at the recently opened Wigmore Hall in June 1901 with Dvořák’s Slavonic Dances. The esteemed Czech composer’s music, popular with London audiences, was heard again at the Hall the following February when his Songs my mother taught me received their first performance here. Dvořák’s mature string quartets and works for strings and piano, often infused with the idioms of Czech folk music and always beautifully crafted, have become central to the Hall’s repertoire. The Nash Ensemble, Wigmore Hall’s Chamber Ensemble in Residence, presented his work in its wider cultural context during the 2023/24 Season with ‘From My Homeland’ – Music from the Czech Lands.