String Quartet No. 10 (Dvořák)

Antonín Dvořák wrote his String Quartet No. 10 in E♭ major, Op. 51 (B. 92), in 1879 at the request of Jean Becker, the leader of the Florentine Quartet. It is sometimes nicknamed the Slavonic Quartet (Becker had asked specifically for a "Slavonic Quartet" in the wake of Dvořák's "Slavonic Dances" and "Slavonic Rhapsodies"). The quartet was dedicated to Jean Becker; it was first performed by the Joachim Quartet at a private chamber music evening on July 29, 1879, in Berlin. It was published by Simrock, Berlin, in 1879.

Structure
It is composed of four movements: 1. Allegro ma non troppo

2. Dumka: Andante con moto — Vivace

3. Romanza: Andante con moto

4. Finale: Allegro assai

The Slavonic character of the Quartet derives from the scherzo movement which has the form of a Dumka, and from the last movement, which according to Šourek is 'an art stylization of the very characteristic Czech "skočna".'

A typical performance lasts about 32 minutes.