Piano Quintet op.81. Bagatelles op.47

Deliberately affecting an air of constant improvisation, the Piano Quintet, first performed in 1888, felicitously combines sheer joy and melancholy meditation, rhythmic vigour and passionate lyricism. This Dvořák masterpiece doubtless owes a fair share of its fame to the origins of its themes in folklore. Ten years earlier, the composer wrote the five Bagatelles for two violins, cello and harmonium – a blend of sonorities that may seem odd to us today, but Frank Braley and the musicians of the Ensemble Explorations clearly know exactly how to make it sound its best!