Karel Kovařovic: String Quartet No. 2 in A minor, Op. 7

Karel Kovařovic (1862-1920)

String Quartet No. 2 in A minor, Op. 7
I. Allegro moderato 0:00
II. Scherzo: Presto 9:45
III. Andante con variazioni 16:03
IV. Allegro non troppo 24:51

Stamic Quartet

Karel Kovařovic (1862 – 1920) was a Czech composer and conductor. From 1873 to 1879 he studied clarinet, harp and piano at the Prague Conservatory. He began his career as a harpist. In 1900 Kovařovic became the conductor of the national theatre in Prague, due mostly to the success of his opera The Dogheads, after the novel of the same name (about Jan Sladký Kozina) by Alois Jirásek. His engagement at the National Theatre lasted twenty years, until 1920. He composed seven operas. Kovařovic is most remembered today for the revisions he made to Leoš Janáček's Jenůfa for its premiere in Prague, and it was in his version that the opera was heard for many years. A recording of The Dogheads, featuring Beno Blachut, exists.