# Dvořák, Cello Concerto in B minor, Op. 104

The most famous cello concerto entrance. A heroic, declamatory tutti gesture answered by tender song.

## About the excerpt

- **Composer:** Antonín Dvořák

- **Work:** Cello Concerto in B minor, Op. 104

- **Movement:** I. Allegro (cello entrance, mm. 88ff)

- **Era:** Romantic (c. 1820–1880)

- **Composed:** 1895

- **Key:** D

- **Metre:** 4/4

- **Tempo:** Allegro (Quasi improvisando) approximately 116 BPM

- **Clef:** Tenor clef

- **Difficulty:** Audition

- **Audition list:** Standard excerpt

## Bowing

Marcato attack on the opening Bs, full bow, then immediate decay.

## Fingering

High position work, practice intonation slowly, arrival notes first.

## Style

Quasi improvisando, declamatory, like a heroic speech. Don't play it metrically square.

## Techniques

concerto, audition, tenor-clef, solo

## Score reference

[IMSLP reference](https://imslp.org/wiki/Cello_Concerto_in_B_minor,_Op.104_(Dvo%C5%99%C3%A1k,_Anton%C3%ADn))

This public reference contains work information and original practice notes. It does not publish the excerpt notation or grant permission to copy a score. Score access and rights depend on the edition and jurisdiction.

## Related excerpts

- [Dvořák: New World Symphony, II, Largo](https://arcosounds.com/repertoire/cello/dvorak-9-ii), Hushed muted strings under the famous English horn solo. Total bow control at pp. Comfortable; Romantic; Bass clef.
- [Dvořák: Symphony No. 8, III, cello melody](https://arcosounds.com/repertoire/cello/dvorak-8-iii), A lilting, Slavic waltz. The cellos take the second statement of the theme. Intermediate; Romantic; Tenor clef.
- [Brahms: Symphony No. 2, II, cello opening](https://arcosounds.com/repertoire/cello/brahms-2-ii), One of the most beloved cello-section excerpts in the repertoire, a long, singing tenor-clef line that opens the slow movement. Audition; Romantic; Tenor clef. Standard audition excerpt.
- [Mendelssohn: A Midsummer Night's Dream, Scherzo](https://arcosounds.com/repertoire/cello/mendelssohn-mnd-scherzo), Fairy-light Mendelssohn scherzo passage, the textbook test of clean, even, soft spiccato. Audition; Romantic; Bass clef. Standard audition excerpt.
- [Schumann: Cello Concerto, I, opening solo](https://arcosounds.com/repertoire/cello/schumann-concerto-i), A noble, melancholy opening. Schumann marked it "not too fast", discipline trumps speed. Audition; Romantic; Tenor clef. Standard audition excerpt.
- [Saint-Saëns: Cello Concerto No. 1, opening](https://arcosounds.com/repertoire/cello/saintsaens-concerto-1), Bursting cello entrance after a single orchestral chord. Pure athleticism. Audition; Romantic; Tenor clef. Standard audition excerpt.

Canonical source: https://arcosounds.com/repertoire/cello/dvorak-concerto-i