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The first of the three Slovanské rapsodie was composed from February 13 to March 17 of 1878, followed soon after by the second (August 20 to September 17). Both received their premiere in Prague's Provisional Theatre on November 17 of the same year in a concert where Dvorak introduced himself as both a composer and conductor. The third rhapsody, composed from around September 20 to December 3, was not finished in time for the November 17 concert in Prague. It was premiered in Berlin on September 24, 1879 conducted by William Taubert. Rather than following a classical form, the rhapsodies were intended as absolute music to be enjoyed on their own terms, avoiding any external program. Though conceived as a set of three, the works have mainly been performed separately in the intervening years, which is actually somewhat in character with their independent nature. This new study score is a digitally enhanced reissue of the full score first published in 1959 by the Czech State Publishers as part of the Dvorak collected works, edited by Antonin Pokorny and Karel Solc. Unlike so many of the on-demand scores now available, this one comes with all the pages and the images have been thoroughly checked to make sure it is readable. As with all PLP scores a percentage of each sale is donated to the amazing online archive of free music scores and recordings, IMSLP - Petrucci Music Library.
