Songs for voice and keyboard and string quartet by Dina Kuznetsova and Michael Barrett, and the Borromeo String Quartet:Dvořák: 3 Songs: Ó, duše drahá, jedinká (“Oh Dear Soul, the Only One”) from Love Songs, Op. 83; Dobrú noc, má milá ("Goodnight, my Dear, Goodnight”) and Ej, mám já koňa faku ("Hey, I have a Powerful Horse that Bears Me Well”), both from In Folk Style, Op. 73Dvořák: String Quartet No. 12 in F Major, Op. 96 ("American")The centerpiece of today’s program is probably the only chamber work of Dvořák’s that most classical music lovers recognize immediately: his twelfth string quartet, known as the “American” quartet.Dvořák was smitten with the country’s traditional music, African-American spirituals and Native American songs in particular. They shared one important attribute: the pentatonic scale that tugs at the heartstrings, and is the backbone of many old American tunes. Dvořák’s “American” quartet makes use of the scale as well as the rhythms of American music.We’ll hear a few “love letters” to the folk music of Dvořák’s native land: a group of three Czech songs. The first song is a devoted outpouring of affection. In the second song, the protagonist wishes his beloved a night of sweet dreams. Third, we get a story of love gone wrong. In the song, translated as “I have a powerful horse,” the narrator’s initial exaltation of the things he has quickly turns to a reminiscence of the things he doesn’t--most importantly, the sweetheart who has left him.