Preludes and Fugues, B302

Only a few works have survived from the time Dvořák studied at the Prague organ school – apart from the piano polka Per pedes, these include a handful of organ works: five preludes, one fughetta and two fugues. They were essentially school etudes whose main purpose was to demonstrate in practice everything the student had learned from his music theory classes. These are the only known compositions Dvořák wrote for solo organ. Dvořák, then aged 18, performed two of them – the Prelude in D major and the Fugue in G minor – at a graduation concert on 30 July 1859. According to a review in Dalibor magazine, Dvořák performed these works “superbly”.