Hartford Symphony Orchestra - FROM THE NEW WORLD

ANTONÍN DVOŘÁK (1841-1904)

Symphony No. 9, Op. 95, “From the New World”

World Premiere: December 16, 1893

Most Recent HSO Performance: October 4, 2015

Instrumentation: 2 flutes with second flute doubling on piccolo, 2 oboes, English horn, 2 clarinets, 2 bassoons, 4 horns, 2 trumpets, 3 trombones, tuba, timpani, triangle, cymbals, and strings: violin I, violin II, viola, cello, and bass

Duration: 40'

Symphony No. 9 in E minor, Op. 95, “From the New World” (1892-1893)

Antonín Dvořák

(Born September 8, 1841 in Nelahozeves, Bohemia) Died May 1, 1904 in Prague)

When Antonín Dvořák, aged 51, arrived in New York on September 27, 1892 to direct the new National Conservatory of Music, both he and the institution’s founder, Mrs. Jeanette Thurber, expected that he would help to foster an American school of composition. He was clear and specific in his assessment: “I am convinced that the future music of this country must be founded on what are called Negro melodies. They can be the foundation of a serious and original school of composition to be developed in the United States…. There is nothing in the whole range of composition that cannot find a thematic source here.” The “New World” Symphony was not only Dvořák’s way of pointing toward a truly American musical idiom but also a reflection of his own feelings about the country. “I should never have written the Symphony as I have,” he said, “if I hadn’t seen America.”

The “New World” Symphony is unified by the use of a motto theme that occurs in all four movements. This bold, striding phrase, with its arching contour, is played by the horns as the main theme of the opening movement, having been foreshadowed in the slow introduction. Two other themes are used in the first movement: a sad melody for flute and oboe that exhibits folk characteristics, and a brighter tune with a striking resemblance to the spiritual Swing Low, Sweet Chariot for the solo flute. The second movement was inspired by the forest funeral of Minnehaha in Longfellow’s epic poem The Song of Hiawatha, and the third by the dance of the Indians at the feast. The finale employs a sturdy motive introduced by the horns and trumpets after a few introductory measures in the strings.