Antonín Dvořák was born in Mühlhausen, Bohemia (now Nelahozeves, the Czech Republic), on September 8, 1841, and died in Prague on May 1, 1904. The first performance of the Symphony No. 8 took place in Prague on February 2, 1890, with the composer conducting the Prague National Theater Orchestra. The Eighth Symphony is scored for two flutes (2nd doubling piccolo), two oboes (2nd doubling English horn), two clarinets, two bassoons, four horns, two trumpets, two trombones, bass trombone, tuba, timpani, and strings. Approximate performance time is thirty-six minutes.
While working on his Piano Quartet, Opus 87, Czech composer Antonín Dvořák told his friend, Alois Göbl: “It’s going unexpectedly easily and the melodies simply pour out of me.” On August 26, 1889, one week after finishing the Piano Quartet, Dvořák began work on his Symphony in G Major. It appears a similar level of inspiration attended the new orchestral work. Dvořák began to note ideas for the Symphony and started the composition sketch on September 6. Dvořák completed the sketches for all four movements by September 23 and finished the orchestration on November 8.
On February 2, 1890, Dvořák conducted the Prague National Theater Orchestra in the premiere of his Eighth Symphony. A few months later, the composer again presented the Symphony in honor of his election as Member of the Franz Josef Academy for Science, Literature, and Art in Prague. On June 16, 1891, the University of Cambridge bestowed an honorary Doctorate of Music upon Dvořák, who again offered his G-Major Symphony in commemoration of the event.
As with many of Dvořák’s compositions, the G-Major Symphony bears the influence of Czech folk melodies and rhythms. It is also in many ways highly innovative, suggesting new possibilities for traditional symphonic forms. According to Dvořák biographer Otakar Šourek, the composer (by his own admission) consciously strove to create “a work different from his other symphonies, with individual thoughts worked out in a new way.” This, Dvořák achieved in the context of energetic and optimistic music bursting with unforgettable melodies.
Program note by Ken Meltzer