Antonin

Dvořák
Symphony No 9
Op.95
“From The New
World”
 nd
2 Movement

Introduction

The Symphony No. 9 in E Minor "From the New World"

(Op. 95), popularly known as the New World Symphony,
was composed by Antonín Dvořák in 1893 during his
visit to the United States from 1892 to 1895. It is by far
his most popular symphony, and one of the most
popular in the modern repertory.

ANTONÍN DVOŘÁK
B. September 8, 1841 in Nelahozeves, Czech Republic
D. May 1, 1904 in Prague, Czech Republic

First performed on 16 December 1893 in Carnegie

Hall by Anton Seidl and the New York Philharmonic
Orchestra.
Scored for two flutes and piccolo, two oboes and English
horn, two clarinets, two bassoons, four horns, two
trumpets, three trombones, tuba, timpani, triangle,
cymbals, and strings. (approx. 40 minutes)

“The Americans expect great things of me and the

main thing is, so they say, to show them to the
promised land and kingdom of a new and
independent art, in short, to create a national
music.” - Antonín Dvořák

Dvořák arrived in New York in 1892 to assume his new

post as director of the National Conservatory. He had
agreed to leave his home in Vysoká (near Prague) only
after considerable coaxing from Jeannette Thurber, a
Paris Conservatory alumna who had distinguished herself
as a patroness and fierce advocate for classical music
in America.

Banking on Dvořák’s achievements in the formation of

Czech musical identity, Thurber hoped that
composer’s presence and example in New York
would spark similar nationalistic fervour in
American composers. Although financial problems for
Thurber and Dvořák’s intense homesickness resulted in a
relatively short tenure, the composer produced several
important compositions that reflect his experiences and
emotional investment in the music and life of the New
World. The most famous of these, of course, is his
ninth and final symphony.

Taken as a whole, the symphony represents Dvořák’s

ingenious effort to
internalise what he perceived as “America’s music” and
render it in broad, symphonic gestures. In particular,
Dvořák was fascinated by the culture and music of
Native Americans and African Americans. From Harry
Burleigh, an African American student at the National
Conservatory, Dvořák learned spirituals and
plantation songs. (Burleigh, a vocalist and composer,
would later pen some 265 vocal compositions based
mostly on spirituals.) The majority of Dvořák’s
interactions with Native Americans followed the
composition of the symphony, but he studied notated
realizations of indigenous music provided by Henry
Krehbiel, an Ann Arbor native and who had become a
prominent music critic in New York.

The results of this exposure are evident in the music. The

clearest cases arise in the second movement’s
melancholy English horn solo, which emulates the
melodic phrasing and direction of an African
American spiritual, and in the finale’s primary theme, in
which modal inflections and terse rhythmic energy
suggest Native American song. Neither of these passages
offer authentic representations of ethnic music, but rather
reflect Dvořák’s attempt to incorporate different American
musical styles within a symphonic idiom.

Instrumentation

This symphony is scored for an orchestra of the following:

2 flutes (one doubling piccolo), 2 oboes (one doubling on

cor anglais), 2 clarinets in A(B flat in movt II), 2 bassoons,
4 horns in E and C, 2 trumpets in E, C and E flat, 2 tenor
trombones, bass trombone, tuba (second movement only),
timpani, triangle (third movement only), cymbals (fourth
movement only), and strings.

Movements

The piece has four movements:

* I. Adagio — Allegro molto

* II. Largo
* III. Scherzo: Molto vivace — Poco sostenuto
* IV. Allegro con fuoco

Influences

Dvořák was interested in the native American music

and African-American spirituals he heard in America.
Upon his arrival in America, he stated:

"I am convinced that the future music of this country must

be founded on what are called Negro melodies. These can
be the foundation of a serious and original school of
composition, to be developed in the United States. These
beautiful and varied themes are the product of the soil.
They are the folk songs of America and your composers
must turn to them."

The symphony was commissioned by the New York

Philharmonic, and premiered on December 16, 1893 at
Carnegie Hall conducted by Anton Seidl. A day earlier, in
an article published in the New York Herald on December
15, 1893, Dvořák further explained how Native American
music had been an influence on this symphony:

"I have not actually used any of the [Native American]

melodies. I have simply written original themes
embodying the peculiarities of the Indian music, and,
using these themes as subjects, have developed them
with all the resources of modern rhythms, counterpoint,
and orchestral colou r."

At the Ninth Symphony's premiere at Carnegie Hall the

reception was one of perpetual cheering. The end of every
movement was met with thunderous clapping and Dvořák
felt obliged to stand up and bow.

+++++

Listening Guide

2. Largo (slow, dignified). Dvorák ’s tender tune shows

how well he’d picked up American popular styles. It
sounds like, but isn’t, a Negro spiritual. Much later, his
tune was actually adopted as a spiritual (and given the
title Goin’ Home). In the middle of the movement, some
lively Czech sounds bring on a wave of “homesickness”.
This makes the lovely tune, when it returns, seem even
more lonely.

A chorale-like sequence of mellifluous brass chords

introduces a set of variations on a tender cor-anglais
melody, aching in the gulf between two worlds. This
stream of nostalgic serenity is interrupted, at its heart, by
a much livelier variation which draws in the motto. The
recurrence of the chorale motif and the balancing of
episodes around this central emotion together make an
elegant arch-structure.

Tempo: Largo
Metre: Common Time
Key: changes from D flat Major to C sharp minor
Form: Ternary (Outer sections are in D flat major
and the central section is in C sharp minor)
Dvorak based this movement on a poem from the Song
of Hiawatha about the death and funeral of a loved one.

– the introduction of the Largo is a series of

mysterious chords in the brass and lower
winds, that make the unusual transition from the key
of the previous movement – E minor to the
unrelated key of D flat major
– The melodic focus of the A sections is a calm,
thoughtful melody in two four bar phrases
presented initially by cor anglais and is
characterised by a smooth melodic contour
containing small leaps and frequently returns to the
home note
– The slightly faster B section is more complex in
texture and in melodic, harmonic and rhythmic
content. It includes an orchestral climax and a
quotation from the symphony’s first movement
– Chromatic harmonies, muted instrumental sonorities
and intense, dramatic dynamics contribute to the
movement’s overall mood in a typically Romantic
style.

QuickTimeª and a
TIFF (Uncompressed) decompressor
are needed to see this picture.

The beauty of this melody accounts for its popularity to this day and its
homesick cry reminds us how Dvorak was feeling at the time.

In this movement, while the cor anglais plays the solo

melody, it is worth noting what the other instruments are
doing:

– strings provide a quiet accompaniment

– woodwind return to the introductory sequence of
chords
– violins play a variation of the second phrase of the
melody
Over to you!

You will hear an extract from this movement. You will hear
the extract four times, with pauses between hearings.
Look at the outline score printed on the opposite page and
the accompanying questions before the music begins.

(a) Identify the instrument playing the melody in Bars 1 to

4.

_________________________________________________ [1]

(b) Identify the cadence at Bar 4.

_________________________________________________ [1]

(c) Identify a passage which includes a pedal note.

Bar ____________ to Bar ____________

[2]

(d) What is the overall form of this movement?

_________________________________________________ [1]

(e) Comment on the use of instruments in this extract.

_________________________________________________

_________________________________________________

_________________________________________________

_________________________________________________

_________________________________________________

_________________________________________________

_________________________________________________ [6]
 QuickTimeª and a
TIFF (Uncompressed) decompressor
are needed to see this picture.
The answers!

(a) Cor anglais

(b) Perfect
(c) Bar 1; Bar 2
(d) Ternary
(e) • Muted strings
• Bassoon doubles cor anglais; an octave lower
• Echoed by two clarinets; two bassoons
• Cellos play rising arpeggio
• Flutes continue rising arpeggio
• Chordal passage played by woodwind section
• Prominent horn
• Brass section added on final chord
• Timpani roll