ANTONÍN DVOŘÁK: FROM THE NEW WORLD - SYMPHONY NO. 9

ANTONÍN DVOŘÁK

FROM THE NEW WORLD - SYMPHONY NO. 9

For many longtime classical music audiences, there exists an unwritten convention that people gradually come to recognize on their own: avoiding applause during the pauses between movements of a concerto or symphony — or at most applauding after the end of the first movement. The simple reason is to preserve the uninterrupted musical flow of a large-scale work. Yet this custom is merely a convention, not a rigid rule, because applause is ultimately the most spontaneous expression of admiration for beauty and artistic excellence. In the history of symphonic performance, there was one work that caused an entire concert hall to erupt in thunderous applause after every movement — not only after the first movement or at the conclusion of the piece — and led the composer himself to rise and bow repeatedly in gratitude to the audience. That composer was Antonín Dvořák, at the premiere of his Symphony No. 9 “From the New World” on December 16, 1893, in New York.

Once the symphony was published, orchestras throughout Europe quickly chose to perform it, and the work rapidly spread across both the New World and the Old World. The enthusiastic response of audiences around the globe demonstrated music’s power to unite people across cultures. In “From the New World,” listeners could recognize the familiar symphonic tradition established by Ludwig van Beethoven, elements of Native American folk music and dance, and even echoes of African American spirituals. At the same time, Dvořák seems to have drawn deeply from the music of his Bohemian homeland, especially the spirit of Slavonic dances and pentatonic melodies.

Dvořák composed Symphony No. 9 not merely because he had heard the sounds of American music, but because he witnessed a young America taking shape — both in New York City, where he served as director of the National Conservatory of Music, and on the Iowa prairies where he spent his summers.

While preserving the traditional four-movement structure of the symphony, Dvořák infused the work with fresh vitality through musical materials drawn from many different cultures and regions.

The first movement begins with a slow Adagio introduction containing the principal leitmotif. It then launches into a very fast Allegro molto in sonata form: the exposition presents a lively first theme in E minor, a second theme in G minor reminiscent of a Czech polka dance, and a closing figure closely resembling the melody of Swing Low, Sweet Chariot, a traditional African American spiritual. The movement concludes with a coda in which the main theme is proclaimed by the brass over the full orchestral tutti.

The second movement, Largo — solemn and slow — opens with a sequence of chords performed by the wind section. Soon afterward, the English horn introduces the famous principal melody while the strings accompany softly beneath it. The middle section evokes a mood of nostalgia and loneliness, gradually leading into a funeral march over pizzicato accompaniment.

The third movement is a scherzo in ternary form. Its opening Molto vivace section is extremely fast and exuberant, while the middle Poco sostenuto section is more restrained and reflective. This movement was inspired by The Song of Hiawatha by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow. In the coda of the third movement, the principal theme from the first movement returns once again.

The fourth movement, Allegro con fuoco — fast and fiery — is also in sonata form. Its introduction is brief, after which the main theme is presented by the horns and trumpets against orchestral chordal accompaniment. The second theme appears high in the clarinet section over trembling string tremolos. The movement reaches its climactic peak in the coda, where materials from the previous three movements are recalled for the final time. At last, a triumphant atmosphere brings both the movement and the entire symphony to a glorious close.

Mai Hạnh, July 2022.