IDAGIO | Dvořák: Symphonie Nr. 9, 'Aus der Neuen Welt"

Featuring

Andris Nelsons
Symphonieorchester des Bayerischen Rundfunks
Antonín Dvořák

Did you know?

1/7

Composition History

Dvořák's stay in New York was arranged by Jeanette M. Thurber, a millionaire's wife and President of the 'National Conservatory of American Music', who engaged him as a composition teacher at her conservatory.

Composer Biography

Antonín Dvořák, the composer, was the son of a Bohemian village butcher who rose to become a leading contemporary composer.

Notable Performances

Dvořák's 'The Hero's Song' was premiered in 1898 by the Vienna Philharmonic under the direction of Gustav Mahler, to great acclaim.

Composer's Artistic Vision

Dvořák was tasked with creating a national music for the United States, a role he was given because he had previously created Czech art music for his homeland.

Composition History

Dvořák's 'The Hero's Song', Op. 111, his fifth and last symphonic poem, was composed four years after his Ninth Symphony and does not have a specific literary program.

Compositional Technique

Dvořák's Symphony No. 9 combines three national styles: themes from Bohemian folk music, 'American' characteristics, and Austro-German symphonic treatment.

Compositional Technique

In his Symphony No. 9 'From the New World', Dvořák incorporated musical characteristics he considered American, such as pentatonic melodies, lowered leading tones, and syncopations, after hearing spirituals and Indian songs.