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Classics with NOW: Dvořák, Symphony No. 9 in E minor ‘From the New World’

Classics with NOW: Dvořák, Symphony No. 9 in E minor ‘From the New World’

One of classical music’s best loved works, Dvořák’s Symphony No. 9 ‘From the New World’ was written when the composer was living in New York City and was premiered in Carnegie Hall on December 16, 1893.

The symphony is considered Dvořák’s signature work, a late-romantic European symphony influenced by the composer’s time in the USA – with the sounds of the ‘Old World’ and the ‘New World’. There are echoes of the composer’s ‘Slavonic Dances’ noticeable in the third movement of the symphony, and its cyclic form was a structure popular with European composers. Dvořák was also inspired by African American spirituals and Native American melodies. However, he did not quote of any specific tunes, saying “I tried to write only in the spirit of those national American melodies.” The second theme in the first movement, and the gentle cor anglais melody in the second movement are examples of this.

This performance took place in Aberystwyth Arts Centre in 2019 under the baton of Clemens Schuldt.

Release date:

Duration:

43 minutes