THE NEW WORLD SYMPHONY - FINALE
PERFORMED BY THE CAL POLY SYMPHONIC BAND, MY JUNIOR YEAR. SYMPHONY #9 IN E MINOR, POPULARLY KNOWN AS THE 'NEW WORLD SYMPHONY', WAS WRITTEN BY ANTONIN DVORAK DURING HIS VISIT TO AMERICA (1892-'95). IT PREMIERED AT CARNEGIE HALL AMID PERPETUAL CHEERING
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Story behind the song
This is performed by the Cal Poly Tech, San Luis Obispo, Symphonic Band, directed by William V. Johnson, my junior year.
Antonin Dvorak's well-beloved Symphony No. 9, "From the New World" (more commonly known as the New World Symphony), illustrates the nineteenth and early twentieth century fascination with American music, particularly its folk music. Towards the close of the nineteenth century, many composers from Eastern European nations (historically dominated by Western Europe and Russia) turned to traditional folk musics in order to solidify their particular national identity through sound. America, too, was unsure of its own style, dependent largely on European-trained musicians and European-influenced compositional techniques, and searching for an individual sound.
In the midst of this backdrop, the Czech composer Antonin Dvorak (already famous for his work in nationalistic styles of music) was invited to America by Jeannette Thurber in order to serve as the director of the National Conservatory of Music in New York City and develop an "American sound." From 1892-1895, during his three years at the Conservatory, Dvorak explored what he considered to be the unique folk music of America: the music of Native Americans and the African American spiritual. The folk music of European immigrants might have sounded similar to the folk music of the homeland, but in the songs of the Native Americans and African Americans, many composers felt they had arrived at a distinct and fresh identity for America. In the spring of 1893, Dvorak composed the New World Symphony.
The piece has four movements:
I. Adagio Allegro molto
II. Largo
III. Scherzo
IV. Allegro con fuoco