Antonin Dvořák - Symphonies 8 and 9

Antonín Dvořák - Born 1841

(President of the US – Martin van Buren (term ends in March) William Henry Harrison (term begins in March, died April), John Tyler (term begins in April))

(Major events – first reference to Groundhog Day; Dallas, Texas was founded)

(Music events – Robert Schumann writes 2 symphonies, currently numbered 1 and 4; Johannes Brahms performs the original version of Symphony no. 4 in d minor)

Died 1904

(President of the US – Theodore Roosevelt)

(Major events – Panama Canal construction begins; Cy Young pitches first complete game in baseball history; 1904 Olympics held in St. Louis, Missouri; Russo-Japanese War)

(Music events – Giacomo Puccini’s Madama Butterfly and Gustav Mahler’s Symphony No. 5 premiered, Glenn Miller and Count Basie are born)

Brief points about his life

• Native of Bohemia; now known as part of the Czech Republic
• Father wanted him to become a butcher
• Played viola for the Bohemian Provisional Theater Orchestra under Bedřich Smetana
• Influenced and encouraged by Johannes Brahms and Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky
• Visited Russia, London, and most significantly, the United States
• Was director of the National Conservatory of Music in New York City 1892-1895
• Spent summers in Spillville, Iowa

Listen now to Dvořák

Dvořák: Symphony No. 8; George Szell - Concertgebouw Orchestra of Amsterdam


Dvořák: Symphony No. 9 "From the New World"; Leopold Stokowski - Philadelphia Orchestra

Or buy the CD of my favorite recording from my Amazon list (click here).

Why listen to Dvořák’s Symphonies 8 and 9?

Dvořák is a mainstream Romantic composer and has some good characteristics for a first listen to classical music:

• He writes excellent melodies; the theme of the second movement of Symphony No. 9 was later published with lyrics and many people were convinced that it was an old Negro spiritual that Dvořák simply ‘borrowed’ for his best-known work
• He does not spend a lot of time developing ideas. Even in his slow movements, there are bursts of fast music interspersed.
• He utilizes the entire orchestral color palette and its many combinations (melodies in the lower strings, solos for the English horn, features for the trombone and horn sections, etc.). I am glad to be a horn player, but in the case of the finale to Symphony No. 8, I wish I was a trumpet player so that I could play the opening fanfare!

Dvořák took a little while to find his voice. Several of his symphonies were unpublished following their composition, and they show less maturity in their design and invention. Beginning with the 6^th, Dvořák found critical and popular acclaim for his symphonies, and today the 7^th, 8^th, and 9^th symphonies can be found regularly on orchestral programs (not only professional, but also community and youth orchestras)

Certainly the “New World” Symphony (as No. 9 is known) is quoted frequently in popular media. I have usually avoided ‘popular’ classical music on my list, but I think both of these symphonies are a good introduction to those who don’t listen to classical music and may even have their general objections to it. The “New World” is full of melodies, and no one really stands out above the others (except, of course, the second movement (“Largo”)).

Both Symphonies 8 and 9 fit on a CD that I purchased after hearing the “New World” symphony on the radio. I was really impressed with the energetic performance that was given by Rafael Kubelik and the Berlin Philharmonic. Kubelik is a Czech-born conductor who was the conductor of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra just before the legendary Fritz Reiner took over. Even more significant, however, are his performances and recordings of music from his homeland, especially Smetana’s “Ma Vlast” (many people will know “The Moldau” from this larger work) and Dvorak’s Symphonies and other orchestral works.

If you like Dvořák, then you should check out these pieces and/or composers:

• Dvořák – Symphony No. 7, Slavonic Dances, Carnival Overture, Cello Concerto
• Smetana – “The Moldau” from “Ma Vlast”
• Tchaikovsky (see later in this blog)
• Brahms (see later in this blog)

The List

(Pictured above is my 5th grade class that I told you about - I took the picture so I'm not in it)

Here is the list of 20 Classical Music selections I think you must hear:

1. Antonin Dvorak: Symphonies No. 8 and 9 (“From the New World”)
2. Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov: Capriccio Espagnol
3. Johann Sebastian Bach: Brandenburg Concertos No. 1 and 2
4. Edvard Grieg: Piano Concerto
5. Antonio Vivaldi: The Four Seasons
6. Modest Mussorgsky/arr. Maurice Ravel: Pictures at an Exhibition
7. Sergei Rachmaninoff: Rhapsody on a theme of Paganini
8. Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart: Symphony No. 35 “Haffner”
9. Ludwig von Beethoven: Symphony No. 7
10. Richard Wagner: Preludes to Acts I and III of Lohengrin
11. Johannes Brahms: Symphony No. 1
12. Robert Schumann: Symphony No. 1
13. Edward Elgar: Enigma Variations
14. Dmitri Shostakovich: Symphony No. 5
15. Claude Debussy: Prelude to the Afternoon of a Faun
16. Gustav Mahler: Symphony No. 1
17. Carl Orff: Carmina Burana
18. Pjotr Ilich Tchaikovsky: Symphony No. 4
19. Leonard Bernstein: Symphonic Dances from “West Side Story”
20. Giuseppi Verdi: Requiem

I have also created a .pdf file for those who might want to print it out, take notes, or whatever. I will post that as soon as I figure out how to best do that!

Introduction

A long story about how this project came about:

When I was in the 5th grade, Mrs. Elder had a record player in the front of the room. This was around 1989, and people were just getting tired of cassette tapes (especially when the tape would get caught in the player) but not yet ready for CDs. Hey, records still work fine, they are just too big.

In the morning as we were getting settled for a long day of 5th grade work, Mrs. Elder would put on a record, and the music was usually something from the Classical repertoire. The only one I really remember was Smetana's "The Moldau" and it would literally take you to some other place (but most of the time I would find my way back to the second floor of Greenbriar East Elementary school!). She also mentioned that there was a local radio station, WGMS 103.5 FM, that played this music, and we would sometimes listen to that, too.

So I would go home and tune in the radio. I discovered some wonderful things like the Bach Brandenburg Concertos, which prominently featured the French horn. Maybe somehow that is how I was attracted to begin playing it in the 7th grade.

As I got into playing in the band, I continued to listen. I got a CD player for Christmas or my birthday (don't remember which), and began collecting CDs of Classical music, beginning with a set that was sold week-by-week in the grocery store. That's where I discovered Mussorgsky's "Pictures at an Exhibition", among other things.

When I was in high school, I was influenced by the quality band programs in the area who specialized in playing orchestral transcriptions (orchestra pieces rewritten for band; reassigning string parts to the saxophones, clarinets, and other wind players). In my freshman year alone, we explored the music of Paul Dukas (Sorcerer's Apprentice), Bernstein (Candide) Rimsky-Korsakov (Scheherazade), and Borodin (Polovetsian Dances). I would go to Kemp Mill Music in Greenbriar or Tower Records and search for professional recordings of these pieces. Each came with other pieces that I would later enjoy as well.

Once I got to James Madison University as a music major, I was surprised by how (simultaneously) I knew so much more music than a lot of people (who doesn't know Dvorak's 8th Symphony?!?) yet I knew so little (Mahler 3? What's that? John Rutter? Never heard of him!). There were serious holes in my own foundation, but some people knew even less, and they were destined to be the future music teachers of our children!

So this thought was in my head for a while, and recently I have been associating with some very talented high school musicians who have some deep passions for some music (Mahler, Shostakovich), but know little about some of the great piano or choral works in the repertoire.

I have consulted with some of these people, and have come up with a list of 20 pieces of Classical music that I think everyone should hear. I could have made a much bigger list, but 20 seems like a good number to start with (especially if you are at "0"). Surely there is something on the list that you may not have heard or something that you need to rediscover. Most of these pieces were chosen because:

1. They are not very long
2. They change 'moods' a lot, so they should keep your interest
3. They are representative of the composer's larger body of works
4. They are performed and recorded often
5. They are pieces that I am very familiar with

Those of you who know more about this may argue some of my choices, but I plan to explain why they were chosen as time goes on. I hope that you find this helpful and informative. Please let me know if you have any comments, questions, or suggestions.