The Czech composer Antonin Dvorak (1841 - 1904) did not find it easy to learn German. Nor was it easy for him to compose. For this reason, he only gained his first public recognition when he was 32 years old, although he had finished his studies at the Prague Organ School at the age of 18. For more than ten years, the author fought a hard battle to master the intricacies of composition, the result of which he finally captured in a choral work of 1873, which was followed the same year by his famous Slavonic Dances. From then on, it was all plain sailing.
An Austrian government scholarship
The following year, with the warm support of Johannes Brahms, he was awarded a scholarship that the city of Vienna granted to young artists of limited means. For five years, Dvorak received an annual pension of 400 guilders, a huge sum compared to the 10 guilders a month he had been earning as an organist at St. Adalbert's Church in Prague. After that, nothing hindered his progress. By 1878, the composer's career had definitely taken off, both in his homeland and abroad.
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| Antonin Dvorak (1841 - 1904) |
His efforts crystallized in the great choral work Stabat Mater, and in his eight symphonies, being also named doctor honoris causa of many European universities. The year 1891 brought him undisputed international recognition when Jeannette Thurber, founder of the National Conservatory of New York, sent him an invitation to take over the direction of the establishment. Dvorak, at first reluctant, eventually accepted the position. The fifteen thousand dollars a year offered was more than he had earned in his entire life.
Ninth Symphony "From the New World"
In September 1892, accompanied by his family, he set out for New York. He remained there for two years, and in 1893 composed what is perhaps his most popular work, the Ninth Symphony in E minor, which he himself entitled "From the New World". Premiered at Carnegie Hall on December 16, 1893, it was an immediate success, being seen from then as a reflection of the "American musical universe".
Despite Dvorak's interest in the black and indigenous music of the United States, the day before the premiere, in an interview for the New York Herald, he slightly relativized the influence of that music in his work:
"I have not actually used any of the [Native American] melodies. I have simply written original themes embodying the peculiarities of Indian music, and, using these themes as subjects, have developed them with all the resources of modern rhythms, counterpoint, and orchestral colour."
Movements:
The work is in four movements: Adagio - allegro molto / Largo / Scherzo / Allegro con fuoco, and lasts around 40 minutes.
Presented here is the fourth and last movement, in the rendition of the Vienna Philharmonic conducted by Herbert von Karajan.
