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Lesson 5: Antonín Dvořák: Symphony No. 9 "From the New World"- Antonín Dvořák: Symphony No. 9 "From the New World," analysis by Gerard Schwarz (part 1)
- Antonín Dvořák: Symphony No. 9 "From the New World," analysis by Gerard Schwarz (part 2)
- Antonín Dvořák: Symphony No. 9 "From the New World," analysis by Gerard Schwarz (part 3)
- Antonín Dvořák: Symphony No. 9 "From the New World," analysis by Gerard Schwarz (part 4)
- Antonín Dvořák: Symphony No. 9 "From the New World", a commentary by Joseph Horowitz
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Antonín Dvořák: Symphony No. 9 "From the New World," analysis by Gerard Schwarz (part 1)
Watch the full performance here. Created by All Star Orchestra.
Want to join the conversation?
- Why is the piece often labeled as Symphony #5 and Symphony #9?(13 votes)
- As Jenny said, there were 4 lost symphonies that were discovered after Dvorak's death. One interesting implication of this is that some people say that the 9 Symphony Curse does not actually apply to Dvorak, since he only published 5 symphonies before his death, even though he wrote 9.(3 votes)
- Is there a reason for the bizarre rhythmic notation in his score? The scores I have seen of this symphony are far simpler and more intuitive.(5 votes)
- Maybe the scores you have seen are simplified or arranged. This score is generally similar to the other scores I've seen.(4 votes)
- I'm curious about in, when flute and oboe solo, the meaning of B flat, why suddenly the theme changed into minor and then major again? Does it mean a preparation for a shift to another theme? The B flat is a bit inspiring for me :D 1:55(6 votes)
- I don't really know, but I'm guessing it had something to do with what happens when the two notes clash? I think since the B played by the flute might not mix perfectly, and it might make it sound minor. Also, from my experience, sometimes composers add things like this just to make the music more interesting to listen to. This might be why you noticed it. It also was the end of that musical phrase, so you might be right about the shift to another theme.(2 votes)
- In the video, when conducting the conductor looks very strict and meaningful. Is that a side affect of his attention and messages he is conveying to those playing per say?(5 votes)
- Yes, conductors usually use emotions in the style of their personal conducting to convey a certain feeling when playing or hearing the piece; especially in this example, the first movement of Dvorak's new world symphony. Its in the key of e minor, and the piece is filled with passages with the strings and brass in triple forte, which supports the conductors reasoning to look very strict when conducting this movement.(3 votes)
- On the piano I can see the fp(1 note forte and next note piano) and pf(1 note piano and next note being forte) being very easy. However it is very hard for the orchestra.
Why are fortepiano and pianoforte(both of these have been used to designate the instrument itself but I am talking about the dynamics) so easy for a pianist yet so hard for an orchestra?(3 votes) - What is a theme? Schwarz refers multiple times to the themes in the symphony. How are they different from the other groups of notes?(1 vote)
- A theme is a musical idea. It's usually the melody of a piece. :)(5 votes)
- How many symphonies did dvorak compose?(2 votes)
- Dvorak composed a total of nine symphonies. His most popular symphonies are his last three, the seventh, eighth, and ninth symphonies. Of those, his ninth symphony is the most famous. Due to the order in which his symphonies were published, Dvorak's ninth symphony was originally termed his fifth symphony. Later musicological work discovered Dvorak's earlier symphonies, and the numbering has since been revised to the current cataloging.(3 votes)
- What is fanfare?(2 votes)
- A fanfare (or flourish) is a short musical flourish that is typically played by trumpets or other brass instruments, often accompanied by percussion. By extension, the word may also designate a short, prominent passage for brass instruments in an orchestral composition.(1 vote)
- Why does Dvorak use many melodies, instead of using a single melody and repeating it like Beethoven? I know this song is unusual, but with so many melodies, it makes it hard to remember! Why?(2 votes)
- Well, each composer and writer has his or her own style of music. So for this piece, Dvorak wanted more complexity and more intricate melodies, whereas is some of Beethoven's pieces, he starts out with a big, rich one-line melody and has it weaved in other places in the music later on. Hope this helped.
-Meow(1 vote)
- What is the difference between a conductor and a composer?(1 vote)
- The conductor is the guy that stands in front of everyone in the orchestra. The composer is the person that wrote the symphony.(2 votes)
Video transcript
(Symphony No. 9 in E
Minor by Antonin Dvorak) - Dvorak wrote nine symphonies. The Ninth certainly is the most popular and it was extremely popular from the time it was premiered. It is extraordinary when you think that Dvorak wrote some
of his greatest music those few years that he was in New York and in Spillville, Iowa, the cello concerto, the
American string quartet, and this great symphony,
among other works. The symphony begins in a
kind of melancholy way. The cellos play this
very soft little theme, but it's an introduction,
like all symphonies from Mozart and Haydn on, they
had that slow introduction. It starts with a melancholy,
beautiful soft gesture from the cellos accompanied
by the other strings and then all of a sudden
a horn has a little, almost a fanfare, a couple of notes, but it's startling. (orchestral music) The introduction then
goes to the woodwinds, the flute leading with oboes accompanying and bassoons eventually. Same thing happens. Very beautiful, soft, elegant, but this time the strings
come in fortissimo, loud, and then the timpani come
in, the woodwinds answer. It's a really extraordinary moment. (orchestra playing) Then you hear this little
agitated section, the woodwinds. (orchestra playing) Two horns come in playing this theme which eventually will be theme one. That's repeated (orchestra playing) A little aggressive,
violent string playing especially from the
second violins and violas. (orchestra playing) A little timpani solo, and we're into the body of the movement. And sure enough it begins
with those two horns, the third and the fourth horn, playing the first theme. What Dvorak does so interestingly is he doesn't take two melodic groups and then repeats it, develops
it and then recapitulates it. No, he has many melodies. He has so many melodies just throughout the whole piece and he brings them back as I'll show you. So, it begins with the horns, repeated, extended by
the clarinet and bassoon, and then the strings play that melody loud, fortissimo. Then it backs away, it starts to crescendo and sure enough the
trombones play the melody. (orchestra playing)
The extension now is by the strings rather
than the clarinets and the bassoons. It's all strong. It's remarkable. (orchestra playing) The second theme, which certainly sounds like
a folk melody of some kind, is played by the flute and the oboe. (orchestra playing) Then the second violins take it over. Then the cellos and basses take it over. Then it's somewhat developed. So again a little
different in symphonic form than we're used to because he takes that theme and rather than just moving on he actually develops that
theme at that moment. (orchestra playing) And next we have what we
consider the third theme. It's introduced by the low flute. Dvorak also did some remarkable things in terms of instrumentation. The use of the flute in this register is unusual and it's poignant
and very different sounding than it would be if an oboe
played it or a clarinet. And I think, a stroke of genius. (orchestra playing) Violins take over the same material. (orchestra playing) And then, the cellos and basses come over with the same tune but now they're playing
the same tune fortissimo. (orchestra playing) We arrive now at the repeat. So, Dvorak asks us to
repeat the whole beginning. Many conductors do not do this repeat. I'm a great believer in it, obviously because Dvorak wrote it, but secondarily there is so much material that he has given us,
so many themes already and development of those
themes in a small ways that we really need to hear it again as far as I'm concerned. And after the repeat we
have this third theme. This time it's played as a horn fanfare. So, it's a completely different sound. The horn plays a little fanfare and it's echoed by a piccolo solo. Again, a remarkable stroke
of orchestrational genius on Dvorak's part. (orchestra playing) The trumpets take over,
the oboes extend it. (orchestra playing) And then we get the
trumpet play theme three. (orchestra playing) And then the trombones play theme one. (orchestra playing) Then we do the same thing with the horn playing theme three. And trombones play theme one. (orchestra playing) After this combination again
it's developed slightly, we get to what we consider
the recapitulation where we go back to the first theme played by the third and the fourth horn, and it is pretty clear. Then the oboe plays it, then
the flute does the extension. The violins play it quite loudly. And at the end of that it
gets softer and softer. And now we have a solo
for the second flute bringing in again the second theme and just in a beautiful soft way and then that gets extended
by all of the woodwinds. (orchestra playing) The recapitulation continues
in obvious fashion. After this development section we make a decrescendo or diminuendo and folk theme comes again
played by the second flute. (orchestra playing)
All of these themes get developed towards
the end of the movement and it comes to an end. There's very little what
we could call filler. Very little sequential material. It's all very direct with these themes the way they're developed,
the way they're combined. And the movement goes by and it feels like it takes a minute because it's so remarkable. (orchestra playing)
Interestingly that he never brings
back the opening material from that introduction, which is something rare in his case as you'll see as we go through this piece.