Very nice, beautiful music.  It's not my favorite type, but no doubt there are some potential BIG FANS that participate here !!
 

BornToFarm wrote:

I have read that some say that his #9 is the best #9 symphony out there.  I don't know, but it sure sounds good to me.

New World is my favorite Dvorak work. 

He was hired to direct the new National Conservatory, which became Juilliard. During summers, he was homesick for his ranch in Czechoslovakia, and he found a working ranch-farm in Iowa where he satisfied that itch. He spend five summers on the ranch in Iowa, and that is where New World was crafted. Dvorak was clearly inspired by this symphony. In its presence we are witnesses to something much greater than us. This is a work to draw tears from the eyes of those who listen and understand the great and timeless meaning. This is a work, truly American, crafted from and about the great melting pot crucible. Pity those who lost sight of this vision. 

In First Movement, we hear two "American" themes. A cowboy, and a Native American. After the introduction, the cowboy theme is first. It soars up an arpeggio, and then descends. In symphony style, he then develops it. It calms down in a transition to the Native American theme. He remarked Native American music and African ethnic music were very similar, based both on pentatonic, or five-note scales. The themes alternate in development, somewhat telling the story of the friction caused by these great cultures rubbing together. 

Second Movement is dedicated entirely to African ethnic style. All themes in the symphony are his originals. But the second movement theme is close to a Negro spiritual entitled "Goin' home." I'm sure you know what that meant. 

Third movement is the unbridled energy of the industrialists, and their immigrant employees as primary and secondary themes working in concert together. When the vision turns west, as was that American expansion, Dvorak brings back the cowboy theme of the first movement, and develops it in waltz time. The primary and secondary themes return in symphony style- that recapitulation as the composer's exclamation point. 

John Williams borrowed the opening notes of the Fourth Movement to use in Jaws... in a much lower register. The introduction leads to a homage to the European immigrant settlers, and again abounds in incredible energy. Their trip here wasn't easy, crossing an ocean. They saved and spent everything they earned to get here, had a new language to learn, and were interested in creation of a new, "American" culture. They were not lazy and intent to force everyone else to adapt to their laziness. They earned their way, and once here, continued. The final closing "theme" wrapping up the symphony is a Sol Si, Re, Fa, Sol V7 chord arpeggio up and down- - a wal;king bass line, and a quote of the new "jazz" style sweeping America. 

 

Last edited by Pikes Peak 14115 (6/03/2020 9:35 pm)

BornToFarm wrote:

I.ve listened to the first movement several times. and altho it took me a while, I think I was able to pick out the cowboy and native american themes.   Do composers think this stuff up before they write the music, and then make the music about those themes, or do they write the music and then think.....you know, that could be about cowboys and such?

I do know that in the 1812 Overture, there is the constant battle between "God save the Czar" and the French National Anthem, La Marseillaise.  And it seems like the French get chased out of the country at the end of the Overture.  But that is one of the few I picked up on my own.

Both. Most improvise at first, then sketch and work things out

A symphony is first written on a grand staff, like for a piano. Then the composer "paints" on a 24 stave score with the colors of instruments of the orchestra. They go top to bottom

piccolo
flute
oboe 
English horn
clarinet
bassoon
contrabassoon
F horn
trumpet
trombone
tuba
percussion
piano
harp
violin
viola
cello
bass

Most are in pairs. F Horn has 2 pairs. Piccolo and contrabassoon are solo. Tuba is solo. 
8 - 16 1st violins
8-16 2nd violins
6-12 violas
6-8 cellos
4-8 basses

Each instrument has unique colors, and sometimes different colors in different registers or ranges. The strings are transparent, and carry what ever color of woodwinds or brass they accompany.  F horns played forte or loud are bold, golden, and heroic. The clarinet is a range of yellows, from very bright in the high register, to brown in the low. Great orchestrators wrote books about their techniques and methods. Best is by whom we consider the master of the orchestra- Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakoff. His book, Principles of Orchestration is a kind of musical bible for students and professionals alike. Some of his direct students were fabulous orchestrators too- Stravinsky, Prokofieff, Glazunoff, and even Ravel studied with him. His masterwork is probably Scheherazadel 

Scheherazade
[url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zY4w4_W30aQ]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zY4w4_W30aQ

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Leif Segerstam - Sinfónica de Galicia
Not normally a great orchestra, or conductor, but this is an extraordinary performance where "magic" happened. 

The four movements are
1. Voyage of Sinbad
2. The Kalendar Prince
3. The Young Prince and young Princess
4. Festival at Baghdad

The story is a sultan, tired of the duplicity of his wives, decided to sleep with each and the following day have her executed. The Sultana Scheherazade, to save her life, told the Sultan a story on the first night, with a hanging ending. The Sultan postponed her execution so he could hear next part of the story. This went on for a thousand and one nights.- The Arabian Nights. Finally, he realized his plan was a big mistake, and didn't execute anyone. 

In Scheherazade you can hear the seductive ways she tells each story. It is an amazing work of masterful orchestration. 

There is often considerable planning and working things out between beginning and final product. 

Dvorak didn't borrow any folk melodies, but he crafted those he used after examples he learned. 
European music like this usually tells a story. In a symphony it is laid out in sonata form. 

In this symphony, there are two principal themes in the first movement, and two secondary themes. These play alternately, and repetition is the composer's exclamation point for emphasis. Principal and secondary themes are exposed, and then closed with a closing theme. Then the principals and secondaries are developed. That means explored. What can be done with them. That often goes through many modulations into new keys- major and minor, loud and soft, fast and slow, often using smaller pieces of the melodies, called motifs. A recapitulation brings the principal and secondary themes back, usually in the key of the dominant. That sets up the final resolution- the end which you find satisfying.  This symphony is in e minor. Its dominant- the "chord" that leads back to the key is B major. If you play a B major chord, it is a question the e minor chord answers. Each note or key has only one dominant. 

The exact story isn't set in stone, and each listener can interpet it differently. Some have wider ranges of story latitude than others. What I described above is what Dvorak intended. How you interpret the story is up to you. 

Some music purists say there is no story. It is just pure music. The arguments sometimes lead to a lot of snobbery in classical music, that may ruin the experience for people. Snobs are best ignored. 

If you enjoy it, that's all that matters.