DVORAK: SYMPHONY No. 9 "FROM THE NEW WORLD"

Antonin Dvorak was born in what is now the Czech Republic. In the 1890's he visited America and developed diverse thematic material for a new symphony, which he would call "From the New World", his 9th. This recording is possibly the greatest interpretation commercially available, and certainly one of the more brand name recordings. I have heard rave reviews about the Karajan version, Bernstein version and even Eugene Ormandy version. But George Solti, no stranger to large-scale orchestral music (having conducted Wagner's Ring on studio recording) is very expert in conducting this Romantic, almost modern work that uses American themes. The opening adagio-allegro is powerful and dark, while the Largo is spiritual in its slower pace. This is where the American themes tie in. The Largo is better known as "Going Home" a Spiritual sung by African slaves in the South. On orchestra, this theme sounds far more poignant and bittersweet. The Scherzo movement is a tad reminiscent of the scherzo from Beethoven's 9th (Dvorak was of course an admirer of Beethoven and since this was his 9th, perhaps he intended to echo it a bit)Musically, it is of course appropriate to the structure of his symphony. It even paints the picture of wild horses running across the plains. The Fourth movement and finale, marked "allegro con fuoco" -Italian for "allegro with fire" is indeed fiery and fatal sounding. It has strong accents and fortissimos and conjures the image of an Indian War Dance. This music is indeed very American, though at this time it lacked jazz to make it complete. It would not be until such later American composers as Aaron Copland and Charles Ives that wrote American symphonic music. --Rudy Avila "Saint Seiya" Shop here