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Symphony No. 9 in E minor op. 95 “From the New World”
Bohemian Suite in D minor op. 39
Slovak Radio Symphony Orchestra
Ivan Anguélov, conductor

There are few recordings of Dvorˇák’s entire symphonic repertoire, but among them, the production of the Slovak Radio Symphony Orchestra conducted by Ivan Anguélov plays a central role (OehmsClassics OC 376). “The Slovak Radio Symphony Orchestra, playing under Bulgarian conductor Ivan Anguélov, performs with youthful verve and offers a fresh, spontaneous, differentiated interpretation. (…) very slender (…), all massiveness is avoided…” writes Fono Forum (July 2005). The most well known of Dvorˇák’s symphonies, Symphony No. 9 in E minor “From the New World” as well as the colorful and captivating “Bohemian Suite, op. 39” are now available on a single CD.

The “Bohemian Brahms” in New York

Two things made Antonín Dvorák famous: his complete mastery of compositional technique together with his folkloristic tone. He was given the title of honor “Bohemian Brahms” because he had managed to combine the aesthetic ideals of absolute music propagated by his German colleague – eight years his senior – with his people’s traditional folk music.

After composing his Serenade for Winds and Slavic Dances, Dvorák had originally wanted to write another serenade. He decided otherwise, and created a suite containing Czech folk dances. Only at the work’s premiere on May 16, 1879 in Prague did its content give rise to its name.

The Suite in D Major, op. 39 opens with a pastorale prelude with only one subject. A magical idyll unfolds: the perfect stage for the subsequent series of dances. The first of these is a lively but slightly melancholy Polka and Trio of the type known in Bohemia since the 1830s. In the following Sousedská – a so-called “gaffer’s dance” with the character of a landler – Dvorák also uses a single theme, as in the Preludio. The piece goes through numerous transformations. Its whirling conclusion is a rousing Furiant, a dance that found its way into art music through Bedr¡ich Smetana’s opera The Bartered Bride.

From 1892 until 1895, Dvorák interrupted his work at the Prague Conservatory, which he had only begun in 1891, to take over as director of Jeanette Thurber’s National Conservatory in New York for two-and-a-half years. In addition to his teaching, he also had enough time to conduct, but also to compose his important “American” works such as the Symphony No. 9 in E Minor “From the New World”, op. 95.

Dvorák denied the allegation that he had quoted American folk melodies, saying “I did not use a single one of these melodies. I simply wrote my own themes, which I infused with characteristics of Indian music, and in doing so I allowed them to unfold by giving them all the achievements of modern rhythm, harmony, counterpoint and orchestral color.”

The first movement of this symphony, which premiered in New York on December 16, 1893, is completely classical in form with secondary themes in the textbook keys of G minor and G major. The Largo in D-sharp major, with the English horn theme that time and again descends to the harmonic center of gravity, as well as the middle section in C-sharp minor are among Dvorák’s greatest and most popular inspirations. The following Scherzo in E minor is differentiated and clearly structured, full of variety but still resolute. Its C major trio clearly shows the composer’s love of Schubert. Almost like Mahler’s last symphony, the final movement is the work’s core. The main themes of the previous movements return, the large-scale structure bursts the classical dimensions; development, counterpoint and modulations are treated especially carefully; transitions are won from transformations of the main brass themes; the Finale is simultaneously an autonomous movement and a general recapitulation.

One can only heartily concur with the words of Dvorák expert and long-time principle conductor of the Prague Philharmonic, Václav Neumann: “Yes, this is the most wonderful symphony in the Czech repertoire.”