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Jeremy Bell, Violin

 

Program
In Nature’s Realm Opus 91

Violin Concerto  Opus 53

Intermission

Symphony No. 9 Opus 95

(from the New World)

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Program Notes

 

In Nature’s Realm Opus 91.

 

Dvorak, as many other composers, drew on his love of nature and the countryside for inspiration.   This piece is one of his least performed and least known of his compositions.  I can find no reason for this as it is so delightful, so full of melody and passion and beauty.   Dvorak wrote this just before his travels to America and his 9th symphony.  From the first murmurs in the low strings, we hear the sound of the cuckoo - the awakening of a new day. He had purchased a county home and withdrew to it to compose in peace as so many composers did before and after him. The cuckoo theme is later joined to some snippets of an old Czech hymn, “Let Us Sing Joyfully, Praise God The Father,” which seems to reinforce the composer's view of the unity between God and Nature.  After a stirring climax, we then return to the peaceful nature and the cuckoo’s soft call as the composition comes to a close.

 

Violin Concerto Opus 53

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As with many, if not most, concerti, the composer writes with a particular soloist in mind.  One cannot overemphasise the importance of the inspiration of virtuosity and excellence of soloists.  The Dvorak violin concerto is no exception.  The work was written for the great violinist Joachim, and it was hoped he would premiere it as he had premiered Beethoven's violin concerto in D and Brahms concerto.  A manuscript was sent, but no formal agreement was reached with the great soloist due, in part, to some objectionable details in the composition.  The work is a very important staple in the violin repertoire.  The finale is magical, with the ⅜ dance-like theme alternating with a duple section complete with fugue.  It is a beautiful masterpiece that you’ll hum for days.

Antonin Dvorak.

Symphony no.9 Opus 95 (from the New World)

 

Dvorak was highly revered and passionately loved and often performed during his lifetime and subsequently.  His music is deeply rooted in his Czech homeland - incorporating and drawing on the music of the people.  His symphony “From the New World” has all the external signs of being a work that was “American.”  After all, he was invited to the USA to teach and direct at the newly established National Conservatory in New York in 1892, and it was there that he composed this symphony.  It is hailed as an American work, but there are no real American folk tunes or dance forms found in it.  Even the Cor Anglais solo in the second movement (inspired by episodes in Longfellow’s Song of Hiawatha, which Dvořák had read in a Czech translation) has no native American basis. It is more in the tradition of a Black spiritual.  The words “goin’ home, goin’ home” were added years later.  This has all been fodder for lengthy discussions across the globe. Suffice it to say that Dvorak was in America when he wrote it and it’s clear that his surroundings and musical experiences played a part in the creative process.  The symphony is a brilliant masterpiece - one of the most performed and most loved of Dvorak’s works.  It is full of his trademarks - the Scherzo is based on the ‘furiant’ - a Czech dance found in many of his other works.  The final movement draws on thematic material from the first three movements,  giving it a powerful unity. To decide if it’s truly an American or Czech symphony, we will have to wait to see if there is a 25% tariff charged when performed south of the border in the coming months…