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n o t e s
Nine years after the success of his D-minor symphony, Dvorˇák set out to compose his Eighth at his
home in Prague. Called the “English” symphony, owing to its publication in London by Novello
(initially as “Symphony No. 4”), the Eighth has become a favorite of concertgoers everywhere.
The first thematic group of the Allegro con brio opens—not yet con brio—with the rich colors of the
lower woodwinds, brass and cellos in G minor, not major. A hint of the cheerier major mode begins
with the birdcall of the flute; sighs come from the strings until the timpani and lower brass begin a
big orchestral crescendo. After the short climactic moment, strings effect the true establishment of
G major across the entire orchestra, its melodic shape reminiscent of the earlier birdcall. The flutes
and oboes present the second, more conversational, group of themes, including one of dark, almost
sinister hue, and a reprise of the opening. Duets—the flute and violas, then violins and oboes—mark
the beginning of the development and are soon interrupted by the darker thematic transformations.
This all leads to the recapitulation, now heroic, as the opening theme is dominated by trumpets. The
forward lurch in tempo, called a stretto, marks the coda.
Dvorˇák builds his second movement on two contrasting ideas, one uncertain, one stable. The opening
seems detached at first, as fragmentary brooding ideas coalesce across strings and winds. The second
subject occupies the realm of the purest and most stable key of all, C major. Note the elegant scalar
cascades that permeate the accompaniment, one of several indications of “outdoor” music. The
third movement is a melancholy G-minor waltz, with a G-major trio for winds in gorgeous eight-bar
phrases. The coda has the character of a polka.
The finale, a sonata-rondo introduced by the bold trumpet fanfare, presents an exposition in four
variations of the melody, the first alluding directly in orchestration and manner to the opening of
the first movement, and gathering at length into a lavish, frenzied dance for full orchestra. The flute
departs in a virtuoso turn, unveiling a rustic march for gypsy-band instruments. With the return of
the now-familiar cello textures, the movement begins to dissipate and reminisce, closing then with a
final tutti statement, bursting with its sheer joy and happiness. In the long run Dvorˇák had nothing
much to add to sonata practice, but his rhapsodic treatments, like this one, are hard to beat.
—Fawzi Haimor
D v o rˇ á k : s y m p h o n y
n o . 8 i n G m a j o r
for piccolo, flutes I-II, oboes I-
II, clarinets I- , bassoons I-II;
horns I-IV, trumpets I-II, I-II,
trombones I-III, tuba; timpani;
strings
composed 6 August-8
November 889 in Prague;
offered in 890 “for my installation
as a member of the Czech
Academy of the Emperor Franz
Joseph for Sciences, Literature,
and Arts”
first performed February
890 by the National Theater
Orchestra, Prague, Dvorˇák conducting
published by Novello, Ewer &
Co. (London, 89 ). Inexpensive
score: Antonín Dvorˇák:
Symphonies Nos. 8 and 9 in Full
Score (New York: Dover, 984)
Duration: about 40 minutes
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