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BPO Programme (v2) 24 OCT 2010:Layout 1 24/10/10 08:55 Page 8
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BY PETER BACK © 2010
Symphony No. 9 in E
minor ‘From the New
World’
Antonín Dvořák (1841-1904)
Adagio – Allegro molto
Largo
Scherzo: Molto vivace
Allegro con fuoco
Dvořák thought
long and hard
before going to live
and work in
America. Earlier, on
the advice of
Brahms, he had
contemplated a less
radical move to
Vienna. But he was
a Czech artist, with
a strong attachment to his homeland, so
such a move was never seriously
considered. He was widely known of
course, particularly in England where
enthusiasm for his music had played a
major part in establishing him as an
international figure.
Dvořák was not an adventurous man.
When going on a long journey he insisted
on not travelling alone and needed
constant reassurance about travel
arrangements. Anxious by nature, he
began to show signs of agoraphobia later
in life and even refused to cross the streets
of Prague without the assistance of one of
his students. He was also something of a
hypochondriac; he worried that the
cold weather might affect him in Moscow
and was disturbed by reports of an
influenza epidemic in England. A move to
the ‘New World’, therefore, was not
undertaken lightly.
When, in the spring of 1891, Dvořák
received a telegraph offering him a post in
New York, it is hardly surprising that he
turned it down without much thought.
But Mrs Jeannette Thurber, the wife of a
millionaire grocer, was not easily put off.
She was a great philanthropist – she had
founded the American Opera Company
and the National Conservatory of Music of
America. In June she sent another
message: 'Would you accept Director
National Conservatory of Music New York
October 1892 also lead six concerts of your
works.' She was confident that Dvořák
could realise her dream of establishing a
national American school of composition.
After a great deal of negotiating he agreed
to accept the position, initially for two years.
Understandably he was anxious about
what lay ahead. Sadly, he would be parted
from his four older children and he would
miss his friends and the country that
meant so much to him. On the other hand
he realised there would be many valuable
and rewarding experiences ahead and that
much was to be gained by plunging into
the unknown. So, with a great deal of trepidation,
Dvořák began his great American
adventure.
From New York, on 12 April 1893, Dvořák
wrote: ‘I have just finished a new
symphony in E minor. It pleases me very