A symphonic masterpiece: Dvořák's Symphony No. 9 “From the New World” was performed by the Youth Symphony Orchestra of Ukraine under the baton of Oksana Lyniv at a solidarity concert for Ukraine. The concert took place at the Beethovenfest Bonn 2022 in the Bonn Opera.
(00:00) coming on stage
(00:27) I. Adagio. Allegro molto
(12:49) II. Largo
(24:29) III. Scherzo: Molto vivace
(32:24) IV. Finale: Allegro con fuoco
Antonín Dvořák's (1841 - 1904) Symphony No. 9 in E minor, Op. 95 "From the New World" is the musical testimony of a fusion of sounds from home and abroad. Although Dvořák composed the world-famous Ninth Symphony “in the spirit of American folk songs” during a stay in the USA, he actually invented the themes and motifs reminiscent of Bohemian folk tunes himself.
Dvořák had left his homeland in Bohemia (in what is today the Czech Republic) in 1892 for New York, where he was director of the National Conservatory of Music until 1895. Dvořák named the symphony he wrote in New York in 1893 “From the New World”, after it was first published as Symphony No. 5. According to the composer, the symphony was intended to reflect his idea of the spirit of American music. Dvořák had listened to melodies of North American natives and African-American holy people played to him to capture their musical spirit – he did not want to adopt the music directly under any circumstances. In the second and third movements of “From the New World”, Dvořák also references the epic poem Hiawatha by U.S. author Henry Wadsworth Longfellow (1807 - 1882), which tells the story of the fictitious chief Hiawatha. But beyond the explicit agenda of writing a symphony “From the New World”, Dvořák also incorporates Bohemian folk music into his Ninth and draws from this mix a wealth of catchy melodies. It is the fusion of supposedly North American and Bohemian folk music that gives Dvořák's Symphony No. 9 its special appeal. The premiere on December 16, 1893, with the New York Philharmonic conducted by Anton Seidl was a resounding success, as were the first performances in Europe. To this day, Dvořák's Ninth Symphony is very popular with audiences. And astronaut Neil Armstrong even took it with him on the Apollo 11 mission that led to the first moon landing in 1969.
The Youth Symphony Orchestra of Ukraine was founded in 2017 as part of the Campus Project by Deutsche Welle and Beethovenfest Bonn. The musicians, all aged between twelve and twenty-two years old, had to flee from the Russian invasion of Ukraine from different parts of the country. These young Ukrainian musicians gather again to play concerts, finding solace and a piece of home in playing music together. Dvořák's 9th Symphony, the epitome of the fusion of homesickness and departure for new worlds, is tailor-made for the war-shaken youth orchestra from Ukraine.
The Beethovenfest Bonn is one of the oldest and most important music festivals in Germany. Founded in Beethoven’s birthplace in 1845 by Franz Liszt, it is now an internationally recognized cultural beacon with around 80 events in Bonn and the region every year in August and September.
© DEUTSCHE WELLE 2022
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