Absolutely amazing (Dvorák: Symphony No 9 'from The New World'.)

Member Name: coliner

Product:	Dvorák: Symphony No 9 'from The New World'.
Date:	20/06/01 (948 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Great tunes, Easy to listen to, But still plenty of meaning

Disadvantages: Not many if you like classical music

I'm still a novice in the world of classical music and every week or so I discover something new and amazing. My shiny new toy for the past few weeks though has been Anton Dvorak.

Anton Dvorak was Czech, born in Prague in 1841. He died in 1904, also in Prague. He wrote a wide range of music from opera to symphonies. However he is particularly well known for two pieces of music, his Ninth Symphony and Cello Concerto.

He wrote his Ninth Symphony (aka The New World Symphony or 'From the New World') after spending 3 years (from 1892-5)in America as a director of the National Conservatory in New York. He taught composition while producing the Ninth Symphony, the String Quartet in F, the String Quintet in E-flat and the Cello Concerto.

Due to his loyalty to his family and country (as well as finanical difficulties) he returned to Czechoslovakia where he wrote symphonic poems and the fairytale opera Rusalka (1901).

His works show the influence of Czech folk music. Particularly in The Ninth Symphony one can also hear the influence of American Negro and folk music. However there is no direct lift of melodies from the American music. He admired compsosers such as Mozart, Haydn, Beethoven, Brahms and Schubert.

The Cello Concerto is a very deep, brooding and almost troubled piece of music. Many people (myself included) consider it to be the finest Cello Concerto ever written. If you fancy a listen try the Rostroprovich version on Deutsche Gramophone.

The Ninth Symphony is more light-hearted and I find it great fun. It is especially wonderful to listen to live but it also makes for an uplifting piece of music to put on at home. It is chocked full of magical tunes and melodies. You'll definitely recognise a few - especially the Hovis Bread theme tune which Hovis borrowed from the Ninth Symphony. Again Deutsche Gramphone have several great recordings but most other labels also have great recordings since it is
so popular.

I can promise you that even if you only like classical music a bit you will find the Ninth Symphony amazing and it may even persuade you to find out more about this amazing man!!

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