Famous works · Romantic
Symphony No. 9 in E minor, “From the New World”
Composed 1893 · premiered 16 December 1893, New York
Written in America by a Czech composer, it became one of the most loved symphonies ever composed.
The story behind it
In 1892 Dvořák left Prague to direct the National Conservatory of Music in New York, invited by its founder Jeannette Thurber, who hoped he would help Americans find a national musical voice.
He wrote the symphony during his first months in the city. He said he had absorbed the spirit of African American spirituals and Native American music, though every melody in the work is his own.
The New York Philharmonic premiered it at Carnegie Hall to an ovation so warm that Dvořák stood and bowed from his box after each movement.
What to listen for
- The solo cor anglais melody of the Largo — later turned into the song “Goin’ Home”.
- Themes from earlier movements returning together in the blazing finale.