MusiLLection

America welcomed Dvořák, and the scenes of daily activity inspired him in the "From the New World" Symphony. On December 20, 1892, three months after arriving in the United States, Antonín Dvořák began planning his ninth symphony. He gave the subtitle "From the New World" recognizing the source of his inspiration. He completed the last of the four parts on May 24, 1893, writing with relief in the manuscript "Thank God!". It was the first complete composition in America. "I just wrote in the spirit of American folk songs," Dvořák replied when he was accused of copying the Negro spirituals. Indeed, his melodies are entirely authentic and are reminiscent of the rhythms and vocal style of negro songs rather than trying to imitate the songs themselves. The first performance of the Symphony No. 9 under the direction of Anton Seidl in Carnegie Hall, New York, on December 16, 1893, was extremely successful. The New York Herald newspaper referred to ...

Front of the piano transcription of Bizet's L' Arlésienne . This second suite was created after the death of Georges Bizet by Ernest Guiraud, one of his collaborators. Guiraud used three pieces from Bizet's original, which includes the famous Farandole, but curiously added Menuet from his almost forgotten opera, "The Fair Maid of Perth". It is a wonderful work, particularly beloved by the concert audience, although it does not attribute the drama of rural life of Provence as depicted in the original. Movements : I. Pastorale Pastorale is scenography at its best. The thunderous rhythm of the music, submits the image of the villagers returning from the fields in the midday heat. But there is also lyricism, in the wonderful melody reminiscent of bird chirping and which is introduced just before the pastoral theme is heard again. II. Intermezzo In Intermezzo the main melody is rendered by saxophone and horn, accompanied by the strings. It's music is simple and ...

Like many great composers before him, César Franck earned his living more as a virtuoso performer than as a composer. Most of his works were widely recognized after his death Towards the end of his career César Franck realized that French music had little great work to present for piano and orchestra, and decided to contribute to the change of scenery. In 1884 he experimented using piano and orchestra in his symphonic poem "Les Djinns" (a symphonic poem is a work for an orchestra based on a theme that is not musical). Finally its goal was achieved in 1885 with the synthesis of the Symphonic Variations - a work of timeless quality. Franck's original idea was aimed at a concert-form project, in which, however, the piano would share the musical theme just as much as the orchestra. In his early thoughts he envisioned a form based on Beethoven 's great works, as well as great composers of the Baroque era. What he eventually composed, however, is more reminiscent of imagin...

  Gioachino Rossini This is Gioachino Rossini 's most serious operatic work since William Tell . It is an opera in two acts and it was first presented at Venice's La Fenice Theatre on February 3, 1823. The libretto by Gaetano Rossi is based on Voltaire's tragedy Semiramis , which in turn was based on the legend of Semiramis of Assyria. The originality of the Overture is that it incorporates music from the opera, which strengthens the bond between the instrumental composition of the beginning and the drama that follows.  The Overture  starts with drum rolls and the music moves from pianissimo (very quiet) to fortissimo (very loud) in less than half a minute. A brief pause leads to a quiet, flowing melody presented by horns and bassoons. The previous fortissimo returns and then repeats the melody of the horn for a second time, but now in the woodwinds accompanied by decorative pizzicatti in harmonic chords of strings. A sudden dramatic chord interrupts and begins the m...