My first live Dvořák ninth, that is. The BSO was in amazing shape and it brought down the house. The linked notes about the piece provide the symphony’s historical context, with Dvořák trying to help the United States build a national musical style, but of course, as a non-American, being criticized by those who deemed his work not American enough, for opposite reasons: either too much European inspiration, or too much African-American inspiration. Sometimes you just can’t win.
About the premiere in Manhattan:
The audience roared and greeted the composer with a standing ovation, leading critics to pick up the thread. The Times observed that the symphony “throbs with American feeling,” while a writer who wasn’t at the concert but spoke to several listeners found that Dvořák had depicted a “larger Americanism” of El Capitan, Mammoth Cave, and Niagara Falls—vast natural wonders. Still, though, reflecting a wider skepticism about the entire project, certain critics were unable to accept that a great symphony could find inspiration in the music of formerly enslaved people. A brief note in the Musical Courier, a leading New York magazine, put it this way: “Dvořák’s is an American symphony: is it? Themes from negro melodies; conducted by a Hungarian and played by Germans in a hall built by a Scotchman. About one-third of the audience were Americans and so were the critics.”
Is it truly an American symphony? Is the twelfth string quartet truly American? Is the viola quintet Op. 97 American? (I played the first half in my first semester at Berkeley and it will forever sound like the United States to me.) Maybe, maybe not, or maybe it doesn’t matter. To me it’s simply (or not that simply, really) a powerful piece written by someone who was trying to build a bridge between two continents, which is something I understand very well.