In Search of an American Music
Antonín Dvořák spent three critical years in America residing in New York City, (with summers in a rural Czech enclave in Iowa), and attending the 1893 Chicago World’s Exposition that is often credited with nurturing the spread of ragtime music. He arrived in 1892 on the invitation of Jeanette Thurber, on a commission to head the newly established National Conservatory of Music. The institution was devoted to the inclusion of African Americans, and even women, in formal musical training. There he was introduced to Negro Spirituals by his assistant, Harry Burleigh who went on to arrange many of those spirituals in classical form.
Dvořák became preoccupied with a conviction that the uniquely American music that everyone was searching for would originate from the country’s unique demographics. He experimented with musical ideas he associated with Native Americans, and was influenced by African American spirituals and syncopation. His most famous quote on this subject, from an editorial in the New York Herald, is often said to predict the development of jazz twenty years later:
“In the Negro melodies of America I discover all that is needed for a great and noble school of music. They are pathétic, tender, passionate, melancholy, solemn, religious, bold, merry, gay or what you will. It is music that suits itself to any mood or purpose. There is nothing in the whole range of composition that cannot be supplied with themes from this source. The American musician understands these tunes and they move sentiment in him.” – Antonín Dvořák, New York Herald, May 21, 1893
Antonín Dvořák’s editorial was sent by wire to Europe where it sparked a conversation about the future of American music. In Vienna Josef Joachim, who had recently had Will Marion Cook as a pupil, responded that “It may be a very good idea to try and merge the American Negro melodies into an ideal form, and that these melodies would then give the tint to the National American Music.”
At the height of a controversy which excited some American composers while frightening others, Dvořák announced that he had already incorporated African American elements into his new symphony to debut in the fall.
On December 16th 1893 Antonín Dvořák debuted his Symphony No. 9 in E Minor “From the New World” at Carnegie Hall, commonly known as the New World Symphony.
Though his symphony was recognized as a brilliant and fresh contribution to classical music, it was also taken in some corners as political interference by an outsider. He was criticized for surrounding himself with and guiding aspiring African American composers, notably Will Marion Cook, who would go on to be a cornerstone of African American theater well into the Jazz Age. Historian and classical conductor Maurice Peress traced a direct legacy of mentorship from Dvořák’s American visit that includes Aaron Copeland, George Gershwin, and others in his book Dvořák to Duke Ellington. As time passed it became more and more clear that Antonín Dvořák’s predictions had borne out.
125 Years Later
In recognition of the 125th anniversary of the historic Carnegie Hall concert the Foundation for the Revival of Classical Culture is hosting an event on Tuesday, December 18th in the Stern Auditorium / Perelman Stage section of Carnegie Hall. The same stage on which the original concert was given.
The event titled, Antonín Dvořák- “America is an Idea, Not Just a Place”, will pay special attention to the collaboration between Dvořák and the Harry Burleigh. In addition to selections from Dvořák the program will include several arrangements by Burleigh including “Little Mother of Mine”, “Ezekial Saw De Wheel”, and “Deep River”. The spirituals will be presented by bass-baritone Simon Estes, and a variety of other singers. Musicians on hand will include two string quartets and several featured instrumentalists.
The program is also attempting to give two thousand of New York City’s 114 thousand homeless children the chance to experience this concert, exactly one week before Christmas. For information on sponsoring a child for this event, and to learn more about the event itself, go to www.ffrcc.org/donate.
