Nearly thirty years separate ANTONÍN DVOŘÁK’s First Symphony, composed in 1865, from his last—the Ninth Symphony. This period marks the height of his artistic ascent, during which he transformed from an unknown violist in the orchestra of the “Provisional Theater” in Prague—then conducted by Bedřich Smetana—into a composer of international renown. During his lifetime he received an Honorary Doctorate in Music from the University of Cambridge, an Honorary Doctorate in Philosophy from Charles University in Prague, and was appointed a life member of the Upper House of the Austrian Parliament.
Three months after his arrival in the United States in January 1893, Dvořák began composing his Ninth Symphony. Originally published as the Fifth, it is still often referred to by both numbers.
In a letter to Dr. Emil Kozánek he wrote: “…I don’t have much work at the Conservatory, so I have time for composition. I am just now finishing a new symphony in E minor. This makes me very happy. It will differ significantly from the previous ones. Anyone with a sense of it can feel the influence of America in it…”
In the summer of that same year, 1893, while in Spillville, Iowa, Dvořák composed the American String Quartet and a string quintet. From the very first performance of the Ninth Symphony, the success was extraordinary—the premiere took place on December 16th , 1893, with the Philharmonic Society Orchestra conducted by Anton Seidl, Wagner’s former assistant.
Despite the alleged American influence, the symphony represents “true Czech music.” “In my symphony, I sought to capture the character of Negro and Indian melodies,” Dvořák explains. “But I didn’t use a single one of them. I simply wrote characteristic melodies, incorporating the features of Native American music into them. Then I used these melodies as my themes and developed them, applying all the achievements of modern rhythm, harmony, counterpoint, and orchestral color.”
Although Dvořák denies the direct use of quotations, the cultural impressions he encountered undoubtedly sparked his imagination.
The second movement of the symphony is inspired by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow’s poem Hiawatha—a tale of the North American Indians—and its slow movement conveys an emotional image of Minnehaha’s death. Yet through this poetry Dvořák also expresses his own nostalgia. Musically speaking, the Scherzo and the Finale remain closer to the Czech tradition.
While Stabat Mater paved the way for the composer’s recognition in Western Europe—thanks to its premiere in London—the Ninth Symphony was his first major work composed in America, and it brought him resounding fame there as well. Regarding the symphony, the New York Herald wrote: “Why didn’t this Dvořák come sooner, since here in America he can write such music?”
The European premiere of the Ninth Symphony took place on July 20th , 1894, in Karlovy Vary under the baton of August Labitzky. It was published that same year in Berlin by the Simrock publishing house in a version for piano four hands. This edition is particularly valuable because the proofs were approved by Johannes Brahms, who thus expressed his respect for the composer.
An interesting fact is that while in the United States, Dvořák not only composed but also actively promoted the idea of establishing an American national music school. In his lectures at the National Conservatory in New York, he insisted that future American classical music should draw inspiration from African American spirituals and the melodies of the Indigenous population, rather than copying European models.
After returning from America in 1895, the composer focused primarily on chamber and symphonic music and became director of the Prague Conservatory. In the final years of his life, he continued to exert a strong influence on the development of the Czech musical school, and the Ninth Symphony remains the pinnacle of his symphonic style.