CONCERT PROGRAM
Dvořák’s New World Symphony MONDAY 4 JULY 2022 / 6.30pm Melbourne Recital Centre Proudly presented by TarraWarra Estate
Proudly supported by City of Melbourne, Crown Resorts Foundation and Packer Family Foundation.
Program DVOŘÁK Symphony No.9 From the New World Duration: approx. 1 hour, no interval
Conductor and presenter NICHOLAS BOCHNER After training in Adelaide and London, Nicholas spent 3 years as Artist-in-Residence at the University of Queensland as part of the ensemble Perihelion, forging a strong reputation as an exponent of contemporary music. He joined the MSO as Assistant Principal Cello in 1998. Since then he has appeared as a soloist, chamber musician and recitalist. He has also taught cello and improvisation at the Australian National Academy of Music (ANAM). Nicholas has always had a strong commitment to music education and community engagement. In 2010 he was awarded the Dame Roma Mitchell Churchill Fellowship to study the LSO’s iconic Discovery program and the use of improvisation in training classical musicians at the Guildhall School of Music. In 2016, Nicholas’ considerable experience as an orchestral musician and his passion for communication led him to undertake a fellowship at ANAM where he developed, conducted and presented educational concerts for primary school children. During the fellowship he was mentored by Paul Rissmann, Graham Abbott and the legendary Richard Gill AO. Since then he has presented educational concerts for children and adults for MSO, ANAM and the Melbourne Chamber Orchestra. In 2020 he was named the MSO’s Cybec Assistant Conductor for Learning and Engagement. He is also the conductor of the Melbourne University Biomedical Students’ Orchestra. In support of his work as an education presenter, Nicholas has been studying conducting with Benjamin Northey and won a coveted place at the TSO’s 2019 Australian Conducting Academy.
Quick Facts ANTONIN DVOŘÁK (1841–1904) Symphony No.9 From the New World • Composed by Antonín Dvořák in 1893 while he was the director of the National Conservatory of Music of America from 1892 to 1895. It premiered in New York City on 16 December 1893. • Astronaut Neil Armstrong took a tape recording of the New World Symphony along during the Apollo 11 mission, the first Moon landing, in 1969. • The symphony was completed in the building that now houses the Bily Clocks Museum in Spillville, Iowa. • At the premiere in Carnegie Hall, the end of every movement was met with thunderous clapping and Dvořák felt obliged to stand up and bow. This was one of the greatest public triumphs of Dvořák’s career. • The theme from the Largo was adapted into the spiritual-like song Goin’ Home (often mistakenly considered a folk song or traditional spiritual) by Dvořák’s pupil William Arms Fisher, who wrote the lyrics in 1922.
• In 1981, Don Williams would record a different song written to the melody, by Roger Cook. The resulting composition, Miracles, would peak at number 4 on the Billboard country singles chart that July, and also reach number 32 on the adult contemporary chart. • The symphony includes some clear references to Beethoven including the opening of the third movement being a direct reference to the scherzo of Beethoven’s 9th. • In early plans for the score of the original Star Wars film, George Lucas had envisaged using existing orchestral music. In the end John Williams was given existing works as references for different parts of the score, including from this symphony.
See the MSO perform Dvořák’s New World Symphony in full at the Mid-Season Gala (30 July) or at our Quick Fix at Half Six (1 August)
Glossary Syncopation A syncopated rhythm goes against the pattern by putting the accent on weak beats. Motif A motif is a musical phrase or fragment that has some special importance, especially if recurring. Mordent A mordent is an ornament indicating that the note is to be played with a single rapid alternation with the note above or below.
Heterophony In music, heterophony is a type of texture characterised by the simultaneous variation of a single melodic line. Pentatonic Scale A pentatonic scale is a musical scale with five notes per octave, in contrast to the scales with seven notes per octave that are more characteristic of Western Classical Music.
PERFECT
PAIRING 2019 South Block Chardonnay
Great music and great wine. Is there a better pairing? This Chardonnay is quite a departure from the traditional Tarrawarra Chardonnay. Matured in French oak for 10 months, it reveals a certain European flair that marries perfectly with the themes of discovery explored in Dvorak’s New World Symphony. Let the perfumed aroma of citrus fruits and oak transport you to another place, while you sink into the lush, deep orchestral sounds of this incredible piece of music. Dvořák’s New World Symphony, brought to you by Tarrawarra Estate and the MSO. It’s the perfect pairing.
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