UGA Symphony Orchestra: An Evening with Antonín Dvořák

EXPERIENCE MUSIC ENSEMBLE SERIES music.uga.edu | 706-542-3737 @ugamusic

PRESENTS AN EVENING WITH ANTONÍN DVOŘÁK

UNIVERSITY OF GEORGIA SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA

CONCERT HALL UGA PERFORMING ARTS CENTER 230 RIVER RD, ATHENS, GA

THURSDAY, APRIL 4 at 7:30 p.m. HODGSON

AN EVENING WITH ANTONÍN DVOŘÁK

Thursday, April 4, 2024 at 7:30 p.m.

Hugh Hodgson Concert Hall

UGA Performing Arts Center

University of Georgia Symphony Orchestra

Mark Cedel, conductor

Nicholas Han, assistant conductor

Carnival Concert Overture Op. 92, B. 169

Suite in A major Op. 98b, B. 190 “American”

Andante con moto

Allegro

Moderato (alla Pollacca)

Andante

Allegro

INTERMISSION PROGRAM

Symphony No. 9 in E minor, “From the New World”, Op. 95, B. 178

Adagio – Allegro molto

Largo

Molto vivace

Allegro con fuoco

SERIES ENSEMBLE

Antonín Dvořák Antonín Dvořák Antonín Dvořák Program Notes by Nicholas Han

Czech composer Antonín Dvořák was born in 1841 and lived until 1904. Dvořák is widely recognized as one of the most influential symphonists of the 19th century, particularly credited for absorbing and incorporating folk music into the standard orchestral tradition. From a young age, his major influences were Brahms, Tchaikovsky, Debussy, and others. This was an exciting era, rooted in robust artistic and societal traditions.

Dvořák began his musical journey from a young age, starting with the violin. He submitted his works to Austrian and German competitions. Upon his third submission to the Austrian State Competition in 1874, he was recognized by Johannes Brahms, who served on the jury. In 1877, Brahms recommended Dvořák to his publisher, Simrock, where Brahms commissioned Dvořák to compose the Slavonic Dances Op. 46.

In 1892, Dvořák relocated to the United States to become the Director of the National Conservatory of Music of America in New York City. During his time in the United States, he composed some of his most popular works; Symphony No. 9 in E Minor, “From the New World”, which spread his reputation worldwide, his Cello Concerto, which became one of the standards in the cello repertoire, and his String Quartet, Op. 96, the “American”. While he remained at the Conservatory, pay cuts and an onset of homesickness led him to return to Bohemia in 1895. Dvořák was to die from a heart attack on May 1st, 1904, leaving many unfinished works.

Carnival Overture, opus 92 (10’)

Scored for: two flutes, piccolo, two oboe, English horn, two clarinets, two bassoons, four horns, two trumpets, three trombones, tuba, timpani, percussion, harp, strings.

The Carnival Overture was written in 1891, by which time Dvořák was among central Europe’s most respected composers, and the year before he began a two-year appointment in America as Director of the National Conservatory. The Carnival Overture was the second of a set of concert overtures intended to portray impressions of what a human soul might experience, in both positive and negative aspects. Nature, Life, and Love was his original name for the set, which was to be published under the single opus number 91. Later appeared in print as three separate pieces: In Nature’s Realm Op. 91, Carnival Op. 92, and Othello Op. 93. It is in that form that the pieces were presented. The three works were premiered together in Prague in the Spring of 1892. Carnival was played again six months later in Carnegie Hall with the composer in the audience.

The overture is full of bombastic characters, noisy crowds, vendors, and barkers. In the middle of this overture, Dvořák introduces us a pair of straying lovers. He describes them as, “The lonely, contemplative wanderer reaches the city at nightfall, where a carnival is in full swing. On every side is heard the clangor of instruments, mingled with shouts of joy and the unrestrained hilarity of people giving vent to their feelings

PROGRAM NOTES

in their songs and dance tunes.” The opening’s syncopated rhythmic motive brings us into an atmosphere of dancing and shouting. The contrasting middle section portrays the straying lovers with a tender and warm interlude from the English horn and flute, backed by shimmering strings.

Suite for Orchestra in A Major, opus 98b, “American” (19’)

Scored for two flutes, piccolo, two oboe, English horn, two clarinets, two bassoons, contrabassoon, four horns, two trumpets, three trombones, tuba, timpani, percussion, strings.

Dvořák initially wrote the American Suite for piano during his time in New York, between February 19 and March 1, 1894. He orchestrated the work more than a year after his return from the United States. The work wasn’t published until 1911, seven years after his death. Although it is heavily influenced by Dvořák’s European background, the melodies and rhythms are tied to his other “American” works. Each of the five movements are dance-inspired, and seems designed to be cyclical, connecting the outer movements.

The work itself uses much simpler thematic materials than his other “American” pieces. Unlike his 9th Symphony, it’s not quite clear whether Dvořák’s themes come from the typical folk music of his surroundings as he experiences it, or from the music of his homeland. But there are some similarities between the two. Dvořák draws from lush melodies and pastoral-like themes. Its rhythmic patterns are straightforward and the harmonic progressions are simple. The melodies reach out of their basic key signatures towards pentatonic tones, modal colors, and subtle movement between major and minor. The third movement in particular has ties to the Slavic tradition. The rhythm stems from one of Dvořák’s popular works, Humoresque.

Symphony No. 9 in E Minor, opus 95, “From the New World” (40’) Scored for: two flutes with piccolo, two oboes, English horn, two clarinets, two bassoons, four horns, two trumpets, three trombones, tuba, timpani, percussion, strings.

Because of his reputation as a great symphonist, he was invited to teach at the Conservatory in New York. The 9th Symphony was the first in a series of important works Dvořák was to compose while in America. Dvořák remarked: “The Americans expect great things of me. I am to show them the way into the Promised Land, the realm of a new, independent art, in short a national style of music!” Dvořák’s recommendation to American composers was to look to African-American spirituals and Native American songs for inspiration.

Because America was a big melting pot, full of culture and music, Dvořák had indeed been influenced by his surroundings. The first movement opens with a mournful Adagio introduction that builds to an Allegro molto, initiated by the horns. We hear Dvořák’s “Germanic” roots with the theme being developed between and among other movements. Adding onto some of Dvořák’s influences with American culture, the

PROGRAM NOTES

first movement’s second theme, played by the flute, bears some resemblance to the spiritual “Swing Low, Sweet Chariot.”

In the second movement, we start off with a warm brass chorale, and the famous English horn solo. This melody in the English horn was thought to be an actual spiritual titled “Goin’ Home”. After Dvořák’s death, William Arms Firsher, one of Dvořák’s students, took the tune and provided the words and named it “Goin’ Home.” Dvořák noted that the second movement, Largo, “is in reality a study or a sketch for a longer work and which will be based upon Longfellow’s Hiawatha.”

Dvořák further acknowledged the influence of Longfellow in his 3rd movement, which also resembles the scherzo from Beethoven’s 9th symphony. “It was suggested by the scene at the feast in Hiawatha where the Indians dance, and is also an essay I made in the direction of imparting the local color of Indian character to music.” The last movement is the culmination of themes from the previous movements, giving a cyclic texture and its grand conclusion with dynamic energy.

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PROGRAM NOTES

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MUSIC

VIOLIN I

Carlos Brena, concertmaster

Molly Schneider, assistant concertmaster

Alexis Boylan

Jhonni Campos

Lyu Lian

Zeyu Yuan

Sarah Nienhiser

André Araújo de Souza

Sean Smith

Brian Roach

Adelmo Giménez

Lucas Nyman

Alicia Li

Ellis Kim

Simms Murray

Sarah Ling

VIOLIN II

Clarissa Tamara, principal

Sage Codispoti, assistant principal

Chelsea Afful

Kiera Johnson

Nicholas Olmstead

Shazan Samnani

Rebekah Kim

Rea Aiyer

Lauren McClary

Andreea Barca

Ranjani Vasudevan

Jen Edwards

Athziri Moreno-Martinez

Gianna DiMuzio

Eileen Chong

Mark Cedel, Conductor

Nicholas Han, Assistant Conductor

VIOLA

Bryan Johnson, principal

Nina Nagarajan, assistant principal

Kailey Ford, assistant principal

Jensi Perng

Anna Murphy

Jodie Stone

Mason Minutella

Daniel Boscan

Ashley Belcher

Clinton Stempien

Libby Zavadil

Seneca Fisher

CELLO

Zachary Helms, principal

Gabriella McClellan, assistant principal

Thomas LaMon

Joshua Aderhold

Ian Koontz

Tristan Dempsey

Olivia Durrence

Charlton Hills

William Slater

Kemp McArthur

BASS

Daniel Pina, principal

Bianca Wilson, associate principal

Wueliton Zanelatto

Dal Pont, assistant principal

Austin Carter

Ricardo Karelisky

Jordan Askew

Madeleine Bower

Victor V. Costa

FLUTE

Yinzi Zhou, principal

Dylan Abbott

Rachel Lee, piccolo

OBOE

Marissa Ankeny, principal

Gracee Myers

Xander Herman

Brenna Sexton

CLARINET

Sarah Christi, co-principal

Tan Charintranount, co-principal

BASSOON

JT Holdbrooks, principal

Caleb Jackson

Hsin Cheng, contra HORN

Anthony Parrish, principal

Joshua Wood

Marianna Schwark

Gracie Gambrell

Charles Dunn

TRUMPET

Victor Antanazio Pires, principal

Ramon Zamudio

Jake Landau

Toby Johnson

TROMBONE

Danny Alford, principal

Benjamin Novo, assistant principal

Eli Boudreaux

Elizabeth Toles, bass trombone

TUBA

Hunter Kane

PERCUSSION

Patrick Sorah, principal

Euan Maley

William Collins

Thomas Huff

HARP

Isabel Hardy

LIBRARIAN

Molly Schneider

PERSONNEL and PRODUCTION

Ricardo Karelisky Deho

UGA SYMPHONY

ORCHESTRA

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