In 1892 Antonin Dvorák accepted the invitation of a wealthy Mrs. Thurber to
become the director of her National Conservatory of Music in New York.
During the time he spent in America, he composed, among other works, the
Symphony No. 9 (originally published as No. 5) "From the New World".
Dvorak was fascinated by Negro spirituals and the songs and dances of
American Indians. In an interview, he claimed: "In the Negro melodies of
America, I discovered all that is needed for a great and noble school of
music." Though the pentatonic and modal scales he used in the Ninth
Symphony can also be found in folk music of many countries, including his
native Bohemia, the melodies of the Ninth have become indelibly associated
with America. Particularly "American" in flavor are the flute melody of the
first movement, which recalls the spiritual "Swing Low, Sweet Chariot", and
the theme of the slow movement.
The symphony was recorded during a concert given by the Vienna Philharmonic
Orchestra under Karl Böhm at Vienna's Musikvereinssaal in the late 1970s.
