How did a Czech composer born in a bohemian village outside of Prague go on to capture the national spirit of America in his music? That was the question that framed the Wesleyan Orchestra’s performance Saturday night in Crowell Concert Hall. The Orchestra performed works by Antonín Dvorák, a Czech who was invited to America in 1892 to teach young composers at the National Conservatory in New York. Dvorák accepted the position, with one stipulation: talented Native American and African-American students, who could not afford the conservatory’s tuition, must be admitted for free.
This inclusive attitude helped Dvorák show Americans that their country had its own folklore in the history of Africans and Native Americans. With this understanding, he proposed, music with a distinctly American character could be built.
Shortly after Dvorák arrived in America, he wrote the “Symphony no. 9 in E minor,” which is better known under its subtitle “From the New World.” When he wrote it, Dvorák said it contained those elements exclusive to America, such as African American spirituals and Native American music.
Under the direction of Angel Gil-Ordóñez, adjunct associate professor of music, the orchestra performed Dvorák’s “Czech Suite” and his most famous work, the previously mentioned “Symphony no. 9 in E minor.”
Gil-Ordóñez, who was born in Madrid, has been widely praised as being among the best of Spain’s new generation of conductors. Recently, he led this season’s opening concert of the National Gallery Orchestra in Washington.
“Angel is a really good conductor,” said Jung-Hee Oh ’07, the orchestra’s principal flutist. “I guess you could say it was fun to play under his baton.”
Violinist Emily Izakowitz ’07 noted that while being a part of the orchestra is a large time commitment, “Angel made it worthwhile.”
“Angel is an amazing conductor, and he deserves a lot of credit for getting us to the point where we could sound great,” said Alex Dezieck ’08, who plays the trombone.
Before the performance began, a pre-concert talk hosted by former New York Times music critic Joseph Horwitz presented “a visual and cultural context” of the evening’s music. He was joined by Professor Mark Slobin and Assistant Professor Yonatan Malin both of the music department.
Visting Instructor in Art History Nancy J. Noble provided what she called “visual food for thought” by showing some famous American landscapes painted by Albert Bierstadt, Winslow Homer and Frederic Remington. Noble said it is possible that Dvorák may have been inspired by the scenes depicted in these works of art. In them, she pointed out the “areas of vast, untouched American West” and the “power and might of the American frontier itself.”
Horwitz, who has recently written a book for young readers on Dvorák, explained that when the pieces first debuted, “Americans heard American accents very clearly.”
“[Dvorák] clearly captured the spirit of America,” said cellist Peter Hill ’08. “The music is not only fun to play, but it also has such a power of the prairie, you can see the trains going across the land. ”It’s nice to hear that, an idealized version of America.“
In the end, it was apparent that the orchestra’s hard work had paid off.
”I thought that we played well, and the audience enjoyed it,“ said flutist Emily Meyer ’05. ”This is my fourth year, and we always play different kinds of music. It was nice to play something traditional that was possibly recognizable to the audience.“
Leave a Reply