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Thread: Dvorak Symphony #9

  1. #1

    Dvorak Symphony #9

    I've had to resort to the classical station on terrestrial radio as I have no mp3 hookup, no cd, not even a tape player.

    I just cannot bear turning on rock radio anymore as all I ever seem to hear is Kashmir, and I strongly dislike that tune. Of course, the universe said piss off and keeps tormenting me but I can't do anything about that.

    So I've been hearing all kinds of different music the last few weeks. The public radio station may spend hours talking when it's donation time but at least, due to those interruptions, they don't have to play regular commercials so that's kinda cool.

    In any case, I have a question. Where do I know this piece from? I only own about twenty classical cd's and Dvorak ain't one of them. It's got to be, by my thinking, from some movie but even that seems to be not right.

    I also wonder if it's just because I'm a musical sponge. Bloody wankers I work with will come in and sing some awful tune and it's stuck in my head until I can get it out but for a rather complex piece of music, that just doesn't seem to compute either. When I heard it I got in the car about two thirds of the way through it and it hadn't even gotten to the main theme yet I recognized it.

    I knew I knew it, and that doesn't seem to make sense.

    Anyway, whatever. I thought it was a bit weird but what do I know. I just dislike things that don't make sense and this seems to fall into that category.
    Carry On My Blood-Ejaculating Son - JKL2000

  2. #2
    Member Koreabruce's Avatar
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    The 9th Symphony "From the New World" has been a firm fixture in the standard classical repertoire since it was first performed in 1893-94. That isn't too surprising, either, as the entire work is highly memorable. You've no doubt heard many of the themes and melodies in TV commercials, anime, and movies.

    Synergy (Larry Fast) did an electronic version of the slow 2nd movement "Largo" on the 1976 album Sequencer. That English horn melody is iconic. A section of the largo containing that melody was used to make a very moving song called Going Home in the 1920's and has been sung at funerals ever since. Apparently more than a few people sang it from beside the tracks in 1945 as FDR's funeral train passed by. I played it myself on a Native American flute at my own father's funeral.

    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sympho...%C5%99%C3%A1k)
    Last edited by Koreabruce; 10-30-2016 at 06:40 AM.

  3. #3
    Member Zeuhlmate's Avatar
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    You might like his String Quartet No. 12 (nicknamed The American) too:
    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/String...%C5%99%C3%A1k)

    Its also inspired by folkmusic.

  4. #4
    When you've listened to classical radio as long as you used to listen to rock stations, you'll come to realize that Dvorak's 9th is the Stairway To Heaven of classical radio. Local programming varies quite a bit on classical stations, but you can hear a lot of good syndicated shows on most stations. Exploring Music w/ Bill McGlaughlin, SymphonyCast, CSO Broadcast, Performance Today, and Dvorak's famous symphony every week. I still enjoy it, especially the beautiful slow movement.

  5. #5
    Highly Evolved Orangutan JKL2000's Avatar
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    In the NYC area the lower part of the FM band is where most of the public radio is. There are two great public jazz stations, WNYC -- the main NPR station, and also a couple of really good college radio stations that play a wide variety of music. Then there's a public classical station further up the dial.

    Not sure how it is in Vegas, but check that lower part of the FM band -- you might find some interesting stuff. If you haven't already -- you probably have!

  6. #6
    Quote Originally Posted by Reid View Post
    When you've listened to classical radio as long as you used to listen to rock stations, you'll come to realize that Dvorak's 9th is the Stairway To Heaven of classical radio.
    But, with better lyrics.
    "The White Zone is for loading and unloading only. If you got to load or unload go to the White Zone!"

  7. #7
    Quote Originally Posted by TheLoony View Post

    In any case, I have a question. Where do I know this piece from? I only own about twenty classical cd's and Dvorak ain't one of them. It's got to be, by my thinking, from some movie but even that seems to be not right.
    Two possibilities that I can think of right off the bat (and I'm certain there are many others) are "America" by The Nice which incorporates themes from the symphony into a cover of Leonard Bernstein's song from "West Side Story" and "Going Home", an adaptation of the famous Movement 2 - Largo from the symphony, on Santana's 1973 album Welcome..
    Last edited by nsmith1002; 10-30-2016 at 12:35 PM.

  8. #8
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    Quote Originally Posted by TheLoony View Post
    In any case, I have a question. Where do I know this piece from? I only own about twenty classical cd's and Dvorak ain't one of them. It's got to be, by my thinking, from some movie but even that seems to be not right.
    Then there's "Largo," the album (one of the greatest under-appreciated works of the 20th Century):

    "Largo is a 1998 various-artists concept album inspired by classical composer Dvorak's 9th symphony. The project was initiated, assembled, and produced by Rick Chertoff, Rob Hyman and Eric Bazilian, respectively producer and singer/multi-instrumentalists with the heavily The Band-influenced group The Hooters. Largo started as the recording sessions for a new Hooters album, but evolved into a collaboration between The Hooters and great guest artists like Taj Mahal, Levon Helm, Garth Hudson, Joan Osborne, The Chieftains, Carole King, Cyndi Lauper, David Forman, and Willie Nile." (http://theband.hiof.no/albums/largo.html)


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    Quote Originally Posted by Koreabruce View Post
    The 9th Symphony "From the New World" has been a firm fixture in the standard classical repertoire since it was first performed in 1893-94. That isn't too surprising, either, as the entire work is highly memorable. You've no doubt heard many of the themes and melodies in TV commercials, anime, and movies.

    Synergy (Larry Fast) did an electronic version of the slow 2nd movement "Largo" on the 1976 album Sequencer. That English horn melody is iconic. A section of the largo containing that melody was used to make a very moving song called Going Home in the 1920's and has been sung at funerals ever since. Apparently more than a few people sang it from beside the tracks in 1945 as FDR's funeral train passed by. I played it myself on a Native American flute at my own father's funeral.

    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sympho...%C5%99%C3%A1k)
    Annie Haslam did a very good version of Going Home on her first solo album. I think many prog fans know it from that recording. I don't care how many times I've heard it from the radio and my own recordings, I still love the symphony and to me Dvorak while being a very recognizable name in classical music is still a very underrated composer.

  10. #10
    That's Mr. to you, Sir!! Trane's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by ronmac View Post
    But, with better lyrics.
    my music collection increased tenfolds when I switched from drug-addicts to complete nutcases.

  11. #11
    The 9th Symphony "From the New World" has been a firm fixture in the standard classical repertoire since it was first performed in 1893-94. That isn't too surprising, either, as the entire work is highly memorable. You've no doubt heard many of the themes and melodies in TV commercials, anime, and movies.
    Yeah, that seems to be about right. I caught it with ten or so minutes left and before it got to the main theme, for lack of better terminology, I knew it and then the finale hit and I was singing along. Funny how it works though as I guess I've just absorbed it from commercials and movies and whatever else over the years.

    I do dig the history of the composers and such that they give. I'm also enjoying the show where they focus on kids and young adults that are tearing it up these days.

    To get back to the OP for a little funny moment. I delivered a bunch of pizzas to a party yesterday. They were all siting outside with some speakers hooked up. Three guesses what the song playing was when I pulled up and the first three don't count.

    Anyway, it's a whole new world of music that I've neglected for far too long. Fun times, indeed!
    Carry On My Blood-Ejaculating Son - JKL2000

  12. #12
    Quote Originally Posted by TheLoony View Post
    Yeah, that seems to be about right. I caught it with ten or so minutes left and before it got to the main theme, for lack of better terminology, I knew it and then the finale hit and I was singing along. Funny how it works though as I guess I've just absorbed it from commercials and movies and whatever else over the years.

    I do dig the history of the composers and such that they give. I'm also enjoying the show where they focus on kids and young adults that are tearing it up these days.

    To get back to the OP for a little funny moment. I delivered a bunch of pizzas to a party yesterday. They were all siting outside with some speakers hooked up. Three guesses what the song playing was when I pulled up and the first three don't count.

    Anyway, it's a whole new world of music that I've neglected for far too long. Fun times, indeed!
    Steve Howe plays it often at Yes concerts. It's on the Symphonic Live DVD.

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    Quote Originally Posted by nsmith1002 View Post
    Two possibilities that I can think of right off the bat (and I'm certain there are many others) are "America" by The Nice which incorporates themes from the symphony into a cover of Leonard Bernstein's song from "West Side Story" and "Going Home", an adaptation of the famous Movement 2 - Largo from the symphony, on Santana's 1973 album Welcome..
    These were the first two I first thought of.

  14. #14
    Quote Originally Posted by JJ88 View Post
    These were the first two I first thought of.
    I believe Annie Haslam of Renaissance did Going Home on her Annie In Wonderland album also.

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    The entire symphony was my mother's favorite. A survivor of the Dresden bombings and the multiple rapes by Soviet soldiers, she married an American GI and came to America as a war bride. She loved America but missed home, and often times, I would hear her play it and watch her quietly cry to the Second Movement. I always swore I would take her back to Germany when I became an adult, but she always resisted, made excuses, etc. Twelve years ago, she passed away at the age of 88. I took her ashes with me to Sandhausen, where her family plot was located, interred them there next to her family, and cried as I played the Second Movement on a portable player.

    To this day, I cannot hear the second movement without choking up. The chord progressions leading to the main melody simply tears my heart apart...

  16. #16
    Pretty sure barry manilow used a bit of Dvorak but i cannot remember which song or songs.

    Edit ... nevermind he used chopin
    Last edited by Nijinsky Hind; 11-13-2016 at 11:06 PM.
    Still alive and well...

  17. #17
    Member Rick Robson's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by BigSixFan View Post
    The entire symphony was my mother's favorite. A survivor of the Dresden bombings and the multiple rapes by Soviet soldiers, she married an American GI and came to America as a war bride. She loved America but missed home, and often times, I would hear her play it and watch her quietly cry to the Second Movement. I always swore I would take her back to Germany when I became an adult, but she always resisted, made excuses, etc. Twelve years ago, she passed away at the age of 88. I took her ashes with me to Sandhausen, where her family plot was located, interred them there next to her family, and cried as I played the Second Movement on a portable player.

    To this day, I cannot hear the second movement without choking up. The chord progressions leading to the main melody simply tears my heart apart...
    An amazingly great symphony like this deserves such an emotional story like yours BigSixFan, thanks for that!
    "Beethoven can write music, thank God, but he can do nothing else on earth. ". Ludwig van Beethoven

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    Everyone over a certain age in the UK knows the 2nd movement thanks to this...


  19. #19
    Quote Originally Posted by Nijinsky Hind View Post
    Pretty sure barry manilow used a bit of Dvorak but i cannot remember which song or songs.

    Edit ... nevermind he used chopin
    His contemporary, Eric Carmen, lifted a couple Rachmaninoff melodies for his schmaltzy 70s hits All By Myself, and Never Gonna Fall In Love Again.

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  21. #21
    Member Rick Robson's Avatar
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    "I should be glad if something occured to me as a main idea that occurs to Dvorak only by the way." Johannes Brahms
    "Beethoven can write music, thank God, but he can do nothing else on earth. ". Ludwig van Beethoven

  22. #22
    Member Rick Robson's Avatar
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    Dvorak believed America's folk music could produce a distinctive national musical voice, yet, surprisingly, the "New World" does not contain any authentic American tunes at all.

    The great second movement is indeed without the slightest doubt one of the most famous pieces of Classical Music. Nevertheless, under the name 'Going Home', the melody is now often mistaken for a genuine Negro spiritual.

    An interesting point of notice is how sublimely the 'Largo' returns triumphantly to a refrain from the first movement theme when it reaches the rousing climax, typically after the eighth minute.
    Last edited by Rick Robson; 11-24-2016 at 08:13 PM.
    "Beethoven can write music, thank God, but he can do nothing else on earth. ". Ludwig van Beethoven

  23. #23
    Member Rick Robson's Avatar
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    Interesting comment on The New Yorker about one of my favourite recordings of Dvorak's Symphony #9, the other one is Karajan's with the Vienne Philharmonic Orchestra.

    http://www.newyorker.com/culture/cul...ral-recordings
    "Beethoven can write music, thank God, but he can do nothing else on earth. ". Ludwig van Beethoven

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