Concert Program Notes by Lucinda Mosher, Th.D.

Allegro con fuoco. Literally, “fast, with fire,”the finale opens with a new theme, which is carried by the brass section. But for much of it, Dvořák weaves together and reworks themes of the previous three movements. Notice how the horn theme from the first movement returns. You will also hear elements of the lyrical second-movement theme (the one first played by English horn) now given to flutes and clarinets. As we’ve come to expect in this symphony, the fire recedes periodically in order to make way for melodies evoking pastoral scenes. Listen for the solo clarinet “singing” a beautiful melody that is not unlike a Romantic Italian opera aria. In time, the horn section issues an accelerating fanfare. Those grand chords that opened the second movement are sounded once more, the strings swirl exuberantly, and fragments of bygone themes intertwine. The work’s final bars are anything if not fiery!

What accounts for the far-ranging enthusiasm for Dvořák’s Ninth? It may well be the work’s distinctive blend of Bohemian and American influences. It is a grand composition laced with singable melodies that seem like folk-tunes. But these tunes truly were crafted by Dvořák himself.