Born on September 8, 1841, in the village of Nelahozeves in Bohemia (then part of the Austrian Empire); Died on May 1, 1904, in Prague
Symphony No. 7 in D minor, Op. 70
Allegro maestoso
Poco adagio
Scherzo: Vivace
Finale: Allegro
Composed: 1884-85
Estimated length: 40 minutes
First performance: April 22, 1885, with the composer conducting the Philharmonic Society of London.
First Nashville Symphony performance: January 31, 1980, with Jorge Mester conducting at War Memorial Auditorium.
Antonín Dvořák began to build a reputation beyond his native Bohemia with the publication of his first set of Slavonic Dances for piano in 1878—a boost for Czech pride, with the novelty of their Czechness enhancing outside interest. Yet he had no desire to be marginalized as a purveyor of “local color.” Dvořák wanted to stake a claim within the mainstream symphonic tradition being carried forward by Johannes Brahms, an indispensable advocate.
The appearance of Brahms’s Third Symphony of 1883 in particular had impressed Dvořák. He responded to it as an inspiring challenge to continue his own already extensive output as a symphonist. An opportunity arrived in the form of a new commission from the Royal Philharmonic Society in London, which named the Czech artist an honorary member. Dvořák composed his Seventh Symphony within just a few months and conducted the premiere in April 1885.
Dvořák chose D minor as the home key—the same key as the Ninth Symphony of Beethoven, who had been invited more than half a century before to write for the Royal Philharmonic—and in the process created a taut, densely argued work with an even more tragic cast than that expressed by the New World Symphony in E minor. It gave much-needed validation, proving that he belonged in the top league in the face of German-Austrian ethnocentrism.
WHAT TO LISTEN FOR
The somber character of this music is especially apparent in the first and fourth movements. Emerging from the bottom of the orchestra as if from a deep abyss, the first theme suggests the commencement of a wide-ranging and dramatic journey. Trumpets blaze out the theme as the orchestra swells, after which flutes and clarinets introduce a pastorally tinged theme. A climax of tragic grandeur occurs in the recapitulation, only to sputter out on a fateful, unsettling chord.
Along with thoughts about his place in the symphonic tradition, Dvořák comes to terms with private grief in this work: notably, with the recent death of his mother. Some commentators have likened the slow movement to a Requiem. This music exemplifies Dvořák’s fine ear for evocative colors.
Yet along with characteristics that draw on the lineage of the mainstream classical tradition, the Seventh makes room in the Scherzo for the Czech infused rhythmic dynamism that had made the Slavonic Dances so popular. This energy spills over into the central trio, in which lyricism buds like springtime signals of hope.
Dvořák returns to the tragic mode in the tightly structured finale. Its darkly anxious main theme is occasionally relieved by sunnier outbursts, yet the violent climax arrives with inevitability. An irrepressible darkness gathers here, sweeping over everything in the final moments of the work. Not even a sudden shift from minor to major at the conclusion can dispel the shattering impact.
Scored for 2 flutes (2nd doubling piccolo in the 3rd movement), 2 oboes, 2 clarinets, 2 bassoons, 4 horns, 2 trumpets, 3 trombones, timpani, and strings
− Thomas May is the Nashville Symphony's program annotator.
Featured on Wagner & Dvořák — September 28 & 29, 2024
Nashville Symphony
Giancarlo Guerrero, conductor
Simone Porter, violin
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