Make Music Part of Your Life – Series: Antonín Dvořák – Symphony No. 7 in D minor, Op. 70, B. 141

Antonín Dvořák – Symphony No. 7 in D minor, Op. 70, B. 141
1. Allegro maestoso 12’42
2. Poco adagio-F major 10’21
3. Scherzo, vivace poco meno mosso 7’49
4. Finale, allegro 9’49
****The work, at approximately 40 minutes in length, is scored for an orchestra of 2 flutes, 2 oboes, 2 clarinets in A and B♭, 2 bassoons, 4 horns in D and F, 2 trumpets in C, D, and F, 3 trombones, timpani and strings***

Slovak Philharmonic Orchestra, Zdenek Kosler

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

 

 

Title page of the score of Dvořák’s seventh symphony, with portrait of Hans von Bülow

Symphony No. 7 in D minor, Op. 70, B. 141, by Antonín Dvořák (published as No. 2) was first performed in London on April 22, 1885 shortly after the piece was completed on March 17, 1885.

Composition history

Dvořák’s work on the symphony began on December 13, 1884. Dvořák heard and admired Brahms‘s new 3rd Symphony, and this prompted him to think of writing of a new symphony himself. So it was fortuitous that in that same year the Philharmonic Society of London invited him to write a new symphony and elected him as an honorary member. A month later, after his daily walk to the railway station in Prague, he said “the first subject of my new symphony flashed in to my mind on the arrival of the festive train bringing our countrymen from Pest”. The Czechs were in fact coming to the National Theatre in Prague, where there was to be a musical evening to support the political struggles of the Czech nation. He resolved that his new symphony would reflect this struggle. In doing so the symphony would also reveal something of his personal struggle in reconciling his simple and peaceful countryman’s feelings with his intense patriotism and his wish to see the Czech nation flourish.

Related articles

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• Symphony guide: Dvořák’s Eighth
• UNFORGETTABLE COMPOSITIONS: Antonín Dvořák – Water Goblin, Op. 107 Dedicated to all my friends writing for the best among us – children of the world: be inspired!
• Classical music: The Madison Symphony Orchestra will unveil its first “Beyond the Score ” multi-media performance of Antonin Dvorak’s popular Symphony No. 9 (“From the New World”) this coming Sunday afternoon.
• Antonin Dvorak – Symphony No. 6 in D Major Op. 60 B. 112 (1880)
• Antonín Dvořák – Slavonic Dances

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