Lawrence Gilman

(Anton DvorÁk: born in MÜlhausen (Nelahozeves), near Kralup, Bohemia, September 8, 1841; died in Prague, May 1, 1904)

OVERTURE, "NATURE" [44]: Op. 91

This overture is the first section of a tripartite work entitled "Nature, Life, Love," which was originally intended by DvorÁk to be performed as a whole. The second division of this triple overture is known to-day as "Carnival" (Op. 92), the third as "Othello" (Op. 93). The three overtures were first performed at Prague, under the composer's direction, on April 28, 1892.

DvorÁk is said to be responsible for the ideas embodied in the following description of the poetic scheme of the "Triple Overture," which was published in the programme of the concert at which DvorÁk made his dÉbut in America (at Carnegie Hall, New York, October 21, 1892):

"This composition, which is a musical expression of the emotions awakened in Dr. Antonin DvorÁk by certain aspects of the three great creative forces of the Universe—Nature, Life, and Love—was conceived nearly a year ago, while the composer still lived in Bohemia.... The three parts of the overture are linked together by a certain underlying melodic theme. This theme recurs with the insistence of the inevitable personal note marking the reflections of a humble individual, who observes and is moved by the manifold signs of the unchangeable laws of the Universe."

Part I—"Nature"—of the "Triple Overture" was thus interpreted, with the sanction, it may be inferred, of the composer (the English translation was attributed to Mr. E. Emerson):

"As a typical expression of his fondness for nature and of the blissful and occasional reverent feelings which it stirs in him, the composer chose to present the emotions produced by a solitary walk through meadows and woods on a quiet summer afternoon, when the shadows grow long and longer, till they lose themselves in the dusk, and gradually turn into the early dark of night. Unlike Beethoven's Pastoral Symphony, the unconscious summer music of drowsy crickets and birds is not actually represented by instrumental equivalents. Subjective feeling only is suggested by the blithesome introduction melody in F major, which is ornamented by passages running over the instruments, like rills of pleasure. It is followed by an expression of the growing vociferous joy which all nature proclaims. The more quiet gladness of the beholder finds voice in the second melody, in A major, whose spirit is enlivened into a broader universal gaiety, rising rapidly to a climax, from which the theme quickly returns to the tranquil pastoral form.

"The so-called 'elaboration' section leads back to the first key of F major.... The predominating suggestions henceforth are peace and quietude, with little interruptions here and there, such as are occasioned by the sudden rustling of the tree-tops in the forest or by the subdued exclamations of a garrulous little brook. All this is done with a light touch, so that it is left to the imagination of the listener to supply what the music can but faintly suggest. Finally, when darkness has set in, there are only the sounds of night. The pervading mood of the composer becomes similar to that of Milton's 'Il Penseroso' when night overtakes him, while he listens to the even-song of the nightingale and hears

"... the far-off curfew sound,
Over some wide-watered shore,
Swinging slow with sullen roar."

OVERTURE, "CARNIVAL": Op. 92

This overture is Part II. ("Life") of DvorÁk's "Triple Overture," "Nature, Life, Love" (see page 85). Its poetic significance has been set forth as follows, with, it is said, the authority of the composer:

"If the first part of the overture ['Nature'] suggested 'Il Penseroso,' the second, with its sudden revulsion to wild mirth, cannot but call up the same poet's 'L'Allegro,' with its lines to 'Jest and youthful jollity.' The dreamer of the afternoon and evening has returned to scenes of human life, and finds himself drawn into

'The busy hum of men

---

When the merry bells ring round,
And the jolly [45] rebecks sound
To many a youth and many a maid,'

dancing in spirited Slavonic measures. Cymbals clang, strange instruments clash; and the passionate cry of the violins whirls the dreamer madly into a Bohemian revel. Anon the wild mirth dies away, as if the beholder were following a pair of straying lovers, whom the boisterous gaiety of their companions, with clangor of voices and instruments, reach but dimly. A lyric melody ... sets in, and almost unconsciously returns to the sweet pastoral theme, like a passing recollection of the tranquil scenes of nature. But even this seclusion may not last. A band of merry maskers bursts in, the stirring Slavonic theme of the introduction reappears, and the three themes of the second overture, the humorous, the pathetic, and the pastoral, are merged into one, with the humorous in the ascendant, till a reversion changes the order. The whole ends in the same gay ... key with which it began."

OVERTURE, "OTHELLO": Op. 93

"Othello" is Part III. ("Love") of DvorÁk's "Triple Overture," "Nature, Life, Love" (see page 85). The official commentator who has been quoted in the preceding pages concerning the poetic content of the tripartite work wrote as follows of "Othello":

"If the first two parts represented the impressions of Nature and Life as gay and stirring in general, the third overture lets Love appear as a serious and burning passion. The composer has tried to express some of the emotions engendered in him by the final scenes of 'Othello' as an embodiment of both the gentlest and the fiercest expressions of love. The composition is by no means a faithful musical interpretation of the Shakespearean lines, but rather the after-revery of a man whose imagination has been kindled by the theme of the play. It begins with ... the prayer of Desdemona before retiring. While she is still praying for herself and for her husband, weird sounds in the orchestra suddenly announce the approach of the murderer. This is but an effect of the imagination, however, for presently the prayer of Desdemona continues till she falls asleep. Once more the orchestra announces the approach of Othello. This time it is he. He pauses at the threshold. He enters the room, looks long at Desdemona, and kisses her. The theme changes to an allegro. Desdemona awakes, and then follows the cruel, pathetic scene between Desdemona and the Moor:

"'Alas, why gnaw you so thy nether lip?[46]
Some bloody passion shakes your very frame.'

"Her entreaties are answered by the deep threats of Othello. Gradually the imaginary conversation becomes tinged with a note of melancholy, and a regretful love scene ensues, according to the composer, till the Moor's jealousy and mad revenge gain the upper hand again. This motif is worked out at some length ... and especially the deep notes of Othello's lion-like anger are sounded repeatedly. In the end he restrains himself no longer. The scene of anguish follows. Desdemona throws herself at his feet:

"DES. Kill me to-morrow, let me live to-night!
OTH. Nay—
DES. But half an hour.
OTH. Being done, there is no pause.
DES. But while I say one prayer!
OTH. (smothering her.) It is too late.

"Othello rises from the deed, and looks wildly about him. Then comes the wild, remorseful reflection that he may have been deceived.

"'... Had she been true,

If heaven would make me such another world,

Of one entire and perfect chrysolite,

I'd not have sold her for it.'

"The choral motif of Desdemona's appeal surges up from the overlying themes, this time in the deep tones of Othello. It is his turn to make his last prayer."

SYMPHONIC POEM, "THE WOOD DOVE": Op. 110

This symphonic poem, composed after DvorÁk's return to Bohemia from the United States in 1895, was published four years later. It is based upon "the like-named [47] ballad of C. J. Erben." Erben's ballad is founded on the Bohemian superstition that the souls of those who, while mortal, have lived godly lives, reappear on earth after death as white doves. The ballad tells a story which is a variant upon the ancient tale of the widow who found prompt solace in the soldier delegated to keep guard over the body of her dead husband. Erben's version, which the music of DvorÁk illustrates, is set forth in an argument printed in the score. It runs as follows:

[The work by which DvorÁk is most familiarly known in America—the symphony in E minor, "From the New World" (composed in 1893 during DvorÁk's sojourn in America as director of the National Conservatory of Music)—is not programme-music, except in so far as its slow movement is concerned—the Largo in D-flat major. In this movement, it has been said with authority, DvorÁk has essayed a musical publication of the mode which he found in the story of Hiawatha's wooing, as set forth in Longfellow's poem. Mr. H. E. Krehbiel, who, in a sense, stood sponsor for the symphony at the time of its production, observes that there may be here "a suggestion of the sweet loneliness of the night on the prairies"; and he speaks of an episode in the middle of the movement which seems intended "to suggest the gradual awakening of animal life in the prairie scene"; and a striking use is made, he remarks, "of trills exchanged between the instrumental choirs as if they were the voices of the night, or dawn, in converse." The title of the symphony is explained, as most readers will remember, by the fact that in it DvorÁk, by his own confession, according to Mr. Krehbiel, "sought to encourage American composers to seek and reflect in their music the spirit of the [negro] folk-tunes which have grown up in America. He does not want them to use the tunes themselves for thematic treatment, for that is not his conception of the meaning of nationalism in music; but he wants native composers to study the characteristic elements of those tunes (for those are the things which make them hit the taste and fancy of the public) and compose soundly on themes conceived in their vein. This he did in his American symphony." The sons of DvorÁk have recently (1907) put themselves on record in the following interesting contribution to the history of this much-discussed symphony: "... the passages of the symphony and of other works of this American period, which, as some pretend, have been taken from negro airs, are absolutely our father's own mental property; they were only influenced by negro melodies. As in his Slav pieces he never used Slav songs, but, being a Slav, created what his heart dictated, all the works of this American period—the symphony included—respond to Slav origin, and any one who has the least feeling will proclaim this fact. Who will not recognize the homesickness in the Largo of this symphony? The secondary phrase of the first movement, the first theme of the scherzo, the beginning of the finale, and perhaps, also, the melody of the Largo, which give a certain impression of the groaning negro song, are only influenced by this song, and determined by change of land and the influence of a foreign climate."]