{"id":5674,"date":"2021-10-12T09:02:23","date_gmt":"2021-10-12T14:02:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/pages.stolaf.edu\/americanmusic\/?p=5674"},"modified":"2021-10-12T09:02:23","modified_gmt":"2021-10-12T14:02:23","slug":"african-american-spirituals-and-dvoraks-new-world-symphony","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/pages.stolaf.edu\/americanmusic\/2021\/10\/12\/african-american-spirituals-and-dvoraks-new-world-symphony\/","title":{"rendered":"African-American Spirituals and Dvorak\u2019s \u201cNew World Symphony\u201d"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Anton\u00edn Dvo\u0159\u00e1k<\/p><\/div>\n

As we attempt to answer the question \u201cWhat is American Music?\u201d one perspective to take is that of an outsider. <\/span>Anton\u00edn Dvo\u0159\u00e1k<\/span>\u2019s \u201cNew World Symphony\u201d is a work that showcases an outsider’s perspective on American music and culture \u2014 this music and culture being undoubtedly shaped at least in part by African-American spirituals.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

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In speaking of this composition, Dvo\u0159\u00e1k went so far as to claim that <\/span>“The future of this country must be founded upon what are called the Negro melodies. This must be the real foundation of any serious and original school of composition to be developed in the United States.” Obviously problematic, this statement essentially tells white Americans that it is in their best interest to continue to take advantage of the people they have violently enslaved and oppressed to further their musical mark.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

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H.T. Burleigh<\/p><\/div>\n

I was fascinated to learn that H.T. Burleigh <\/span>\u2014 <\/span>who was the subject of my very first blog post, lovely how it all ties together! <\/span>\u2014<\/span> was in fact <\/span>Dvo\u0159\u00e1k<\/span><\/a>\u2019s assistant at the National Conservatory in New York City in the early 1890s. Burleigh introduced Dvorak to spirituals such as \u201cSwing Low, Sweet Chariot\u201d, which was even quoted in the first movement of \u201cNew World Symphony\u201d<\/span> (read more about that relationship <\/span>here<\/span><\/a>!).\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

This quotation can be heard in the second theme of the first movement of the composition in the flute. (Timestamp 4:03)<\/span><\/p>\n

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