As a composer who often drew inspiration from his homeland, folk music and traditional European musics, Dvořák essentially combined this new music he had found, with some of his European music expertise. The composer had discovered these during his first few months in New York. The nickname ‘From the New World’ or ‘New World Symphony’, as it is commonly referred to, comes from Dvořák explaining that the symphony offers ‘Impressions and greetings from the New World.’ It is common knowledge that Dvořák’s main inspirations for his Ninth Symphony were Afro-American songs. This part of Dvořák’s life also saw him in the height of his creativity, so no wonder the Ninth Symphony has remained so popular for so long. Whilst in the USA, Dvořák was working as head of the National Conservatory of Music, and so this musical project was important as it gave him the opportunity to reach his ambitions and not fall short of the mark. Dvořák’s career, financial situation and international recognition had all ideally lined up when he was commissioned to compose the symphony ‘for America’.
Antonín Dvořák: Symphony No.9 (‘From the New World’) Contextĭvořák composed his last, and indeed most internationally popular, symphony in his first year of living in the United States of America.
