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Musical Analysis: Does This Music Sound Like the New World to You? ...
Leonard Bernstein
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Does this music sound like the New World to you? It comes from a
Symphony subtitled "From the New World", and there ought to be
Something about it to justify that title. We are going to try to find
Out what it is, if indeed there is anything at all. In the printed
Notes accompanying this recording, I have been telling you about
Dvorak arriving in America, filled with the spirit of nationalism
That marked his epoch, and of his natural application of that
Nationalism to the American musical scene. I spoke also of the
Excited reaction of American composers to his plan for creating an
American music out of our Indian and Negro folklore. Of how he set
Them an example with his own New World Symphony, and of how beautiful
An Old World Symphony it turned out to be. Now let's look at the
Symphony itself and see how it fits these concepts. Examining the
Work, one is immediately struck by the great wealth of invention
In it, and all of it effective, whether charming, dramatic, or
Touching. In fact, there is so much material that the piece could
Almost be said to suffer from lack of development. I suppose that
That's the difference between the greatest symphonies and the less
Great symphonies. For example, Beethoven's basic thematic material
In the Eroica, or the Fifth Symphony, is quantitatively very little
By comparison to Dvorak, but what he makes of that little material
Is staggering. Dvorak, on the other hand, relies more on the
Effectiveness of his tunes and themes and ideas than
On the magnificence of architecture which results from
Them. Well, what are these themes? Beginning with
The first movement, we hear first a slow introduction
Now if this is really going to be an American symphony, this
Introduction ought to lay it out for us and strike the New World tone
Immediately, but it doesn't. Rather, it makes the impression of an
Introspective European meditation. In fact, a little later on, this
Introduction bears a striking resemblance to Brahms' introduction to
The last movement of his First Symphony, and this is no
Accident. Brahms was a great influence on the life and music
Of Dvorak. Brahms had bestowed prizes on him, encouraged
Him, inspired him. Now here are three bars from the Brahms
Symphony, and notice the dramatic use of syncopation, of
Diminished seventh chords, and of the timpani at the climax
Now let's hear three bars from Dvorak's
Introduction, noticing the same elements
The similarity is amazing. We can only conclude from this
That Dvorak is far more involved with Brahms than he
Is with America. Then we reach the main section of the
First movement, the Allegro. I suppose the first theme
Could be said to be American because
Of the syncopation that occurs in it
But it also occurred in the introduction we just heard, and in Brahms
As well, who had no New World intentions. This kind of syncopation is
To be found also in Bach and Mozart, and everywhere else for that
Matter. Here it is, for example, in
Beethoven's Third Leonore Overture
And you surely can't call that American. So syncopation
By itself is not a factor. But even if we should admit
That it is a factor in making Dvorak's tune American
We find that the next four bars are pure Czech
So that any American quality is abruptly removed. This material is
Developed for a while in fine European
Style and leads to a second theme
Now this tune has been often cited as Indian, in quality at least
And there are reasons to support the argument. First of all, it has
Instead of harmony, a pedal point - that is, one repeated tone
Which holds up the tune
This is typical of primitive music. Later, it even
Has those all-too-familiar empty fifths in the bass
That we all associate with Indian music
Dvorak uses them like this
Then again, the melody is modal, which means that it is written in
Neither a major nor a minor scale, as is customary in classical
Western music, but in a mode which is true of most exotic folk music
In this case, it is the aeolian mode, and some Indian music is known
To have used this mode. But so has much early English music, and
Gregorian church music, and Hindu, and Arab, and old Greek music
So the argument for Indian quality falters a bit. This tune could
Just as well be an old French medieval dance as an Indian chant
And that goes for the pedal point and the fifths in the bass, too
What is more, the development of this theme follows all the
Traditional European patterns, so that whatever Indian quality there
Was is lost. The pattern here is based on the idea of sequences
Which means that you simply take a motive or figure and repeat it on
Ever-ascending degrees of the scale so that it gives the feeling of
Building, as Tchaikovsky does in his Romeo and Juliet, for instance
In this case, Dvorak builds his sequence on the second bar
Only of his tune, and the development comes out like this
It doesn't sound very different from the
Procedures of Wagner and Tchaikovsky, does it?
Well, what about the next theme, which has always
Been compared to Swing Low, Sweet Chariot, a Negro
Spiritual that, as you all know, goes like this
Dvorak's tune does resemble it, especially if you leave out the
First three notes, "Swing Low, Sweet," and start with, "chariot."
But Dvorak denied that he had swiped the tune. He insisted
That the resemblance lay mainly in the fact that both
Tunes are in the pentatonic scale, that is, a five-note
Scale typical of Indian music and of some African music
Those five notes. But in the fifth bar
Of the tune, he introduces a sixth tone
That being the sixth tone, and the pentatonic scale is gone
Then, in the seventh bar, he writes the one remaining seventh tone
That is the seventh tone, so that he has now
Used all seven notes of our good old major scale
Then, as before, when it comes to developing this tune, we are
Again back in the world of Wagner and all the European traditions
That is all the material of the first movement, and all its claim to
Americanism. No, wait, there are those who point with pride to what
They say is a quote from, of all
Things, the Stars and Stripes Forever
It occurs in the middle of the development section
If the truth be known, the Sousa March was written three
Years after Dvorak composed his symphony. In any case, this
Would at best be a specious method of writing American music
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