Dvořák: Symphony No.9, From the New World

Following their acclaimed recordings of Dvořák’s Symphonies Nos. 7 and 8, Claus Peter Flor and the Malaysian Philharmonic Orchestra come to his Symphony No.9 ‘From the New World’. Since its première, Symphony No. 9 has remained one of his most popular works. It was composed in America and, in the words of the composer, uses ‘simply written original themes embodying the peculiarities of the Indian music’, developing them ‘with all the resources of modern rhythms, harmony, counterpoint and orchestral colour.’ Dvořák performed the overture Můj domov (My Home) at the Czech première of the Ninth. Part of the incidental music for a play, the overture is based on two popular songs, one of which, Kde domov můj (Where Is My Home), would later become the Czechoslovakian national anthem. Another of Dvořák’s ‘nationalistic’ works appears here – the light-hearted Czech Suite, consisting of five movements, all based on the dance rhythms of Bohemia, Moravia and Central Europe.