Once again, one blog post topic has generated unexpected journeys down a path I'd never intended. You could say that exploring the harmonic progression in four bars of Dvořák's "New World" Symphony opened up whole new worlds of things to write about. At first I thought this would just be a little postscript post, but it has resulted in a few more creations than I'd imagined.
The topic of the day is this: what is actually "new world"-ish about Dvořák's 9th Symphony "From the New World?"
In my previous Dvořák post I focused on how that little harmonic progression seemed to have an epic, outer space quality which expressed more about "new-ness" in general than specifics of American culture. As I mentioned there, most discourse about this symphony tends to focus on possible nods to American folk idioms (most specifically Native-American and African-American) and I've generally felt that this discussion goes in circles - certain things are said in one set of program notes and then the same ideas migrate around, with a lot of subjective responses but not many great answers. (WARNING: More subjective responses coming!)So why I am now trying to provide answers? Well, I have a couple of possibly new-ish perspectives to offer. I well remember first being introduced to this topic via a Leonard Bernstein lecture (which I encountered in print form here). For some reason it has always stuck with me that he pointed to the passage at 1:14 in this recording of the finale as having a kind of "American" spirit, due to the boisterous triplet melody against duple 8th notes, but that just sounds like Slavic European music to me.
Bernstein also spends a lot of time pointing to this and that pentatonic melody in the symphony and then reminding us that many folk cultures use pentatonic scales, as if that negates any claim to being American, which...whatever. Most inevitably, he mentions the obligatory question of whether the first movement's relaxed contrasting theme is based on "Swing low, sweet chariot," which Dvořák claimed not to be the case. I'll be honest and admit that this supposed connection has always confused me because I feel like I've never heard it...which is strange given that I'm often prone to stumble on all sorts of tune connections.
I'm a little embarrassed about this because when I slowed down and looked at both tunes, there is a clear connection which my ears had always missed. As Bernstein rightly points out (at 7:24), Dvořák starts only from the fourth note of the spiritual on the word "chariot." This has a really interesting effect, because rather than functioning as a mid-phrase event, Dvořák treats the motif as a phrase-opening gesture. It happens to match the precise rhythm of the primary "New World" motif, which notably puts a natural accent on that final note (D) of the bar, whereas "Swing low" puts the natural stress on the next to last note (E). [The staccato marks are what imply a strong final stress in the Dvořák bars, whereas the slurred E-D in the spiritual implies stress on the E.] I guess without those opening thirds in "Swing low," my ear gets thrown off the scent, and I would add that Dvořák's tune would sound silly if it began with the word "chariot" because of the awkward stress. ("chari-Uh-UHt")
Nonetheless, the close relationship is right there for all to see, and the spiritual also continues with the arpeggiated notes G, B, and D, though in slightly different fashion. If it is an homage, intentional or otherwise, Dvořák has done an excellent job repurposing the motive so that it really doesn't sound like the same thing. But maybe I'm not the only one confused by this. I laughed out loud at the 1:20 mark of this explanatory video where this poor British guy tries to squeeze in all the words of "Swing low, sweet chariot" to the Dvořák tune. It comes out like this:
As a kind of penance for making fun of that British guy (who might reasonably be less expected to know a famous African-American spiritual) and for never having clearly heard the connection myself, I've made this little video which shows clearly how the Dvořák and the spiritual relate to each other. Hopefully this will help some other lost soul.
I still kind of marvel at how different those four notes sound in those two contexts, but perhaps that's just me.
Now, where I seem to be different than most listeners is in how I hear two tunes from the third movement scherzo. First, let's go back to our British friend and see what he has to say about the second of these melodies (at 0:21):
I'm sorry to say he is way off base again in this case - he claims that it is "dressed in Bohemian costume" - because the way he plays it is NOTHING like how Dvořák sets it. There's no oom-pah-pah accompaniment in the symphony, but rather a very lyrical violin line which floats above and around the woodwind singers. Since I first heard the symphony as a teenager, this music has always sounded like something which could fit right into a Western-themed movie about cowboys out riding in the prairie. Something about the simple harmonies and the lilting tune and the sense of open space created by that violin line.
Of course, I'm sure there are open spaces aplenty in the Europe Dvořák knew. It's quite possible I'm relating to the kind of music mid-twentieth-century film composers (many European by birth and training) would have supplied for panoramic American scenes under endless skies - perhaps influenced subtly by Dvořák. Here's an example from the Western-theme movie I probably watched most often (written by an American, Victor Young, who grew up and studied music in Poland).
Whereas the primary scherzo tune/style does sound all-Slavonic to me, the other contrasting major key theme in this movement (1:33 here) also has a gently rolling flow and optimism that again summons the American West to my mind. I'm not saying at all that Dvořák intended that, but I don't know of other music from his output that has this particular aura. (The "American" String Quartet has always felt more slavic than American to me, although I DID once do this with the finale. Very American in that context.)
Because I know I'm standing on sketchy ground here (as these sentiments are mostly based on my own subjective response), I thought I'd try to make my case with a little video montage. And, you'll notice I end with the very same "Swing low" tune which has just never sounded at all like a spiritual to me. But when the violins take up the tune after it's first presented by solo flute, it really does take me to a place similar to that sweeping Shane theme. You be the judge.
It's funny to reflect on how, during my childhood, the ideal of the cowboy was so strong in my life. I had plastic cowboy figures, Johnny West action figures, toy six-shooters, hats, bandanas, boots. My favorite sports team was The Cowboys. Here's a couple of historical photographs to make the point:
There's nothing about cowboy life that seems appealing to me now, but although I don't even have very conscious memories of watching Western-themed movies, I think something of that genre probably seeped into me so that the most "New World" thing about this famous symphony is the parts that evoke this kind of spirit.
When I was driving in to work yesterday, I started thinking maybe I could make my case even stronger if I wrote some cowboy lyrics to go along with the three tunes featured in my montage. It seemed like a good idea at the time, and I did most of the lyric-writing while in the car (so not really such a waste of time), although when I focus-tested these with family members last night, I realized I might be going out on a limb here. (This is another way of saying they acted like I'd lost my mind. In fairness, they are used to having this reaction.) As I told them, my goal was to channel that optimistic cowboy mindset in lyric form, so although they are silly for sure, I think they match the source material pretty well. Because I know there are those who'd prefer not to have innocent melodies marred by memories of mnemonics, I'll simply link you to this video if you dare to see what I've devised. GO HERE.
And if you're strong enough to take that, you may sample the even worse lyrics written by the notorious* Sigmund Spaeth. I've copied his whole chapter here. Sadly, Spaeth punted on writing lyrics for the second scherzo cowboy tune. (He does buy in to the "Swing low" thing, even "adapting" the lyrics from the spiritual to make his case.)
To recap, my main goals here were to:
- both clearly show the connection between "Swing low, sweet chariot" and Dvořák's tune and argue that the connection is not really that close (so I don't feel quite so silly about never having heard it).
- argue that the most "American" things in this symphony are the prairie-style tunes I hear in the Scherzo and first movement.
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