| Arthur Mees, Synopsis of Compositions . . . On December 15th and 16th, 1893 Philharmonic Society of New York Fifty-Second Season, 1893 - 1894. Arthur Mees, Synopsis of Compositions To Be Performed at The Second Public Rehearsal and Concert On December 15th and 16th, 1893, at Music Hall. 7th Avenue and 57th Street. Symphony No. 5, E Minor, op. 95 (Manuscript.) "From the New World." Antonin Dvorak, born Sept. 8th 1841 at Muhlhausen near Kralup, Bohemia. The views which Dr. Dvorak entertains in regard to "national" music, or more accurately, the influence which national and racial peculiarities exert on music, have given rise to much discussion. In the present symphony he offers a practical illustration of his principles. In order to facilitate the understanding of the work and of the spirit in which it was conceived as well as the theory on which it is constructed, Dr. Dvorak has kindly given the following explanation. On his arrival in America the composer was deeply impressed by the conditions peculiar to this country and the spirit of which they were the outward manifestation. In continuing his activity he found that the works which he created here were essentially different from those which had sprung into existence in his native country. They were clearly influenced by the new surroundings and by the new life of which these were the material evidences. Dr. Dvorak made a study of Indian and Negro melodies and found them possessed of characteristics peculiarly their own. He identified himself with their spirit, made their essential contents, not their formal external traits, his own. As Liszt, Brahms and particularly Schubert reproduced the spirit of Hungarian music in their works, as Dvorak had done in regard to Bohemian music in his Slavonic Dances, so he strove in the present symphony to reproduce the fundamental characteristics of the melodies which he had found here, by means of the specifically musical resources which his inspiration furnished. In doing this he acted according to conviction, according to the theory to which he has given much thought, not with a view to displaying his ingenuity or masterly skill of composition. While the contents of the symphony have been suggested by Indian and Negro melodies, the symphony form has been carefully observed. The composer has created a work in accord with the laws of the highest type of music but in the spirit and moods to which these melodies gave rise. The second and third movements were written under the influence of Longfellow's "The Song of Hiawatha," for which the composer has a profound admiration. In the second movement and in the Finale reminiscences of the themes of the first movement will be found. Further proof of the fact that Dr. Dvorak is thoroughly imbued with the principles outlined is brought forward by the circumstances that a string quintet and a string quartet which he composed during the last summer, and which are chamber music in the highest sense of the word, are dominated by the same influence which is apparent in the symphony. A. M. ORCHESTRA Violins Arnold, R. Hauser, C. Kester, L. Roebbelen, A. Schmidt, L. Jordan, K. Hamm, C. Bahrs, H. Brode, H. Dannreuther, G. Kaltenborn, F. Lapine, J. Hemmann, F. Schmidt, H. Rhaess, C. Laendner, S. Oestreicher, A. Walte, Ph. Klugescheid, R. Rietzel, J. Rubel, A. Kollmer, W. Rothmeyer, A. Schreiner, O. Bauer, E. Herrmann, C. B. Herwig, F. Mosenthal, J. Seiferth, A. Christ, Th. Froehlich, S. Gotterdam, L. Herfort, Ph. Bernstein, Ad. Siemers, J. Wiegand, H. Violas Wiegand, H. Knoop, H. Schwarz, M. Cellos Rietzel, C. Jacoby, Th. Bergner, F. Basses Wiegand, Geo. Herrmann, C. Manoly, L. K. Lilienthal, A. W. Hoch, C. Kissenberth, G. Risch, J. Reineccius, K. Lowak, W. Eller, J. Herbert, V. Kahlhof, A. Schloming, H. Schenk, E. Leifeis, F. Essigke, Geo. Mueller, W. Straubel, H. Franke, J. Straub, H. Preusser, C. Ringk, R. Wagner, F. Heidelberg, C. La Croix, W. Zedler, N. Hausknecht, J. Brosche, C. Windisch, G. Eim, P. Mueller, C. Egner, P. Bietterman, J. Clarinets Trumpets Willing, J. Reinecke, C. Dietz, F. Weltzien, C. Drewess, J. Seiferth, A. Burkhardt, C. Bassoons Frentzky, O. Flutes Bernhardi, F. Trombones Wehner, C. Sohst, A. Stolz, E. Rietzel, F. Breitschuck, H. Pfeiffenschneider, J. Piccolo Horns Letsch, Fr. Ikler, J. Pieper, C. Tuba Oboes Schmidt, W. Thomas, F. Eller, J. Schulze, W. Timpani Eller, M. Niebling, M. Bernstein, S. Corno Anglais Cymbals Dausch, J. Jordan, K. Bietterman, J. Clarinets Trumpets Willing, J. Reinecke, C. Dietz, F. Weltzien, C. Drewess, J. Seiferth, A. Burkhardt, C. Bassoons Frentzky, O. Flutes Bernhardi, F. Trombones Wehner, C. Sohst, A. Stolz, E. Rietzel, F. Breitschuck, H. Pfeiffenschneider, J. Piccolo Horns Letsch, Fr. Ikler, J. Pieper, C. Tuba Oboes Schmidt, W. Thomas, F. Eller, J. Schulze, W. Timpani Eller, M. Niebling, M. Bernstein, S. Corno Anglais Cymbals Dausch, J. Jordan, K. |