Classical Composer: | Dvořák, Antonín |
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Work: | Suite in A Major, Op. 98, B. 184, "American" |
Year Composed: | 1894 |
Instrumentation: | pf |
Publishers: |
Boosey & Hawkes Editio Praga (formerly Editio Supraphon) |
Duration: | 00:18:00 |
Period: | Romantic |
Work Category: | Instrumental |
Work Information
Available Recording(s)
The little-known American Suite, begun in New York just after the première of the New World Symphony, is a case in point. Dvořák wrote it for solo piano, then lovingly orchestrated it in 1895. Simplicity—its serene speech, shunning compositional virtuosity—is its crux. The third movement is a jaunty dance not far removed from the world of stride piano. The fourth evokes the vacant Iowa landscape which he found "sometimes very sad, sad to despair." In Spillville, Iowa, Dvořák had listened to interracial Kickapoo Medicine Show musicians including two African-Americans who intermingled Native American dances with banjo and guitar. In the American Suite, prairie vacancy mates with cakewalk, and—in the fifth and final movement—an A minor "Indian" tune turns into an A major minstrel song.
Writer: Joseph Horowitz
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