6. Sinfoniekonzert

In the organizer's words:

"From the 'new' world"

William Grant Still
Symphony No. 1 in A flat major "Afro-American"

Florence Price
Piano concerto in one movement in D minor

Antonín Dvořák
Symphony No. 9 in E minor op. 95 "From the New World"

The sixth symphony concerto "From the 'New' World" is dedicated to a thoroughly American program; a world that, as we all know, was not so new - after all, the double continent was anything but uninhabited even before the arrival of the European colonial powers.

We begin with William Grant Still's symphonic debut from 1930, which was not only his first symphony - but also the first symphony by an African-American composer ever to be performed publicly by a major orchestra in the USA in 1931. The work impresses with its proximity to the blues in terms of melody and harmony, while remaining true to classical form in its structure. Rhythmically, the influence of African-American music from the time of its composition is unmistakable.

Today, Florence Price is considered one of the most important black female composers in music history. The American composer's Symphony in E minor was successfully premiered by Frederick Stock and the Chicago Symphony Orchestra in 1933. At the conductor's suggestion, she wrote her piano concerto in one movement and premiered it the following year with the orchestra as soloist. The concise work is characterized by strong changes of mood, and influences of black music can be heard everywhere, be it spirituals, the dance Juba, which originated on slave plantations, or the ragtime brought to bloom by Scott Joplin. The soloist is the up-and-coming young pianist Marie Sophie Hauzel.

The Czech composer Antonín Dvořák was not American. However, as the nickname suggests, his most famous symphony was composed in the so-called New World. When the Bohemian took up his post as director of the National Conservatory of Music of America in New York in 1892, he was expected to create nothing less than a national music for the USA. In this spirit, he gave his Ninth Symphony, composed between December 1892 and May 1893, "distinctly American characteristics", according to the composer. He drew inspiration from Native American music and African-American spirituals. He combined these with his unmistakably Bohemian musical language. As one of the most popular works of classical music, the ear-catching melodies have long since become part of pop cultural common property and have inspired artists as diverse as John Williams (Jaws) and Serge Gainsbourg ("Initials B.B.").