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Antonín Dvořák's Symphony No. 7 in D minor op. 70, played by the WDR Symphony Orchestra under the baton of its chief conductor Cristian Măcelaru. Recorded live on 27.01.2024 in the Kölner Philharmonie.
Antonín Dvořák - Symphony No. 7 in D minor op. 70
00:00:00 I. Allegro maestoso
00:11:20 II. Poco adagio
00:21:00 III. scherzo. Vivace
00:28:42 IV. Finale. Allegro
WDR Symphony Orchestra
Cristian Măcelaru, conductor
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Introduction to the work:
In the case of Antonín Dvořák and his Seventh Symphony, it was not a musician but another work of music that inspired him to compose it: the Third of his revered role model Johannes Brahms. Dvořák was deeply impressed by the dramatic seriousness of this symphony. This was now the benchmark that the Czech composer wanted to use as a guide for his next symphony. His musical, joyous Sixth had already been written four years earlier. A request from London came in very handy for Dvořák. The Philharmonic Society there commissioned him to compose a symphony. This gave him the opportunity to try his hand at realizing his ambitious goals. On December 13, 1884, he threw himself into the work. And the demands on himself were avowedly high: "I am currently working on a new symphony (for London), and everywhere I think of nothing but my new work, which must have the power to move the whole world, and God grant that it will!"
First of all, however, the London audience had to be "moved". On April 22, 1885, the time had come: Dvořák took to the conductor's podium at St James's Hall in London and conducted the premiere of his Seventh himself. And the audience? They were enraptured! The composer reported back to his Bohemian homeland: "I can't tell you how much the English honor me!" He continues: "I'm being written about everywhere and they say I'm the lion of this year's music season in London." Not a bad choice, this comparison with the king of beasts. Because of Dvořák's nine symphonies, the seventh is clearly the most passionate, the most dramatic. The first movement begins with dark timbres, only to immediately roar into action. The second movement oscillates between the idyllic and the tragic, while the scherzo is captivating in that the actual theme is always accompanied by a counter-theme. The finale radiates fiery furor, but also offers glittering jubilation. Without a doubt, Dvořák's Seventh is the most emotionally intense of his symphonies.
(Text: Otto Hagedorn)