Dvořák/Moravec –– A New Country

PROGRAM:

Dvořák, Sonatina for Flute and Piano, Op. 100

Dvořák (arr. Fischer), “Goin Home” for Cello and Piano

Paul Moravec, A New Country for Mezzo-soprano, Flute, Violin, Viola, Cello, and Piano

Towards the end of the 19th Century, Antonín Dvořák sailed to America to lead the newly formed National Conservatory of Music in New York. Fascinated by the music he found in America, especially in spirituals and the music of Native Americans, he wrote some of his most famous music here, including his New World Symphony, from which the gorgeous “Goin’ Home” was drawn. The Sonatina that opens the program includes a reference to the Minihaha from Longfellow’s Hiawatha, which Dvořák knew from reading it in his homeland many years earlier. In 2018, Pulitzer Prize-winning composer Paul Moravec wrote A New Country (a BCMF commission) based on immigration to the United States in that same period. As we all reflect on what America is and what it could be, there is hope and wonder in these beautiful and moving pieces, and we are proud to share them with you. Interviews with cellist Nicholas Canellakis and composer Paul Moravec provide greater insight into the program.

ARTISTS: 

Jennifer Johnson Cano, mezzo-soprano  |  Marya Martin, flute  |  Frank Huang, violin  |  Richard O'Neill, viola  |  Nicholas Canellakis, cello  |  Peter Stumpf, cello  |  Jon Kimura Parker, piano  |  Gilles Vonsattel, piano