Book Description
The music of Antonin Dvorak defies fashion. He is one of the very few composers whose works entered the international mainstream during his own lifetime, and some of them have remained there ever since. The pieces that historically define his international reputation, however, represent only a small fraction of what he actually composed. They comprise just one facet of his complex and remarkably rich artistic personality. This book/2-CD pack invites readers to celebrate his extraordinary achievement and experience the pleasure of getting to know more than 90 of his most important works. The two full-length CDs from Suprahon Records include 22 works. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

Book and 2 CD's at a Great Price
'... If one defines greatness as the ability to create a series of masterpieces over a broad range of musical media, then Dvorak was, demonstrably and without exaggeration, the greatest composer of the last half of the nineteenth century.' This quotation from Mr. Hurwitz leaves litle to question about his opinion of Dvorak. And in the last half of the nineteenth century when Brahms, Mahler, Wagner, Tchaikovshy, Verdi, Strauss, and Sibelius were working. Not a bad company with which to be associated.

Mr. Hurwitz has a reputation for taking the work of a composer (Wagner, Mahler, Mozart) and providing an insight into the music, it's history, it's derivation to give the reader a better understanding of the music you are hearing.

The book is about 250 pages long, and the book comes with two full length audio CD's containing 22 tracks of Dvorak's work. These serve to illustrate Mr. Hurwitz's commentary and analysis.

A book of this length and two classical CD's for this price is extraordinary in itself. ... Read more

Book Description

Customer Reviews (5)

no measure number
th score dose not have rehearsal number.It will be ok to use for reference, but is not a good score to use for rehersal.

Good score, great price
While I strongly disagree with the reviewer who labeled classical music as "snooze-material" (how uncultured do we really wish to paint ourselves as being?), I do agree that the Dover score is a great and inexpensive purchase for anyone wishing to study either symphony.It's interesting to note that Simrock-Dvorak's usual publisher-and Dvorak were at odds over money when the 8th symphony was completed, so he had it published in London by Novello (it is because of this that the work is used to be called Symphony No. 4 and is often referred to as the "English" Symphony), but that all was back to normal by the time he had completed the 9th.Dover reprints both original imprints of the two scores: the 8th Symphony is a Novello reprint (1892) and the 9th Symphony is a Simrock reprint (1894).As is always the case with Dover scores the binding holds up well to backpack abuse and the pages don't tear when your theory professor goes ripping through them discussing formal construction with you.

Dvorak's Greatest Symphonies
Everyone goes on and on about the 9th. Yes, it's a great symphony, but abit overplayed. The 8th, on the other hand, is a fantastic work which stillsounds fresh to the listener 100 years after it was written.

If you'reinterested in learning about the 8th symphony, seeing the scoring of thatfamous Largo in the 9th, or simply are curious about the way Dvorak scoredfor the orchestra, this edition of these two symphonies needs to be in yourlibrary. Conductors know that Dover editions are wonderful inexpensivealternatives to "Urtext" editions, and are ideal for initialstudy, building a library, and even use as a conducting score in manycases. They're great volumes, they're published well, they look and feelgreat.

These two symphonies should be represented in any classical musiclover's recording collection, and the scores make excellent listeningcompanions. If you can read the music, and especially if you might everhave to conduct these works, this edition is a must-buy.

Es grandiosa!!!
La 9a Sinfonía de Dvorak es un gran ejemplo de perfección en la escritura sinfónica: 4 movimientos constructurados (el tercero un scherzo), esta sinfonía fué compuesta para un viaje de Dvorak a los Estados Unidos, todala fuerza y delicadeza que implica la ejecución de esta sinfonia debe serestrictamente perfecta. La dulzura del segundo movimiento logra el efectopara el cual fue escrito, es una gran sinfonía!!!.

Dvorak's AMAZING New World Symphony
I played a shortened version of this piece with my high school Jr Band. Then, we played it in Sr band, and finally got to see it performed by theClevland Symphony Orchestra.Wow.I wouldn't think a piece of classicalmusic, normally considered snooze material, would have such an impact.Wewere inspired and awed.We felt the music, especially since we've playedit.The speed, agility and variring nature of the piece brings youup inthe 1st section... slows you down in the second with beauteous harmony...brings the pace back up in the third for the final heart-wrenching finish. Buy this piece!!!You'll be happy you did!!! ... Read more

Book Description

Product Description
Score & Sound Masterworks are convenient, compact and inexpensive score/CD packs perfect for classical music enthusiasts and students. Follow along with the score as you listen to some of the world's great music. Discover which instruments are playing and in what combination, and admire the orchestration of a master composer.Publications in this series include an interesting article about the composition and history of the featured piece, a helpful reference addressing transposing instruments, and a glossary of musical terms used in the score.Anton n Dvor k's Symphony No. 9 in G Major, Op. 95, subtitledFrom the New World,was the work that spread his name throughout the world. Prior to the piece's 1893 premiere in Carnegie Hall, Dvor k's music was performed in only about ten countries. But the enormous, nearly instant popularity of this symphony changed that in short order. Written during his stay in the United States, hisNew Worldsymphony has sparked much debate about Americana contained in this music. After the premiere one critic asserted,He (Dvor k) has compelled recognition ... that there are musical elements in America which lend themselves to beautiful treatment in the higher forms of art.Today, his ninth symphony remains one of the most often played, well-known, well-loved works of the symphonic literature. ... Read more

Book Description

Book Description

Customer Reviews (2)

Fine
The score came in a timely manner and was what I expected it to be.

Very Small, but Very Good
This was the first Dover Miniature score that I bought, but it was so good (especially for the price) that it induced me to buy more--now, I am the proud owner of six of these and have given one to a friend.The engraving is TINY, but it is also clear and readable.For the price, this is one of the best editions available. ... Read more

Book Description
A forceful reinterpretation of the composer's personality and work.

Focusing on Dvorák's three-year stay in the United States, this book explores the world behind the public legend, concluding that the composer suffered from a debilitating and previously unexplored anxiety disorder. Readers of this book will gain a rich view of Dvorák that will deepen their understanding of his works, especially his Symphony From the New World. Audio compact disc included; 16 pages of b/w illustrations. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (2)

An excellent book
I have loved working with this book.I conducted the 9th Symphony last year and this book was extremely helpful in studying the piece.

An interesting read, but take with a grain of salt.
Beckerman takes a real chance with this book.Rather than trying to analyze Dvoř?k's musical legacy by starting with Dvoř?k himself, he starts largely with an analysis of the music and uses this to infer the composer's personality.Unfortunately I think Beckerman has in come places strayed to far from the objective reality of Dvoř?k's life and has been swept away by the passions of music, which magnify the passions of life.
Perhaps most curious about New World of Dvoř?k is that it barely seems to discuss the Master at all, but rather seems to spend most of its time discussing the critics, music researchers, philanthropists, and journalists who were so caught up in what they say as the promise of Dvoř?k.In many ways Beckerman does not describe who the composer really was, or what he really wrote, but what he represented to the Americans who brought him to America and followed his every move as though he was single-handedly spelling out the destiny of American music.
Rather than being a true biography of the composer, I would consider this book more of a very narrow historical and thematic sketch of American musical culture at the time of the Master's visit. Although Beckerman makes some very compelling musical arguments that attempt to find the true inspiration of Dvoř?k's supposedly "American" pieces, his analysis goes so far as to claim there the in fact exists no American nationalist music whatsoever, and this conclusion is just too hard to swallow. It is likewise odd that Beckerman insists that Dvoř?k suffered from debilitating mental anguish and persistent psychological problems.It almost seems that it offends Beckerman's sensibilities that a composer of Dvoř?k's historical significance was essentially "clean." ... Read more

Book Description
Antonin Dvorak, My Father is a personal biography by his son Otakar who at the age of seventy-five years old decided to "write about the events missing from the other books about my father. "

For musicologists, Otakar's biography of his father contains many new items, but basically the book portrays Dvorak as a father. Story after story discloses Dvofak's real identity, captured in simple words by his son, while the great composer's work and profession linger in the background.

Otakar reveals in detail how his father decided to come to America. Later, after Otakar joined his parents in New York, the family set out for Spiliville. Otakar tells many stories about his father in this Czech-American community in northeastern Iowa.

Dvorak's symphony From the New World was the rage of New York in December of 1893, but Otakar recalls it for a much different reason.

Dvorak's depression in New York has seldom been mentioned, much less understood. But through the eyes of nine year old Otakar there is a poignancy that few musical historians could present.

Otakar remembers many stories told by Dvotak's friends and pupils. These colorful stories carry us through the chapters, giving us the background to Dvofak's career and life. Otakar relates several gems for the musical historian, but the story about how his father solved a problem in his most famous opera might be the best.

Otakar wrote his book to say..."ad memoriam lather. " But Otakar's epilogue for this book written a few days before his own death divulged as much about himself as his stories did about his father. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (2)

Great insights.
It seems almost by chance that Paul Polansky has been able to capture the exact frame of Anton?n Dvoř?k's that is of most interest to us today.That one of Dvoř?k's children would have written substantial memoirs of his father that had gone unfound for so many years is remarkable, but that this child was also the one who's window of memory match the composer's rise to fame is sublimely fortuitous.As Otakar ages through the course of the book and his memories become more detailed and rich, so rises his father's fame and stature in the world.Otakar becomes almost a symbol for his father's emergence in the history of music.
Although this book's publication has been limited, it clearly paints a picture of Dvoř?k that is more personal, more humanizing than other tomes about the composer.It is perhaps this human element, this treatment of Dvoř?k not as an eccentric genius, but as an individual like any other, who happened to have had a musical talent of monumental proportion.Perhaps it is this "everyday" perception of Dvoř?k that makes this book so unpopular with music scholars today.This treatment of the composer leads to some uncomfortable questions-if Dvoř?k was such an ordinary man in upbringing and personality, then why are there not scores of Dvoř?k's today?
The book's reception aside, Otakar's reminiscences are fresh and vibrant, they make it possible for the reader to actually imagine what the daily life of the composer was probably like; how he truly felt in Prague, New York, Vysok?, and Spillville; what his family life was really like. Granted, all memories are slanted by their hosts, and those of Otakar of his father are no exception, but where Otakar misplaces years and events he makes up for with precious accounts of interactions his father had with himself and others, and a general mood associated with places and times.This value of Otakar's experience is both promoted and hindered by Polansky.His corrections of misremembered material details and clarifications of unclear references in the form of footnotes are often useful, but they are just as often heavy-handed or dismissive of Otakar's legitimate expertise on his father.While it is important that we realize that the eyewitness accounts in the book are coming from a rather young child, we need not be reminded of this at every instance where the interpretation of events diverges from that of the editor.
The only truly uninteresting part of this book is the lengthy introduction and forward, which provide a rather inconsequential series of anecdotes detailing how the editor uncovered Otakar's unknown memoirs.Although this provides some genealogy of the composer and adds some local color to his old haunts in Bohemia, this section is rather drawn-out and adds little to Otakar's accounts.Although Polansky's work was substantial to bring us this volume, he need not describe his every footfall in the Czech Republic.

An inside look at a great figure.
Paul Polansky has done a first-rate job."Antonin Dvorak, My Father" gives insights into Dvorak's life that can only come from somebody who was so close to the man himself.Polansky is a seasoned researcher, and the quality of his scholarship shines through the whole book. ... Read more

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Book Description

Customer Reviews (1)

A Brilliant Book for Young Readers!
Joseph Horowitz loves the late 19th and early 20th world of culture. He is simultaneously scholar and activist. His bold, unprecendented project is to take historical moments and richly employ them to introduce the excitement of classical music to young readers. He could have no better scenario than Dvorak in the New World. Here the composer seeks to create an American musical language based on a synthesis of the high symphonic style with elements of Black and Indian music. The characters are vividly drawn and the whole is both beautifully written and wonderfully gauged for young readers.A real treat! ... Read more

Customer Reviews (3)

delightful and insightful
Who doesn't like Dvorak's powerful and heart stirring music. This book tries to show the same impact the man made on his family, colleagues and friends. Each chapter could stand on its own,with the characters voicing their thoughts and feelings about Dvorak in their own unique way, both in style and in feeling. I thought the novel expressed the overall feeling of a man of great humanity, humility and almost too ordinary to pay much attention to, while at the same time celebrating his genius. A subtle and insightful novel.

Dvorak in love with America
Probably the highest compliment I can pay to this amazing book is that right after I finished it I started listening to Dvorak nonstop. So many themes are explored here, and each with disarming subtlety. Skvorecky is a musician with the pen.

An absolutely wonderful book
This book is told from the point of view of many different narrators, all of whom have some connection with Dvorak and his American sojourn.Some chapters are virtual novellas, others are just funny stories.As ever, Skvorecky's range is prodigious.He can speak with the voice of Czechs and Americans, men and women, blacks and whites, the old and the young.Dvorak himself is glimpsed only from the outside, by those around him, and it is not necessary to know more about him than that he was a great musician in order to enjoy -- and be moved by -- this comic novel.

If the Nobel Prize committee made decisions based on a writer's skill and range and mastery of literary form, Skvorecky would have won years ago. He's without doubt the funniest great writer alive.If you haven't read him yet, you have a treat awaiting you. ... Read more

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Customer Reviews (1)

ARGH MATEY
although his ninth symphony was probably the most anticipated, his seventh is probably the most highly regarded of his symphonies.it is full of the angst that consumed him at the time of its inception... ... Read more

Product Description
Well known in orchestral form, Dvorak's Slavonic Dances were originally written for piano-four hands, and later orchestrated. These works brought Dvorak to international fame. Inspired by Brahms's Hungarian Dances, Dvorak incorporated characteristic elements of Slovanic dance music in his own melodic invention. ... Read more

Book Description

Book Description
Perform timeless Violin works! Perfect for practice, rehearsal, auditions, contest solos, performances, and more!Dvorak's beautiful Terzetto, composed in 1887 at the very height of his career, is one of only two works using the combination of two violins and viola. His masterful scoring for strings, so evident in his symphonies and other works, is brilliantly displayed in this lovely trio for strings. Highly recommended.

Includes a complete, high-quality printed music score; and a compact disc containing a complete performance with soloist, then performed again with accompaniments only, minus you, the soloist.

MMO CD 3143
Performed by Vardi, Emanuel, 1st violin
Accompaniment: Toni Rapport, 2nd violin; Hugh Loughran, viola ... Read more