The Wrocław Philharmonic under the baton of Christoph Eschenbach will perform the Polish premiere Krzysztof Penderecki’s Concerto grosso No. 2, and in the second part of the evening we will listen to the most famous composition by Antonín Dvořák, written during the Czech artist’s stay in the New World.
Krzysztof Penderecki’s Concerto grosso No. 2 was created in 2004, commissioned by the Orquesta Sinfónica de Madrid, and premiered in June of the same year in the capital of Spain, conducted by the composer. Penderecki decided to use five solo clarinets. They enter into dialogues with each other and with other instruments of the orchestra, which gives unusual, intriguing colour effects.
In the second part of the concert, Antonín Dvořák’s Symphony No. 9 in E minor “From the New World” will be performed. It was one of several works written by the Czech composer during his stay in the United States from 1892 to 1895. At that time, the artist held the position of director of the National Conservatory of Music in New York and at the same time developed an interest in American music. The new symphony turned out to be an amalgam of influences and inspirations. You can find there echoes of Native American music and Negro spirituals (the composer did not decide to include quotations, and all themes are the result of his invention), which Dvořák combined with contemporary techniques of composing. The result was a raw work, full of expressive, lively rhythm. The successful contrast between lyrical, melancholic and heroic sections combined with extraordinary melodic ingenuity ensured this work’s great success. The melody played by the English horn in the second part inspired the song Going Home in 1922, written by a student of the Czech composer, William Arms Fisher. The premiere of the symphony took place in 1893 at Carnegie Hall, conducted by Anton Seidel. After each movement, there was a hurricane of applause – it was certainly one of the greatest triumphs in Dvořák’s entire compositional career. The success of the piece has not diminished and to this day it is one of the most frequently performed symphonies of the Romantic era.