First off, it’s been brought to my attention that sometimes there are ads on the symphony videos that I use, and that sometimes the ads are not appropriate, over and above their annoying presence to begin with. The problem is that I never see ads, owing to my paid membership on Google Play and Google Drive, which also gives me access to “YouTube Red”, which is YT’s premium service. I’m going to try to alleviate this by using Internet Explorer to search YT for symphony videos. (On IE, I’m not signed into my Google account as a default, so my YT access through IE is the regular service and not the premium.) I hope this works.

And now, Dvorak’s Symphony No. 8 in G Major!

I love this symphony. Always have. It’s always been one of my favorite symphonies of all time, and certainly my favorite of Dvorak’s, even above the amazing, tuneful 9th. This music is so well-attuned to me, with its sense of lyrical good cheer and its Dvorakian attention to folk and dance rhythms. This is the music of Eastern Europe. I call anyone heartless who isn’t moved to at least a little bit of happiness upon hearing this work.

Pay special attention to the finale, a theme-and-variations that opens with a trumpet fanfare. (How I would have loved to have been able to play this!) One conductor once said of this opening: “Gentlemen, in Bohemia the trumpets never call to battle – they always call to the dance!” This movement is just a fun listen, as Dvorak builds the theme from its first statement, through the orchestra, until it explodes in full force with blazing brass (note the loud trills in the horns). There is just so much pure delight in this symphony! In terms of pure optimism, the only symphony that might outpace it is Beethoven’s Seventh. (Yes I consider Beethoven’s Seventh an optimistic work, even with that magnificently brooding slow movement.)

Here’s Dvorak’s Eighth.

Time for the great Czech master, Antonin Dvorak.

Dvorak wrote nine symphonies, of which I’m going to focus on the last three, or at least as far as we know are the last three. The numbering of Dvorak’s symphonies is a rather messy affair: what is commonly thought of as the Ninth was originally published as the Fifth; the symphony up for consideration today was originally published as the Second but is now considered the Seventh.

Dvorak’s Ninth Symphony (“From the New World”) is so well-known and frequently performed that it actually tends to overshadow the rest of Dvorak’s symphonic output, which is quite a shame as I’ve yet to hear a work of Dvorak’s — in any genre or form — that didn’t have a great deal of charm, melodic invention, fine orchestration, thrilling gift of rhythm, and most important of all, a feeling of folk dance. Dvorak was a Czech national through-and-through, and the native tunes and rhythms of his country shine in everything he wrote. The Seventh Symphony is a perfect example of this, with its emotional intensity and stormy passages juxtaposed with moments of tranquility.

My favorite movement of this symphony is the Scherzo, which is likely because I actually got to perform it in my student days, at the summer music camp I attended. I’ve always found Dvorak to be a wonderful “gateway composer” for introducing people to classical music — not that he’s demanding, but his music is enjoyable on a lot of different levels. There is profundity, but there is also melody; there is long-form symphonic thought, but there is also dance.

Here is Dvorak’s Seventh Symphony. Next week, my favorite of Dvorak’s symphonies — the wonderful Eighth!