Antonín Dvořák:
Symphony No. 6 in D major, Op. 60, B 112 (with Score)
Composed: 27 August - 15 October 1880
Conductor: Václav Neumann
Orchestra: Czech Philharmonic
00:00 1. Allegro non tanto (D major)
13:46 2. Adagio (B-flat major)
24:19 3. Scherzo (Furiant): Presto (D minor)
32:41 4. Finale: Allegro con spirito (D major)
The Symphony in D major, which appeared within a mere seven weeks in late summer and autumn 1880, is the sixth of Dvorak’s nine symphonies. However, for a long time it was regarded as the “First”, since it was Dvorak’s first work of this genre to come out in print (with the Berlin-based publisher Simrock). Even though it is somewhat overshadowed on the concert platform by the composer’s last three symphonic masterpieces, in reality, this symphony, too, represents one of a series of Dvorak’s magnum opuses in the symphonic genre. In the context of the development of the composer’s symphonic style, this undertaking indicated that he was entirely confident in his approach to the four-movement composition, a form he had now mastered. While the previous Symphony in F major still betrayed a certain lack of stylistic cohesion, here Dvorak had finally achieved a flawless style throughout. The work is distinguished for its rich, lyrical melodies, great diversity, lively rhythms and also for its full, colourful orchestral sound. The symphony is the consummate result of the influence of classical forms combined with what was now a crystallised, distinctive compositional style.
The mood of the entire symphony is warm and tranquil and it portrays the composer in his most characteristic guise. With its inspiration from Czech folk music and its stylisation of the furiant - a fiery folk dance - in the third movement, it is considered a major representative of the composer’s so-called Slavic period. The symphony is sometimes given the nickname “Czech”, and conductor Vaclav Talich liked to call it the “Christmas” symphony, perhaps a reference to the lyricism of the slow movement. Johannes Brahms’s Symphony No. 2, written three years earlier, is often cited as a major source of inspiration: the outer movements of both symphonies share not only their key, metre, tempo markings and orchestration, but also their overall mood. One can presuppose, however, that the positive atmosphere of the work is a reflection of Dvorak’s situation in life at that time: now almost forty, after many years of endeavour, the composer had managed to break out onto the Czech and international concert scene (Slavonic Dances in London, the third Slavonic Rhapsody in Berlin, among others), he had cemented his friendship with Johannes Brahms (Brahms had even paid the Dvoraks a visit in Prague not long before this), and his wife had given birth to their daughter Anna. In addition, important musical institutions had begun commissioning works from him. This was also the case of Symphony in D major, which Dvorak wrote at the request of Chief Conductor of the Vienna Philharmonic, Hans Richter, one of the principal promoters of Dvorak’s works on the international scene.
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