Prologue. The Big Problem -- The Welcome Arrival -- The Symphonic Premiere -- The Aesthetic Conflict -- The National Question -- The Brewing Storm -- The Fiery Debate -- The Racial Challenge -- The Spiritual Aftermath -- Epilogue. The New World -- Appendix. The Musical Tornado.

A Kirkus Reviews Best Nonfiction Book of 2021 A provocative interpretation of why classical music in America "stayed white"—how it got to be that way and what can be done about it. In 1893 the composer Antonín Dvorák prophesied a “great and noble school” of American classical music based on the “negro melodies” he had excitedly discovered since arriving in the United States a year before. But while Black music would foster popular genres known the world over, it never gained a foothold in the concert hall. Black composers found few opportunities to have their works performed, and white composers mainly rejected Dvorák’s lead. Joseph Horowitz ranges throughout American cultural history, from Frederick Douglass and Huckleberry Finn to George Gershwin’s Porgy and Bess and the work of Ralph Ellison, searching for explanations. Challenging the standard narrative for American classical music fashioned by Aaron Copland and Leonard Bernstein, he looks back to literary figures—Emerson, Melville, and Twain—to ponder how American music can connect with a “usable past.” The result is a new paradigm that makes room for Black composers, including Harry Burleigh, Nathaniel Dett, William Levi Dawson, and Florence Price, while giving increased prominence to Charles Ives and George Gershwin. Dvorák’s Prophecy arrives in the midst of an important conversation about race in America—a conversation that is taking place in music schools and concert halls as well as capitols and boardrooms. As George Shirley writes in his foreword to the book, “We have been left unprepared for the current cultural moment. [Joseph Horowitz] explains how we got there [and] proposes a bigger world of American classical music than what we have known before. It is more diverse and more equitable. And it is more truthful.”

(Faber Piano Adventures ). Good sightreading skill is a powerful asset for the developing musician. Carefully composed variations of the Level 2B Lesson Book pieces help the student see the "new" against the backdrop of the "familiar." Fun, lively characters instruct students and motivate sightreading with a spirit of adventure and fun.

Before Antonín Dvorák's New World Symphony became one of the most universally beloved pieces of classical music, it exposed the deep wounds of racism at the dawn of the Jim Crow era while serving as a flashpoint in broader debates about the American ideals of freedom and equality. Drawing from a diverse array of historical voices, author Douglas W. Shadle's richly textured account of the symphony's 1893 premiere shows that even the classical concert hall could not remain insulated from the country's racial politics.

Lovers of the rich burnished tones of the cello will appreciate the keynote of this volume: complete scores of three great romantic cello concertos brought together in one convenient source. Spanning the last half of the nineteenth century, the compositions reveal extraordinary lyricism, imagination, and individual interpretation of the concerto form. The works in this volume are Robert Schumann: Cello Concerto in A Minor, Op. 129; Camille Saint-Saens: Cello Concerto No. 1, Op. 33; and Antonin Dvo ak: Cello Concerto in B Minor, Op. 104. Generations of cellists and music lovers have savored these works for their unique qualities: the Schumann concerto for its ravishing interweaving of cello and orchestra; that of Saint-Saens for solid musical craftsmanship; the Dvo ak work for enchanting melodies and exceptionally rich invention. Now musicians can enjoy the felicities of each work, complete and unabridged, in this sturdy, attractive Dover volume. Reprinted directly from authoritative editions, this volume offers not only great music but also the quality features that musicians have come to expect from Dover: clear reproduction of musical notation; ample space for analysis, notes, fingerings, etc.; glossaries of musical terms; and more. For playing or study, this inexpensive edition is a must for every serious cellist. "

An account of Antonin Dvorak's 1890s stay in America, where he took the essences of Indian drums, slave spirituals, and other musical forms and created from them a distinctly new music.

Few composers have achieved the widespread and lasting popularity of Antonin Dvo ak. He was a master of instrumentation and symphonic form, composing a total of nine symphonies. His most celebrated work, Symphony No. 9, "From the New World" (composed during Dvo ak's three-year stay in America), echoes the folk spirit of his native Czechoslovakia as well as American influences, and is filled with the spontaneous melodic invention, rhythmic variety, and intensity of harmony that characterize his orchestral works. The popular acclaim accorded the symphony "From the New World" tends to overshadow Dvo ak's other symphonies, but "Grove's Dictionary of Music and Musicians" notes the "interesting form folk-spirit virile serenity" of Symphony No. 8. The delightful freshness and uninhibited emotionalism of the composition have contributed to its lasting success. The Dover edition presents both symphonic masterpieces among the most popular works in the orchestral repertoire reprinted from authoritative editions in one inexpensive, practical volume. This full-size, easy-to-read score has been printed with generous margins to allow insertion of notes, analyses, etc. The sturdy binding, high quality of reproduction, and affordable price make this volume ideal for musicians, music students, and music lovers in general."