First published at 05:17 UTC on July 3rd, 2021.
Symphony No. 1 in C minor, B. 9 ‘The Bells of Zlonice’ by Antonín Dvořák
Dvořák completed this symphony in 1865 at the age of 24. The young Dvořák had not yet gained fame as a musician, and as such Dvořák composed this work for a music competition …
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Symphony No. 1 in C minor, B. 9 ‘The Bells of Zlonice’ by Antonín Dvořák
Dvořák completed this symphony in 1865 at the age of 24. The young Dvořák had not yet gained fame as a musician, and as such Dvořák composed this work for a music competition in in Germany. He did not win the first prize and immediately began work on his second symphony. The lack of recognition of the first symphony resulted in Dvořák losing the manuscript, and as he had no other copies available the work was never performed during his lifetime.
In a strange turn of fate, a young doctor named Rudolf Dvořák (of no relation to the composer) had purchased a copy of the symphony in 1882, and upon his death in 1920 the manuscript passed to his son. After the son released the manuscript in 1923, the work would finally have a premiere performance 13 years later in Brno, Switzerland.
The name ‘The Bells of Zlonice’ does not appear on the manuscript purchased by Dr. Dvořák, however the composer Dvořák referred to this symphony with that subtitle in reference to sections of the work which resemble the church bells found in the small Bohemian town of Zlonice.
The work is comprised of four movements:
I. Maestoso – Allegro
II. Adagio molto
III. Allegretto
IV. Finale
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