Dvořák – Sinfonie nr 6

Discogs

As a Czech composer, Dvořák had a hard time getting recognized by the Viennese society. Vienna was maybe the biggest city in music in the 19th century. It was in this city that most celebrated composers in classical music had won their recognition and celebrated successes. If you wanted to be someone, you had to make it there. But this nest of vipers was not easy to survive. Dvořák tried and failed with this, his first (or sixth, pff) symphony.

The premiere was set for 1880 with the Vienna Phil, but conductor Hans Richter kept postponing for all kinds of reasons. Writing the symphony had been his idea in the first place, but some members of the orchestra didn’t want to play music from the Czech composer that was relatively new on the scene. Certainly not for two consecutive seasons: they performed his third rhapsody the previous season.

It never premiered in Vienna, instead Dvořák had it performed by his trusty Czech comrades in Prague.

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