Objectives

• Discuss Antonin Dvořák and his 9th symphony
• Discuss and define settler colonialism
• Identify the pentatonic scale, and track its use in Dvořák’s 9th symphony
• Discuss music in relation to colonialism 

Part 1: Who was Antoin Dvořák and what were his goals when writing New World Symphony?

• Antonín Dvořák was born in 1841 in Nelahozeves, a small village near Prague in Bohemia (now known as the Czech Republic).
• He studied music at the Prague Organ School, graduating in 1859 as a trained organist.
• Worked as a musician in Prague from 1859-1871.
• Started composing (publicly) in 1871. 
• He came to New York in 1892 to direct the National Conservatory of Music
• Dvořák was one of a community of composers in America who wanted to coin a national sound.

Part 2: Settler colonialism 

• Settler Colonialism is a type of colonialism that involves the settler community invading indigenous populations and developing a distinct sovereignty. Some examples are Canada, the United States, and Australia. 
• In order to understand the impact of Dvořák’s work, we must discuss the context of settler colonialism in the US. 
• Colonialism as separate from racism or other forms of discrimination in this country. 
• Examine the quotes from Dvořák’s articles in The New York Herald. The 1st was released May 21st 1893: appeared within days of the completion of the score for his symphony “From the New World.'' The second was released December 15th, 1893, seven months after the completion of the score. 

• “Since I have been in this country I have been deeply interested in the national music of the Negroes and the Indians. The character, the very nature of a race is contained in its national music. For that reason my attention was at once turned in the direction of these native melodies.” 12/15 article
• “Indian music” was added as an “inspiration” for Dvořák after the fact. 
• Dvořák equating black spirituals and indiginous music further undermines the complexity and variety of different communities under the umbrella of “indigenous”. 
• Dvořák received a copy of Alice Cunningham Fletcher's A Study of Omaha Indian Music (June 1893) from John Fillmore. Although Dvorák had heard Indian music before that time, he saw and heard indiginous music on the Midway Plaisance at the Chicago Exposition, he most likely would not have had access to transcriptions of songs. 

Group discussion Questions:

• What are some ways this symphony contributed to settler colonial legacies?
• How does music interact with culture or communal ideals?
• What are some distinguishing features of musical inspiration rather than extraction/appropriation?

Bibliography 

• Döge, Klaus. “Dvořák, Antonín (Leopold).” Oxfordmusiconline, Grove Music Online, 20 Jan. 2001, 
• Dvořák, Symphony No.9 in E minor, Op. 95, B. 178, “From the New World”
• Fillmore, John Comfort. 1893. “Report on the Structural Peculiarities of the Music” from Alice C. Fletcher with Francis La Flesche, A Study of Omaha Indian Music. Cambridge, Mass. Peabody Museum of Archaeology and Ethnology. 59-77. 
• Fletcher, Alice with Francis La Flesche. 1893. A Study of Omaha Indian Music. Cambridge, Mass. Peabody Museum of Archaeology and Ethnology. 
• Pisani, M. V. 1997. "The Indian Music Debate and “American” Music in the Progressive Era." College Music Symposium 37:73–93.