The Foundation for the Revival of Classical Culture presents a concert entitled “Antonín Dvořák—America Is an Idea, Not a Place”, celebrating the 125th anniversary of “Dvorak at Carnegie Hall.”

Antonín Dvořák, protégée, friend and collaborator of composer Johannes Brahms and musical heir to the tradition of Bach, Mozart, Haydn, Handel, Beethoven, Mendelssohn and many others, came to America in 1892. Dvorák was to initiate a revolution in America’s thinking about its true artistic identity. Dvorák undertook this at the request of New York City’s Jeanette Thurber, the creator of the National Conservatory of Music. This was the first American music school and one of the first institutions that brought together women, African-Americans, American Indians, and people of all colors, to create music at the highest level. His collaboration with the African-American singer/arranger Harry Burleigh and others proved that what Dvorák called a “great and noble school of music” could be created in America.

The original works Dvorák premiered at Carnegie Hall on Beethoven’s birthday, December 16, 1893, at the very new Carnegie Hall, were his proof of that. That included his Symphony No. 9, “From The New World” at Carnegie Hall. Now, 125 years later, on December 18, 2018, the FFRCC will celebrate this epic moment in history, in Classical culture, and for America, on that very same Carnegie Hall stage.

Program
BEETHOVEN Moderato cantabile molto espressivo from Piano Sonata No. 31 in A-flat Major, Op. 110
DVOŘÁK “Hospodin jest můj pastýř” from Biblical Songs, Op. 99
BRAHMS Dem dunkeln Schoß der heilgen Erde
TRAD. “Soon-Ah Will Be Done” (arr. Dawson)
TRAD. “Deep River” (arr. Burleigh)
TRAD. “Ezekiel Saw de Wheel” (arr. Burleigh)
DVOŘÁK Allegro ma non troppo from String Quartet No. 12 in F Major, Op. 96, “American”
DVOŘÁK “Song to the Moon” from Rusalka
DVOŘÁK “Songs My Mother Taught Me,” Op. 55, No. 4
BURLEIGH Little Mother of Mine
HAYES Round About the Mountain
BRAHMS Cello Sonata No. 1 in E Minor, Op. 38
DVOŘÁK Rondo, Op. 94
BEETHOVEN Adagio ma non troppo – Allegro ma non troppo from Piano Sonata No. 31 in A-flat Major, Op. 110
DVOŘÁK Piano Quintet No. 2 in A Major, Op. 81

Performers
American String Quartet
Tian Jiang, Piano
Simon Estes, Bass-Baritone
Guest Artists:
Everett Suttle, Tenor
Elvira Green, Mezzo-Soprano
Elizabeth Borowsky, Piano
Frances Borowsky, Cello
Katrine Bulke, Soprano
Anthony Morss Memorial Quartet
Maryam Raya Kheirbek, Piano
Schiller Institute NYC Chorus