Musik - reflections (3).

Dvořák: 0'57- 1'50, 9^th Symphony, final movement.

I came close to Dvořák this winter, in a performance of his opera Russalka.

I fell under the charm of a fairy tale. Costumes and scenery were very well set, with weeping willows embracing a world between water and earth. A love story, of course.

However, Dvořák’s music made impression on me. As a violinist he composed with special dedication to the string section. Flowing melodies of violins & violas, relying on strong celli and bass, leading into an inspiration of harmonies, joining each other to celebrate the highest spot out of which a new idea’s developed, often introduced by woodwinds, playing with lightning ambitions.

These 53 seconds of Dvořák’s 9^th (amongst other moments of this symohony and other pieces by him), are one of these culminating points (as the final, of course, the whole movement is). Powerfully announced by the strings, followed by a victorious brass section the music's taking off in a rhythmical crescendo, galloping to the highest peak, like a ride across the open air. Fast, strong and determined.

Herbert von Karajan conducting the Wiener Philharmoniker