The Symphony No. 9 in E minor, “From the New World”, Op. 95 (1893), the most famous of Antonín Dvořák’s symphonies, grows out of the composer’s delight in the great outdoors of the American prairies. However, to an even greater extent, it is an attempt to capture the spirit of the nascent American culture, hence the reference to the African American Spirituals and Native American Indian songs.

In a choral cantata Beauty Radiated in Eternity (2012) Eugeniusz Knapik reached for the poetry by Hafez, who had previously fascinated, among others, Goethe and Szymanowski. Knapik’s new romanticism is in fact a reference, in new conditions and on his own terms, to the ecstatic musical mysticism of the early twentieth century.

PROGRAMME:

Antonin Dvořák (1841–1904)
The Symphony No. 9 in E minor, “From the New World”
(1893)

Adagio. Allegro molto
Largo
Molto vivace
Allegro con fuoco

*** intermission [20’]

Eugeniusz Knapik (b. 1951)
Beauty Radiated in Eternity
for choir and orchestra [33′]
(2012)

words: Hafiz Shirazi (1320-1389)
English translation by: Mahmood Jamal (1948-2020)

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PERFORMERS:

Silesian Philharmonic Choir and Symphony Orchestra

Eugene Tzigane
conductor

Jaroslaw Wolanin
artistic director of the choir