Dvořák: From the New World

CHICAGO SYMPHONY ORCHESTRARiccardo Muti, Zell Music DirectorProgram:MENDELSSOHN Calm Sea and Prosperous Voyage OvertureHINDEMITH Mathis der MalerDVOŘÁK Symphony No.9 (“From the New World”)ABOUT THE PROGRAMThe program will open with Mendelssohn's Calm Seas and Prosperous Voyage, written when the composer was only 19 and inspired by two poems by Goethe. The second piece on the program is Hindemith’s intensely personal 1934 Symphony Mathis der Maler, a score that was condemned by the Nazis but embraced by the public. Based on Hindemith’s opera of the same name, Mathis der Maler is Hindemith’s first symphony and remains a glorious statement of the power of art to serve humanity. The Orchestra will also play Dvořák’s beloved Symphony No. 9, “From the New World,” which the Czech composer created shortly after moving to the United States. Dvořák’s romantic impressions of America became one of the most accessible and original orchestral pieces of all time.