plete contrast to Morning. The entire tempo of the piece constantly increases throughout the piece until the dramatic, imperfect series of cadences at the end, producing excitement and anticipation. The Rise of NationalismNot only was the Romantic Period an awakening for the individual, it was also a time of increasing national identity. Many composers began to move away from the Austro-German traditions and looked for inspiration in their own country’s, and in some cases other countries’, history. Nationalist composers include the likes of Greig, Chopin, Sibelius and Antonin Dvorak. Dvorak was an eastern European symphonist, whose 9th Symphony, From the New World (1893), was written whilst he was director of the National Conservatory of Music in New York, and took a great deal of inspiration from the American surroundings and Native American music.In the Negro melodies of America I discover all that is needed for a greatand noble school of music. The American musician understands these tunes,they appeal to his imagination because of their associations.New York Herald, 21st May 1893The symphony has an extremely romantic slow first movement, ‘with a nostalgic cor anglais theme’ (Lionel Salter, 1980). Dvorak was greatly impressed by the natural beauty of the American countryside, and parts of the symphony are said to have been inspired by part of Longfellow’s Song of Hiawatha. Dvorak tries to capture the basis of the native folk music, alongside the folk music of his own country, in particular he himself notes that many of the symphony’s themes are pentatonic, and that all the movements make play with the flattened seventh of the scale, which is common in folk music from all around the world.Another nationalist composer was the Russian Mikhail Glinka. Much of his composition was based on previous Russian composers but he was ‘very much more gifted and commanded a much wider and deeper musical cu...
