About the Concert

Dvořák was happy in America, at least when he wrote his symphony "From the New World. And one can also hear in the "American Quartet" that he was doing well on the other side of the ocean. His mission was no less than to contribute to the creation of an American national music, whereby it was desired that he incorporate elements of the music of his Bohemian homeland. What we hear in this concerto, then, in arrangement for five wind players, was something quite new and at the same time familiar in its time. His compatriot Leoš Janáček also used something familiar for his music, namely the specific tone of the Czech language. He created the suite "Mládí" (Youth) shortly before his 70th birthday, when he compiled musical memories from his life. The program of the philharmonic wind players will be rounded off by works by Josef Bohuslav Foerster and František Chaloupka, also composers who bring to life the special Bohemian-Czech "sound" of our neighboring country.