Antonin Dvorak is credited with establishing a distinctly American sound in classical music. What cultures’ music did he look to
in order to do this? What other groups of people within American society could he have drawn inspiration from? Think about specific areas of the country, what it is like to live there, or immigrant groups who have had an impact on our national culture.
Dvořák is actually known for creating some of the earliest “American” sounds in music. As a composer who sought to compose nationalist idioms in his music using folk and regional styles, Dvořák was called upon in 1892 to make the journey across the Atlantic to New York where he would become the director of the National Conservatory of Music. After his arrival, he realized that, on top of his directorship, he was expected to create an “American” idiom as he had done with the Bohemian sounds in his homeland.
After becoming immersed in the folk songs of this new land, Dvořák encouraged the young American composers at the National Conservatory to seek their vision through the music enjoyed by the people groups that surrounded them: African Americans and Native Americans.
John Williams' bassoon concerto, The Five Sacred Trees, was written for LeClair and her "unparalleled artistry." She premiered it in April 1995 as part of the New York Philharmonic's 150th anniversary festivities after having chosen him to receive the commission for the piece. She currently plays a 1937 Heckel bassoon.
