EXPLORERS AND INNOVATORS: MAKERS OF NEW WORLDS

Antonin Dvorak

Dvorak, Columbus, and the New World in 1893

A Curriculum Unit and Resources to Use with

Dvorak’s 9th symphony, popularly known as “the new worlD symphony”

By Patricia j. McIntyre, M Ed.

Christopher Columbus

It does not take long for anyone who researches the life of

Antonin Dvorak to see that he had a great deal in common with the

man credited with the discovery of the New World after which

Dvorak’s 9th

Symphony is popularly named. Both Columbus and

Dvorak were explorers, eager to examine the world as it existed in

order to expand its horizons. Neither man actually “discovered,”

anything new. Both men, in fact, revealed through European eyes,

glimpses of realities that had existed for centuries, but which were

relatively unknown to their respective contemporaries. In the case

of Columbus, new physical territories and pathways whereby to

navigate the known world were uncovered as the result of

exploration. Dvorak’s journey was one of the intellect, and resulted

in the appropriation of musical elements which bordered upon the

Old World traditions, but which were decidedly different from

those safe and comfortable musical harbors.

The debut performance of Dvorak’s “New World

Symphony” appropriately coincided with the great Columbian

Exposition of 1893, that colossal World’s Fair which

commemorated the four-hundredth anniversary of Columbus’

Landing in what Europeans called “The New World.” 1893 is the

most fascinating year of the Gilded Age, filled with crises and

triumphs that testify to the fortitude, fragility, folly, and frivolity of

the humanity in general, and of Americans in particular. It was a

year in the heart of an era in which nationalism swept the globe,

leading to the elevation of folk traditions to the level of high art in

many countries, while racism threatened to destroy the indigenous

cultures of the New World Columbus had unveiled. 1893

celebrated Mother Nature’s majesty while its technological

innovations and the resulting industrialization threatened to usurp

her throne. All of this is communicated through the literature, art,

and popular diversions of that year, and especially through

Dvorak’s New World Symphony.

The materials, lesson plans, and resources here are intended

to assist educators at various levels in bringing the life and times of

Dvorak and his contemporaries to life for learners in classrooms or

at home. All can be adapted for use with varying age and ability

levels, and are meant to be part of an interdisciplinary approach to

Dvorak’s New World Symphony. The Kettle Moraine Symphony

encourages learners of all ages to adopt the spirit of the explorer

and join us for an experience that may be new to you, the

experience of attending a live musical performance! Read, play,

and enjoy these materials, then travel with us as we sound the

depths of Dvorak’s pivotal contribution to creating a new music for

a New World!

Lesson Plan For Elementary Level

Time required: Depending upon size of group and age of students, two or three half-

hour or forty-minute class periods.

Objectives:

Students will understand and be able to show how Dvorak and other musicians

create new sounds and styles by combining what they already know (old

knowledge) with what they learn by exploring (new knowledge).

Students will be able to demonstrate the principle of combining old with newly

acquired knowledge in order to develop something new. This will be assessed by

having students create their own musical instruments.

Day One: Listen, Move, and Compare:

Materials: Sound recordings can be downloaded from YouTube or other Internet

sources.

Sound recordings of works by European composers who preceded or influenced

Dvorak. These could include Wagner, Brahms, Grieg, Tchaikovsky,

Sound recordings of Native American drum and flute music (see resource list).

Sound recordings of African American spirituals and plantation songs (See resource

list).

Sound recording of Dvorak’s New World Symphony

Sound recording of “Goin’ Home.”

What to tell the students: Begin by telling the class about Antonin Dvorak’s 9th

Symphony. It is important to emphasize that Dvorak was a composer from what is now

the Czech Republic, and that he learned everything he knew about playing from teachers

who lived in Europe. He had a lot of contact with Czech, German and Russian music.

When he started writing music, his music sounded like the music of other Czech,

German, and Russian composers.

It may be helpful to draw the analogy that the children themselves speak the

language(s) they hear at home and from their teachers.

If the teacher knows how to sing a familiar tune in another language, s/he can do

so, and ask the class, “What song did I just sing?” The children will recognize the

tune, and “guess” the correct name of the song, even though it was sung in a

language they do not know. The teacher can point out that the students could learn

many words from another language (acquire new knowledge) by using what they

already know (old knowledge) just as Dvorak did when he came to the United

States and heard music of a type he had not heard before. His own old knowledge

helped him understand the new knowledge he acquired when he arrived in the

United States. (It is fairly easy to sing “Happy Birthday” in Spanish or Italian.

The K-5 though 2 kids really get a kick out of it when they “know” the song, and

the teacher asks them when they learned to speak another language.)

Play for the students some ten to fifteen second excerpts from the European composers,

Grieg’s “Hall of the Mountain King,” Brahms Lullaby, or any selection from

Tchaikovsky’s “Nutcracker Suite” would be interesting and exciting for the students. Ask

the students to talk about what they heard in these pieces. If possible, have the students

dance to these selections, moving their bodies to demonstrate how the music makes them

feel. Demonstrate to the students by clapping out the even rhythm of these pieces.

Next. Play the Native American drumming recording. Have the students move to this

music as well. Clap out for the students the syncopated (accented) rhythm of this music.

Talk about the differences they can hear between this music and the European examples.

This will include the difference in the prominence of percussion in the classical European

samples. Show the students how traditional European rhythms feel like “walking,”

waltzes feel like galloping, and syncopated rhythms feel more like “skipping.”

Next, play the samples of African American spirituals (“Wade in the Water,” “Swing

Low, Sweet Chariot” and African American work songs (“Follow the Drinking Gourd,”)

for the students. Emphasize the difference in the pace and the tone of the spiritual. Help

the students to hear the pentatonic scale as it appears in the spiritual, the way the song

sounds sad and the tone sounds different than the European examples. For the work song,

point out the call and response element of the song, the repetition of the lyrics and the

melody. Have the students move to these songs as well. Have them talk about the

difference in their movement for all the different types of music they have just heard.

Explain to the students that Dvorak heard and played a lot of the traditional, classical

European music, and that when he came to the United States, he went looking for new

kinds of music in his new country. He found Native American music and African

American music. (Depending upon the age group for this lesson, it may be appropriate at

this point to read to the class the statement Dvorak made in the Dec. 1893 New York

Times regarding the fact that he felt the only new and truly American music would have

to grow form the roots of Native American and African music. A copy of this article is

included in the resources for this curriculum unit).

Finally, play a portion of Dvorak’s 9th

Symphony. (the largo or scherzo) Ask the

students to listen for:

Native American rhythms, African American call and response among

the voices of the instruments, and the smaller and “sad sounding” range of pitches of the

pentatonic scale. As you listen together, point out the “American” elements of the

symphony to the students.

Finally, play a recorded version of Burleigh’s “Goin’ Home,” a song directly taken from

Dvorak’s 9th

by one of his students, Henry Burleigh. See if the students recognize the

tune and explain that Burleigh, because he studied with Dvorak, was influenced heavily

by the sounds made by his teacher.

Day Two: Making the New World Instruments

Materials: Picture cards of familiar and unusual musical instruments. The instruments

need only be unusual, new, or unfamiliar to the students. These can be downloaded from

a website such as www.darkroast.com. See resource list for additional ideas.

Art materials: recyclable items such as oatmeal boxes, toilet paper or paper toweling

rolls, plastic bottles of various sizes, Kleenex boxes, rubber bands, string, dowels,

discarded flatware (preferably spoons to avoid sharp edges), duct tape, wood scraps, dry

beans or seeds, wax paper, leather scraps, paper plates or bowls, anything that could be

used to make and decorate a musical instrument.

Three uniform sized containers for holding the picture cards. One should be labeled, “Old

World,” the second, “Different World,” and the third, “New World.”

In the container labeled “Old World,” place picture cards of musical instruments with

which the students are probably familiar. If the students are readers (grades 3-5), names

of familiar musical instruments can be used in lieu of pictures.

In the container labeled, “Different World,” place pictures or names of musical

instruments with which the students are probably not familiar. Students will usually

recognize similarities between “Old World” and “Different World” instruments. That is

appropriate and simply helps to prove that there are both differences and similarities

between the musical instruments, regardless of time and place.

The container labeled “New World,” will be empty. This container is for the cards that

will be made by the students as they create new instruments by combining elements from

the old world and new world examples they select.

Process: Have each student pick a card form the Old World container and one from the

Different World container. Students should examine the traits of the instruments they

pick. Their job will be to combine elements from the instrument they already know (old

knowledge) with elements of the different world instrument (new knowledge). The

resulting hybrid will be an instrument for the “New World,” just as Dvorak’s New World

music was a hybrid of old world and different world music. If is important to remind

students that Dvorak did not “discover” new instruments or new styles of music. These

already existed, and Dvorak came into contact with them.

If time permits, students should be allowed to make models of their new hybrid

instruments using the art supplies you supply. Younger students will enjoy playing their

own “New World Symphony” by using their created hybrids.

Research Project Variation for older or more advanced students: Instead of using

pictures of instruments, the Old World container could have the names of familiar

instruments typed on slips or cards, and the Different World container could hold cards

upon which are typed the names of unfamiliar instruments. The students could then be

given access to resources (primarily online computer access) to research the terms on

their respective cards. Then they would develop a hybrid for the New World based upon

their research and imagination. For example, a student could randomly pick a card that

reads, TROMBONE, from the Old World container, and the DIDGERIDOO from the

Different World container. The student would research both the trombone and the

didgeridoo, and combine elements from each to create, perhaps, a “didgeribone,” or a

“tromberidoo.” The student would write a description of the New World instrument, and

produce a drawing of the hybrid. The student would also write in his or her description

the way the instrument would sound. Building a model of the New World instrument

would be a fun and challenging activity, and would apply the principle that the old and

the newly revealed (different) are combined to create a new instrument.

NOTE: There are websites that show hybrid instruments. Depending upon the age and

ability level of the students, some time may be allowed for students in 4th

or 5th

grades to

utilize Google images to look at these instruments online.

Some suggestions for Different World instruments:

Oudh harmonium

Zaz Theremin

Marimba hurdy gurdy

Banjo oboe

Tabla sitar

Zills mouth harp

Didgeridoo tambaritzan

Bagpipe ukulele

Harp lap steel guitar

Kyoto glass armonica

Dulcimer Aeolian Harp

Harpsichord Ondes Martenot

Jembe Gravikord

Concertina Kaisatsuko

Accordion Musical Saw

Bodrhan Bazantar

Zither Cymbalom

Ocararina

Steel Drum

Tibetan singing bowl