The wood pigeon

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The Forest Dove (Holoubek) op. 110 is a symphonic poem by the Bohemian composer Antonín Dvořák .

Emergence

The wood pigeon was created in 1896 after Dvořák returned to his home country from teaching at the US National Conservatory of Music . Dvořák composed a cycle of symphonic poems, including The Aquarius (op.107), The Midday Witch (op.108), The Golden Spinning Wheel (op.109) and finally The Wood Pigeon . In this cycle Dvořák set to music from the ballad collection »Kytice« ( Bouquet of Flowers ) by the Czech poet Karel Jaromír Erben .

The tone poem Heldenlied , which was written in close proximity (1897), is outside the cycle; it is based on a program developed by Dvořák himself.

To the music

occupation

Piccolo / flute 1, flute 2, 2 oboes , English horn , 2 clarinets (B-flat), bass clarinet (B-flat), 2 bassoons - 4 horns (F), 3 trumpets (F, C, E, E-flat), 3 trombones , Tuba - timpani , triangle , size. Drum , small drum , cymbal - harp - strings

content

The forest pigeon is divided into five sections, to which Dvořák wrote scenic notes in the score:

The first section ( Marcia funebre ) describes the funeral procession of a young widow behind the coffin of her deceased husband, but her mourning for the husband she has poisoned is not real. in the second section ( Allegro - Andante ) she meets a young man whom she marries in the third section ( Molto vivace , Bohemian wedding music). After the woman is pursued in the fourth section ( Andante ) at the grave of her deceased husband by the accusing coo of a forest pigeon and seeks suicide in the waves, there follows - unlike in Erben's submission - a conciliatory conclusion in the final fifth section of the work ( Andante ) the solo violin.

The funeral march theme from the beginning of the piece can be found in all sections of the forest pigeon . In works such as the opera “ Jenůfa ” and the rhapsody “ Taras Bulba ”, Leoš Janáček allowed himself to be influenced by the variation and instrumentation technique of the wood pigeon .

effect

Leoš Janáček conducted the premiere of the forest pigeon in Brno . His encouragement for the work was shared by Gustav Mahler , who premiered it in Vienna in 1899.

But there were also critical voices. The cycle of symphonic poems completed by the forest dove made the audience fear that Dvořák would switch to the style of the New German School . "Pope of music critic" Eduard Hanslick was disturbed by the atrocities in the actions of the models chosen for the cycle: "I cannot quite understand how one could choose such a horrible, every finer feeling outrageous subject for musical representation".

supporting documents

  • Christoph Hahn, Siegmar Hohl (eds.), Bertelsmann Konzertführer, Bertelsmann Lexikon Verlag, Gütersloh / Munich 1993, ISBN 3-570-10519-9
  • Harenberg concert guide , Harenberg Kommunikation, Dortmund, 1998, ISBN 3-611-00535-5

Web links