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Largo from the New World Symphony (opening)
Antonín Dvořák, 1893. Excerpt, written out for reading practice.
- Music
- Antonín Dvořák
- Date
- 1893
- Key
- C major
- Time
- 4/4
- Clef
- Treble
- Level
- Beginner
- Length
- Excerpt
About the music
Dvořák wrote his Symphony No. 9, “From the New World”, in New York in 1893, during his years as director of the National Conservatory of Music. The slow movement opens with this famous melody on the cor anglais (English horn). In 1922 one of Dvořák’s students, William Arms Fisher, added words and the tune became the song “Goin’ Home”.
The original is in D♭ major; it is written here in C major so it can be read without a key signature. It is very slow, so concentrate on holding each long note for its full length.
Reading tips
- Dotted quarter and eighth again: the long-short rhythm opens both of the first two bars.
- The phrase uses only C, D, E and G. That set of notes (a pentatonic scale) is common in folk-like melodies.
- The last note is a whole note: four full beats.
How to practice it
Read the piece through once without playing, naming the starting note and looking for patterns and repeats. Then press Play and follow the notes as they light up. When you are ready, choose Practice this piece: it opens in the practice tool, where you can slow it down, play along on the on-screen piano, a MIDI keyboard or your voice, and have every note checked.