[Trombone-l] Dvorak Symphony No. 9 (NWS)

[Roger Hecht]

At 08:20 PM 11/21/2008, Ray Horton wrote:
>My assumption has always been that Dvorak wrote the symphony with no
>tuba, but that the small bore valved bass trombone in Bb he wrote for
>didn't have the sonority for the chorale passages, so he added the tuba
>double.  Don't have any evidence, though.
>
>
>RBH


I have no more evidence other than my impressions, but it seems to me 
that Dvorak's scoring became leaner in his later years, at least in 
the symphonies. The first three symphonies displayed some influence 
from Wagner. And the next three were reasonably full, as well. Then 
things seem to thin out a bit. That's not an unusual evolution for a composer.

Then again, his last orchestral piece, Heroic Song is pretty heavily 
scored, so what do I know?




Roger Hecht