in nature's realm
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opus number
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63
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Burghauser catalogue number
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126
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composed
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24 January - 27 January 1882
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premiere - date and place
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No. 4: 22 November 1882, Tabor
No. 3: 8 March 1884, Prague No. 1: 23 March 1884, Prague No. 2: 7 December 1884, Prague No. 5: 13 December 1884, Prague the whole work: 17 November 1889, Prague |
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premiere - performer(s)
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22 November 1882: Society of Singers "Hlahol", conductor Josef Pfeiffer
8 March 1884: Society of Singers "Lukes", conductor Josef Zubaty 23 March 1884: Hlahol of Prague, conductor Karel Knittl 7 December 1884: Society of Singers "Lukes", dir. Josef Zubaty 13 December 1884: Society of Singers "Lukes", dir. Josef Zubaty 17 November 1889: conductor Augustin Vyskocil |
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text
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Vitezslav Halek
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parts / movements
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1. Songs Descended on My Soul (Napadly pisne v dusi mou)
2. Bells Ring at Dusk (Vecerni les rozvazal zvonky) 3. The Rye Field (Zitne pole) 4. The Silver Birch (Vybehla briza belicka) 5. With Dance and Song (Dnes do skoku a do pisnicky) |
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duration
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approx. 12 min.
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.jpg)
| The cycle for unaccompanied mixed choir In Nature’s Realm is a musical setting of selected poems from the collection of the same name by Vitezslav Halek. After the Hymn “The Heirs of the White Mountain” and the song cycle Evening Songs, this is the third time that the composer turned to the work of this poet. The choice of texts containing rural themes was evidently influenced by Dvorak’s love of nature, as is well documented in his correspondence and in his contemporaries’ memoirs. The setting is characteristic for its melodic charm, and its music is almost impressionistic. This applies particularly to the strong evocation of the atmosphere of the evening woods in the second part of the cycle, one of Dvorak’s most beautiful choruses. The work is largely homophonic; only in the final part of the cycle does he use imitative and canonic approaches. It was written in January 1882 and was published that same year by Cranz Publishing in Hamburg. The premieres of the individual parts were held in stages over a period of almost three years after the completion of the work. The first performance of the cycle as a whole probably took place in Prague on 17 November 1889. |