Antonin Dvorak Humoresque No 7

Bridget Mermikides creates a stunning arrangement of Humoresque No 7 by Dvorak. Originally written for piano it ranges from light-hearted to deeply emotive in character.

- Bridget Mermikides

In this issue, we return to the work of that brilliant and influential 19th Century Czech composer, Antonin Dvorak (1841-1904). As well as being an educator and multi-instrumentalist, and composing hundreds of works for symphonies, opera, chamber and solo instruments, Dvorak was an important pioneer of the folk and nationalistic movement in the Western Art Music. This was a significant shift in the ethos of ‘classical’ music – that there was equal value in the folk traditions, and that these musical cultures can and should be adopted into the 'high art' of classical music, enriching and providing cultural universality to this conventionally closed discipline. His concepts were prescient: when he moved to America to become director of the National Conservatory, he said - quite prophetically - “I am convinced that the future music of this country must be founded on what are called 'negro' melodies. They are the folk songs of America and your composers must turn to them.”