FRANK MORANA
AmerOrganist 35/12

ANTONIN DVORAK, Symphony No. 9, “From the New World,” Transcription for Organ by Stuart Forster. Editions Chantraine, EC 156 (Theodore Presser Co., sole selling agent). $26.95. This symphony here proves itself a splendid addition to the organ repertoire. The transcription provides just enough information to the player as to Dvorak’s own instrumentation, while prescribing manual indications for Great and Swell, only, with respect to the more general orchestral palette. The player, then, is not burdened with too much detail, and Dvorak’s harmonic style provides an inherent “color” of its own, even in the absence of much logistic maneuvering at the keyboards The keyboard layout is admirable, with superfluous, heavy-handed textures avoided. In the opening Allegro, some of the repeated-note formulations in the second theme will be problematic, at least as much so at the organ as in the orchestra. The famous slow movement should probably not fall into the wrong hands, as it is difficult to play this music with conviction; still, the piece is not devoid of some drama, e.g., in the introductory chords, in the appearance of a leitmotif from the previous movement, and in the ultimate disintegration of the theme. The Scherzo is the trickiest and perhaps the weakest part of the transcription, given the fast tempo and several thinly textured passages in which a greater dynamic and instrumental nuance is required. The Finale is the most successful movement in terms of affinity with the keyboards, but it is also the loosest and most rambling of the four--not the transcriber’s fault, of course, though one wonders whether some judicious abridgement is not also sometimes a valid tool of the transcriber’s art.