"This composition, which is a musical expression of the emotions awakened in Dr. Antonin Dvořák by certain aspects of the three great creative forces of the Universe—Nature, Life, and Love—was conceived nearly a year ago, while the composer still lived in Bohemia.... The three parts of the overture are linked together by a certain underlying melodic theme. This theme recurs with the insistence of the inevitable personal note marking the reflections of a humble individual, who observes and is moved by the manifold signs of the unchangeable laws of the Universe."

Part I—"Nature"—of the "Triple Overture" was thus interpreted, with the sanction, it may be inferred, of the composer (the English translation was attributed to Mr. E. Emerson):

"As a typical expression of his fondness for nature and of the blissful and occasional reverent feelings which it stirs in him, the composer chose to present the emotions produced by a solitary walk through meadows and woods on a quiet summer afternoon, when the shadows grow long and longer, till they lose themselves in the dusk, and gradually turn into the early dark of night. Unlike Beethoven's Pastoral Symphony, the unconscious summer music of drowsy crickets and birds is not actually represented by instrumental equivalents. Subjective feeling only is suggested by the blithesome introduction melody in F major, which is ornamented by passages running over the instruments, like rills of pleasure. It is followed by an expression of the growing vociferous joy which all nature proclaims. The more quiet gladness of the beholder finds voice in the second melody, in A major, whose spirit is enlivened into a broader universal gaiety, rising rapidly to a climax, from which the theme quickly returns to the tranquil pastoral form.

"The so-called 'elaboration' section leads back to the first key of F major.... The predominating suggestions henceforth are peace and quietude, with little interruptions here and there, such as are occasioned by the sudden rustling of the tree-tops in the forest or by the subdued exclamations of a garrulous little brook. All this is done with a light touch, so that it is left to the imagination of the listener to supply what the music can but faintly suggest. Finally, when darkness has set in, there are only the sounds of night. The pervading mood of the composer becomes similar to that of Milton's 'Il Penseroso' when night overtakes him, while he listens to the even-song of the nightingale and hears

"... the far-off curfew sound,
Over some wide-watered shore,
Swinging slow with sullen roar."

OVERTURE, "CARNIVAL": Op. 92

This overture is Part II. ("Life") of Dvořák's "Triple Overture," "Nature, Life, Love" (see page 85). Its poetic significance has been set forth as follows, with, it is said, the authority of the composer:

"If the first part of the overture ['Nature'] suggested 'Il Penseroso,' the second, with its sudden revulsion to wild mirth, cannot but call up the same poet's 'L'Allegro,' with its lines to 'Jest and youthful jollity.' The dreamer of the afternoon and evening has returned to scenes of human life, and finds himself drawn into

'The busy hum of men

When the merry bells ring round,
And the jolly [45] rebecks sound
To many a youth and many a maid,'

dancing in spirited Slavonic measures. Cymbals clang, strange instruments clash; and the passionate cry of the violins whirls the dreamer madly into a Bohemian revel. Anon the wild mirth dies away, as if the beholder were following a pair of straying lovers, whom the boisterous gaiety of their companions, with clangor of voices and instruments, reach but dimly. A lyric melody ... sets in, and almost unconsciously returns to the sweet pastoral theme, like a passing recollection of the tranquil scenes of nature. But even this seclusion may not last. A band of merry maskers bursts in, the stirring Slavonic theme of the introduction reappears, and the three themes of the second overture, the humorous, the pathetic, and the pastoral, are merged into one, with the humorous in the ascendant, till a reversion changes the order. The whole ends in the same gay ... key with which it began."

OVERTURE, "OTHELLO": Op. 93

"Othello" is Part III. ("Love") of Dvořák's "Triple Overture," "Nature, Life, Love" (see page 85). The official commentator who has been quoted in the preceding pages concerning the poetic content of the tripartite work wrote as follows of "Othello":