Orpheus in the Underworld

I believe that you must see a rally of dancers in a night gown playing Can Can in a certain opera house in Paris, and the rhythm accompanied this dance would not be strange to you. It is a selection from Jacques Offenbach’s Orpheus in the Underworld. Most people know Can Can, the most attractive show in Paris, but few people know where it was from, and who created such a rhythm with great passion and energy.







About the Composer
Jacques Offenbach was a Jewish born in Cologne, Germany (1819-1880) and moved to France. In 1833, his father took him to France to learn as a cellist, and he got a great chance to make a performance in front of the public by which he made his name known to Paris. What’s more, he started to produce operettas for the opera house. Through his life, he had composed almost 100 operettas, and the most famous one was Orpheus in the UnderworldIt was the first work that Offenbach composed a full-length operetta. However, he use the Greek Mythology to be the background of this story. All the horrible creatures, danger and difficulties that Orpheus met on the way to rescue his wife were in this piece of music.

The Music
In the underworld, everything was dark and mysterious, so Offenbach use clarinets a lot with bassoon and oboe to depict the atmosphere of mystery and anxiety. Besides, flutes and violins are the representative of danger as well as adventure. In the end, the rhythm, Can Can, shows up to take the audience to the climax with passion.

New World Symphony No.9 "Finale"

About the Composer
New World Symphony could be one of Antonin Dvorak’s most prestigious works in his life, and also the most familiar name for in our knowledge for classic music. Antonin Dvorak was born in Czech in 1841, a son of the storekeeper. He had started a great interest in music since he was a little boy; nevertheless, his father opposed to his dream of being a musician. Therefore, Dvorak was sent to his uncle to learn some skill to make living. When he was 16, he insisted on going to music school despite his parents’ disapproval. Since then, he begin to take the formal courses and education in music, and was tutored by Franz Liszt(李斯特) and Johannes Brahms(布拉姆斯)after he graduated from school.

How it started?
In 1892, Antonin Dvorak was invited to America to teach in National Conservatory of Music in New York City. At this time, he started New World Symphony in this new continent. In the U.S., he saw many immigrants form all over the world coming to this new world to start their new life here; that is to say, he was exposed to different kinds of cultures. Additionally, Dvorak noticed that American music was based on black people’s culture. Afterwards, he made his work consist different cultures, and become of a multi-culture style to depict this new world. By the way, he also put Czech culture in this piece of work to tell us about his homeland.



About the Music
In New World Symphony no. 9 “Finale,” Dvorak use Trumpets and French Horns to stand for the people from eastern Europe who boldly go to the west of the continent. No matter how difficult it is, they still stick to their American Dream. The strings represents the danger these immigrants met on their way to the west. Finally, the familiar rhythm comes out which means that the people settled down and started a brand new life. This is so peaceful and quite like everyone is happily home, enjoying the sweetness with their family.