Antonín Dvořák’s Ninth Symphony (‘From the New World’) is one of the most popular symphonies ever written. After having been appointed artistic director of the National Conservatory of Music in New York, the composer discovered the musics of Native Americans and African Americans, and incorporated folk melodies in the symphony. The music evokes grand American vistas, yet also betrays a yearning nostalgia for Dvořák’s own Bohemian homeland.