New World Symphony

I recently played an online concert set, and I wanted to include something slow and beautiful. This is what I came up with. (The video here was recorded separately, after the fact.)

It's the famous "Goin' Home" theme from Dvorak's New World Symphony. Dvorak was from Bohemia, but he wrote this during a few years he spent in the USA, and he did long for his homeland. The lyrics were written afterward by one of his American students, and the title, with the apostrophe, comes from that. I decided to convey the emotion without the words.

I actually saw this piece performed in a rock concert a couple of years ago: Queen was performing at Madison Square Garden, and at one point, amid much visual fanfare, guitarist Brian May was raised on a platform as he played it. It was a beautiful experience.

My version is performed on my Bear Meadow chromatic baritone Swan, tuned AEA, in the the key of A. It's plugged into a TC Electronics Hall of Fame 2 reverb pedal, with a bit of generic reverb added at the amp.

Enjoy! 😀🌎

Sam