By the fiftieth year of his life, Dvorák was internationally recognized as one of the leading composers of the day. He traveled extensively throughout Europe, including multiple times to England, in order to conduct his own orchestral pieces or perform (as a pianist) in his own chamber works. In June 1891, he was asked to lead the National Conservatory of Music in New York by the institution's founder, Jeannette Thurber. Negotations took about a year to complete, and the composer began his position in New York in October 1892. As it happened, Dvorák's tenure at the Conservatory would last less than three years, as he had to cope with not only nostalgia for his homeland but also concerns about his financial situation, given that he did not receive all of the salary he had been promised. Nonetheless, during his brief time in the United States, he composed three of his best-loved works: the "American" string quartet, the magnificent cello concerto, and the ever-popular Symphony #9. The subtitle "From the New World" is the composer's own, and the piece was very well received at its Carnegie Hall premiere in December 1893.
As a way of lending additional coherence to multi-movement works, composers sometimes employ a "cyclical" technique, which means having the same melodic fragment appear in different movements of the same piece. (The more common practice is for the melodic material in each movement to be distinct, so that a melody from the first movement is unlikely to be heard in later ones.) The "New World" symphony exhibits this practice to an unusual degree. Early in the introduction, the horns and lower strings play a rhythmically jagged, menacing arpeggio. In a slightly altered form, this melodic idea becomes the primary theme of the first movement, first stated by the horns over a shimmering string tremolo alone and quickly thereafter taken up by the full orchestra. Dominating the first movement, however, is not enough for this theme. It appears again prominently in each subsequent movement: at the loud outburst three-quarters of the way through the slow movement, to introduce the coda of the scherzo, and in a variety of forms during the finale. Other melodic fragments enjoy a similar diversity of exposure. The beautiful brass chorale that opens the second movement returns late in the finale, transformed in one of the symphony's most dramatic passages. The first few notes of the English horn solo (also from the slow movement) figure prominently in the lengthy transitional passage in the middle of the finale. The simple melodic cell that is the third movement's building block also plays a key role in the second half of the final movement. In fact, the final two minutes of the symphony feature the main melodic ideas from all four movements of the piece.
The symphony's lasting popularity, however, probably does not stem from these relationships. Dvorák's gift for lyricism, strong throughout his career, is particularly evident in this piece. The melodies are his original creations, rather than borrowed spirituals or other folk tunes, as is sometimes asserted. (A possible exception is the closing theme in the first movement, which may have been derived from "Swing low, sweet chariot.") Yet each melody is so fresh that it appeals to us as readily as any folk song does, and Dvorák's sure hand in orchestration and general flair for the dramatic ensure that the each melody will be effectively presented and that the psychological continuity of the symphony will be compelling. The first great American symphony may have been composed by a non-citizen, but that has not prevented it from taking its place in our national culture.