This
week we are looking at musical settings of Shakespeare’s Othello. Last time, we took a glance at Verdi’s operatic settings
and today, we’ll talk about Dvorak’s approach to the tragic tale.
Dvorak’s
overture Othello (1892) is part of a greater symphonic triptych
consisting of overtures originally titled Nature,
Life, and Love. Each overture was later renamed to better express his
narrative. You may now know them as In
Nature’s Realm, Carnival, and Othello. The triptych walks the listener
through the appreciation of nature, the joys of life, and then ends in the
tragedy that results when people ruin the goodness they’ve gained from nature
and life.
The
three overtures were first performed together in Prague in 1892 and later they
were presented at Dvorak’s first American public appearance after he moved to
New York. Below, you can listen to all three overtures. For today’s purposes,
however, let’s focus on a few fun facts about Othello.
Did
you know that Dvorak actually noted in his score how the music was meant to
line up with Shakespeare’s drama? The story shows how jealousy drives one man
to end the life of his lover and ultimately, his own. Othello’s jealousy is
depicted in the forceful, triplet theme heard throughout. Dvorak also reflects
when Desdemona falls asleep at the end when he quotes Wagner’s “magic sleep”
motif from Die Walküre. He also uses
his own Requiem to foreshadow Desdemona’s ultimate fate.
As
you listen to all three overtures below, note how Dvorak uses the same “nature”
theme in each, only in a distorted fashion in Othello.
Join
me on Saturday for a Shakespeare-inspired playlist in honor of his birthday!
