psalm 149
| OPUS NUMBER | 79 |
| BURGHAUSER CATALOGUE NUMBER | original version for male choir: 91 |
| revised version for mixed choir: 154 | |
| COMPOSED | original version for male choir: 13 January - 24 February 1879 |
| revised version for mixed choir: July (?) 1887 | |
| PREMIERE - DATE AND PLACE | original version for male choir: 16 March 1879, Prague |
| revised version for mixed choir: (?) 14 December 1888, Rotterdam | |
| PREMIERE - PERFORMER(S) | original version for male choir: Hlahol of Prague, conductor Karel Knittl |
| revised version for mixed choir: (?) Amphion Choral Society, conductor Alexander W. A. Heyblom | |
| FIRST EDITION | original version for male choir: Editio Supraphon, 1968, Prague |
| revised version for mixed choir: Simrock, 1888, Berlin | |
| TEXT | The Book of Psalms |
| INSTRUMENTATION | original version for male choir: 2 flutes, 2 oboes, 2 clarinets, 2 bassoons, 4 horns, 2 trumpets, 3 trombones, 1 tuba, timpani, violins, violas, cellos, double basses + male choir |
| revised version for mixed choir: 2 flutes, 2 oboes, 2 clarinets, 2 bassoons, 4 horns, 2 trumpets, 3 trombones, 1 tuba, timpani, violins, violas, cellos, double basses + mixed choir | |
| DURATION | approx. 10 min. |
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| At the beginning of 1879 Dvorak was approached by the Hlahol choral society with the request that he write a new choral work. The composer put his work on his String Quartet in E flat major to one side and started writing his piece for Hlahol. From the Book of Psalms he chose No. 149, writing a setting for male choir with orchestral accompaniment. The text of his psalm is akin to a hymn in praise of God, which is also reflected in Dvorak’s conception – the entire work is ceremonial and jubilant in mood. When, eight years on, Dvorak was revising earlier pieces he had not yet published, he decided to rework his Psalm to some extent as well. Apart from minor alterations in the orchestral score, the chief revision concerned the choral parts, which he rewrote for mixed choir. It was in this definitive form that the piece was published by Simrock in 1888. |  public notice announcing the premiere |