Psalm 149, Op. 79, B91, B154

Opus number

79

Burghauser catalogue number

91, 154

Date of composition

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.

At the beginning of 1879 Dvořák 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 Dvořák’s conception – the entire work is ceremonial and jubilant in mood. When, eight years on, Dvořák was revising earlier pieces he had not yet published, he decided to rework this composition 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.