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From the New World: A Celebrated Composer's American Odyssey is an interactive DVD-ROM about Antonín Dvorák's journeys to America. It is the product of a collaborative effort by Robert Winter and Peter Bogdanoff, with Winter providing the text, video and audio examples, and some photos and Bogdanoff contributing the graphic design and programming. The work was completed over several years under the aegis of a grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities, with Joseph Horowitz serving as the director of a National Education Project. (Horowitz also wrote a young reader's book of historical fiction entitled Dvorák in America, which is meant to accompany the DVD-ROM.)
Richly illustrated and accompanied by copious audio examples of music--Dvorák's, but also spirituals, parlor songs, and other related forms--the text of the DVD-ROM is grounded in the most up-to-date research on the composer's life and work, frequently citing prominent Dvorák scholars such as Michael Beckerman and John Clapham. Teachers wishing to expose their students to just a portion of the available material on Dvorák will welcome Winter and Bogdanoff's modular approach. The DVD-ROM is divided into four parts: The "Main Line" (accompanied by "Side Trips"), "New World Symphony," "Direct Testimony," and "Sources." The "Main Line" consists of a long historical narrative of 218 pages divided into thirteen sections. Thirty-nine "Side Trips" contribute extra information on particular details of the history. A truly impressive collection of articles, reviews, letters, and other documents pertaining to Dvorák's life and music constitutes the 1,038 pages of "Direct Testimony." Finally, "Sources" is divided into...