Before Antonín Dvorák's New World Symphony became one of the most universally beloved pieces of classical music, it exposed the deep wounds of racism at the dawn of the Jim Crow era while serving as a flashpoint in broader debates about the American ideals of freedom and equality. Drawing from a diverse array of historical voices, author Douglas W. Shadle's richly textured account of the symphony's 1893 premiere shows that even the classical concert hall
could not remain insulated from the country's racial politics.