Why were Dvoraks symphonies re-numbered?
I answered this question last month. here is the answer I gave then: For many years, several of Dvořák’s works were lost – even to Dvořák himself. These included the first four symphonies (the ones now listed as Nos 1-4) and were not published in his lifetime. The other, later symphonies were published – although not in the order that Dvořák composed them (this wasn’t so unusual in the 19th century). The first to be published was the one in D major Op 60 (so, then known as ‘No 1’). The second to be published was the one in D minor Op 70 (known as ‘No 2’). Then came the Symphony in F major Op 76 (known as ‘No 3’), the G major Symphony Op 88 (‘No 4’) and the E minor Symphony (‘From the New World’) Op 95 (as ‘No 5’). When these missing works resurfaced in the mid-twentieth century, it required a re-numbering of the symphonies to include the four earlier ‘lost’ ones (new Nos 1-4). This gave the opportunity of listing the five later symphonies in the order they were written (old 3, 1, 2, 4,
