Piper's SongbookHow to play New World Symphony: Largo on recorder
New World Symphony: Largo (the main theme) uses 9 notes on the soprano recorder: B, A, high D, F♯, low E, low D, high E, high C♯ and high F♯. The first line goes F♯ A A F♯ E D E F♯ A F♯ E F♯ A A F♯ E D E F♯ E D D. The same tune is used for Goin' Home.
- Notes
- 9: B, A, high D, F♯, low E, low D, high E, high C♯, high F♯
- Level
- Thumb pinch
- Time
- 4/4, about 50 beats a minute
- Source
- Antonín Dvořák, Symphony No. 9 "From the New World", Op. 95, second movement, 1893
New World Symphony: Largo recorder notes with letters
Each box is one note, with its fingering underneath: filled holes are covered, a half-filled hole is half covered or pinched. Wider boxes are longer notes. A ′ mark means the higher octave, so D′ is high D. Bar lines are drawn as thin rules.
Line 1
Line 2
Line 3
Letters only, for printing or copying
- F♯ A A F♯ E D | E F♯ A F♯ E | F♯ A A F♯ E D | E F♯ E D D
- B D′ D′ C♯′ A B | B D′ C♯′ A B | B D′ D′ C♯′ A B | B D′ C♯′ A B
- F♯ A A F♯ E D | E F♯ A F♯ E | F♯ A A D′ E′ F♯′ | E′ D′ E′ B D′
Sheet music
Written pitch for soprano recorder, which sounds an octave higher. Press play to hear it on a recorder sound; the slow setting plays at 60% speed.
Fingerings for the notes in New World Symphony: Largo
Hole 0 is the thumb hole on the back. Holes 1 to 3 are for the left hand, 4 to 7 for the right. These are Baroque (English) fingerings.
How to practise it
Most bars start with a dotted pair: hold the first note three times as long as the short one after it, and keep the air slow and steady. In the third bar of the last line the tune climbs high D, high E, high F♯. Pinch the thumb for high E and keep it pinched for high F♯.
Learn one line at a time. Play it slowly until every note is clean, then join it to the next line.
About the tune
Dvořák wrote the New World Symphony in 1893 while he was director of the National Conservatory of Music in New York, and it was first played at Carnegie Hall that December. This English horn solo opens the slow movement. In 1922 his former pupil William Arms Fisher put words to it as "Goin' Home".
Questions
Is New World Symphony: Largo easy on recorder?
It suits a player who already knows the notes from low D to high D. It also needs the thumb pinch for the high notes.
What notes do you need for New World Symphony: Largo on recorder?
B, A, high D, F♯, low E, low D, high E, high C♯ and high F♯. Tap a note to see its fingering on its own page.
Do these fingerings work on a German recorder?
Mostly. F♯ and high F♯ are fingered differently on a German recorder; the diagrams above are Baroque, and the linked note pages show both. A recorder whose hole 4 is smaller than hole 5 is Baroque.
More recorder songs
Notes checked against the English horn part in the Mutopia score, the Cecilio violin lesson ABC and the theme excerpt in the Wikimedia Commons book of Romantic orchestral themes, transposed from D♭ to D. Last checked 6 October 2026.