Antonín Dvořák

Antonin Dvorák ranks as the foremost Czech composer, his output marked by lucid architecture, instantly memorable yet seemingly effortless themes, and a keen ear for instrumental color. Long viewed as a central exponent of musical nationalism, he both championed folk sources and wove them into classical designs across every medium. His nine symphonies remain among his most enduring achievements; the Ninth, subtitled “From the New World” and finished in 1893, stands with the supreme examples of the form. Equally foundational is the Cello Concerto of 1894-1895, a repertory cornerstone that allows soloists both technical display and lyrical breadth. Chamber music occupied a special place in his catalog, yielding dozens of works; the fourteen string quartets composed between 1862 and 1895, the “American” Quintet of 1893, and the “Dumky” Trio of 1890-1891 are counted among the finest specimens of their genres, their folk-like melodies set within sturdy, Brahmsian structures.

Those “American” and “New World” scores date from Dvorák’s residence in the United States during the early 1890s. Uneasy in high society, he regularly withdrew to a small, predominantly Czech town in Iowa for summer holidays. There he met the pioneering African-American baritone H.T. Burleigh, whose singing may have colored the spiritual-like melodies heard in the “New World” Symphony and related pieces; some observers instead trace the kinship to shared melodic traits between African-American and Eastern European traditions.

By then Dvorák already ranked among Europe’s most celebrated composers and was widely regarded as Brahms’s heir, the older master having supported him throughout his rise. The son of a butcher who also played the zither, Dvorák studied organ in Prague and earned his living in the 1860s and 1870s as a café violist and church organist while steadily producing symphonies, chamber music, and Czech operas. In the 1870s he received a three-year government grant, with Viennese critic Hanslick among the jurors, intended to assist young artists of promise. Brahms then arranged a publishing contract with Simrock in 1877; the relationship proved lucrative, though an early clash arose when Dvorák required Czech titles on the covers—an unprecedented step in a German-dominated market. International fame solidified in the 1880s and 1890s through a string of major works that included the Seventh, Eighth, and “New World” symphonies. Late in life he returned to opera with Rusalka (1901), which folds Wagnerian elements into its legendary tale and remains his most frequently staged vocal score. Appointed professor at Prague University in 1891, Dvorák exerted lasting influence on twentieth-century Czech music; among his students was Josef Suk, who became his son-in-law.