Antonin Dvorák
1841-1904
Antonin Dvorák was the greatest
Bohemian composer and one of the leading masters of symphonic and chamber
music of the late 19th century. Dvorák displayed unusual musical talent at
an early age and learned to play the violin from the local schoolmaster. At
age 16 he went to Prague to study organ and composition, supporting himself
as a violist and piano teacher. His first successful composition was Hymnus
(1873), a patriotic choral work. His fame grew steadily - in part owing to
encouragement from Johannes Brahms and Franz Liszt - and after the
publication of the first set of his Slavonic Dances (1878), Dvorák
enjoyed wide popularity. Brahms befriended him and enabled his music to be
performed and published in Germany.
Between 1884 and 1891 Dvorák often conducted his music in England; he wrote
his great Symphony No. 7 (1885) and the oratorio St. Ludmilla
(1886) for the English. From 1892 to 1895, Dvorák was director of the
National Conservatory of Music in New York City. While in the U.S. he
acquired a great liking for black spirituals and American Indian music. Two
of his most famous works, the Symphony No. 9 in E Minor (From the New
World) and the Quartet in F, known as the American Quartet,
were composed in the U.S. in 1893; two years later he completed his popular Cello
Concerto. Dvorák returned to Bohemia in 1895, and in 1901 he became
director of the Prague Conservatory.
Dvorák's early works were also influenced by the music of the Austrian
composer Franz Schubert and of Ludwig van Beethoven, and throughout his
career he was influenced to some extent by the work of the German composer
Richard Wagner. Dvorák drew on Czech and Slavonic folk music, and his most
mature works reflect his deep national consciousness.
A prolific composer, Dvorák worked in all forms, and his music has a
spontaneous freshness that sometimes conceals the skill of its construction.
He was a melodist of genius and a superb orchestrator, and, like Brahms,
cultivated the traditional classical forms. Although Dvorák is best known
for his orchestral music - which includes nine symphonies, several overtures
and symphonic poems, the Slavonic Rhapsodies, the Scherzo
Capriccioso, and many other works - much of his finest music is found in
his string quartets and other chamber works, particularly the Piano
Quintet in A and the Humoresque (1894). Most of his songs have
the flavor of Czech folk melody, which is also present - if more subtly - in
his other music. Among his choral works are the Stabat Mater (1877), Requiem
(1890), and Te Deum (1892); his operas include Vanda (1875), The
Jacobin (1887-88), Rusalka (1901), and Armida (1902-3).
source | Websophia
| Famous Faces | Gateway
Last revised: 02/04/03
