Antonín Dvorák
1841-1904

Czech composer, best known for his Symphony in E Minor, "From the New World", Dvorák created numerous symphonies, operas, and chamber music. Born near the music-experienced city of Prague, Dvorák loved music as a boy, and had some lessons on the violin. Although his father, an innkeeper and a butcher wanted him to continue the family business, Dvorák at sixteen went to Prague, entering the paradisiacal world of music.

As a teenager, Dvorák began composing many pieces, as he supported himself by playing the violin or viola at cafßs and theatres. None of his many pieces were ever performed until he was over thirty years of age. He then attracted the attention of several older composers - Brahms, Liszt, and Smetana - who helped get some of his works published. It did Dvorák good, as a symphony of his won him a prize that provided him with a small pension, enabling him to devote his life to music.

Dvorák was a hard-working composer: nine operas, nine symphonies, and concertos for cello, piano, and violin, as well as songs, piano pieces, and chamber works. All his compositions showed his devotion and connection to his Slavic homeland, as he had the sounds of Bohemia in each. Aside from that great connection, he later moved on to New York, where he was inspired to write works such as "From the New World" Symphony and the "American" quartet. Through those works, he tried to capture the spirit of America, which created a great boom of success in America. Thrilled with the optimistic response of the American people, Dvorák wrote a cantata to the American flag and offered to write a national anthem.

Struck by his homesickness, Dvorák arranged to return to his job of a teacher at the Prague Conservatory. Happy at this thought, Dvorák wrote his series of humoresques for piano. His most popular, the seventh, has been arranged for various instruments over the years. Back in Prague, he continued to compose, and became the first musician to become a member of the Austrian House of Lords.

Dvorák was a true patriot through his music; his gypsy style of his symphonies and songs sing to the ear as if the landscape of the Slavic Nations were speaking, and his great imagination of his New World pieces. He showed true success, one of the last of the nineteenth century to win the hearts of listeners with his deep, luscious sounds of true emotion.

© 1999 H.Tsai

Some Famous Works:
Als die alte Mutter ("Songs my mother taught me")
Gypsy Songs No.1 & 5
Humoresque No.5 in A Minor

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