Dvořák

Antonín Dvořák (/ˈantoɲiːn ˈdvor̝aːk/ Listen), born on 8 September 1841 in Nelahozeves (Kingdom of Bohemia) and died on 1 May 1904 in Prague, was a Czech composer from Bohemia (then part of the Austrian Empire). He was one of the first Czech composers to achieve international recognition and one of the greatest composers of the second half of the 19th century. Highly versatile, he excelled in chamber music, orchestral music, sacred music, and opera. He frequently employed rhythms and other elements of Moravian and his native Bohemian folk music, following the example of his predecessor, Bedřich Smetana.

Dvořák showed early musical talent, proving to be a gifted violinist from the age of six. He studied at the Prague Organ School, then played viola in the orchestra of the Provisional Theatre in Prague while embarking on composition. The first public performances of his works took place in Prague in 1872. It was by submitting some of his works to a jury for a scholarship that he attracted the attention of musical luminaries in 1874. In 1877, Johannes Brahms recommended Dvořák to his publisher, Fritz Simrock, who soon after commissioned the Slavonic Dances. The commercial and critical success of this work secured his international fame.

Dvořák's Sixth Symphony and his Stabat Mater were highly successful in London in 1882 and 1883, leading to many other performances in the United Kingdom. Throughout his career, he made several stays in England, often conducting concerts of his own works. He composed his Seventh Symphony for London in 1885. Visiting Russia in March 1890, he conducted concerts of his own music in Moscow and Saint Petersburg. In 1891, he was appointed professor at the Prague Conservatory. Between 1890 and 1891, he composed his Dumky Trio, one of his most famous chamber music works.

In 1892, he moved to the United States to become director of the National Conservatory of Music in New York. In the United States, he composed his two most famous orchestral works: the New World Symphony, which brought him international acclaim, and the Cello Concerto, one of the most beloved of its kind. He spent the summer of 1893 in Spillville, Iowa, and there composed his most famous chamber music work, a string quartet later nicknamed the American Quartet. However, the economic crisis of April 1893 directly affected the funding of the National Conservatory. The shortfall, combined with growing homesickness, prompted him to leave the United States and return to Bohemia in 1895. Showered with honours, he then devoted himself mainly to composing symphonic poems and opera.

His ten operas, with the exception of the first, all have a libretto in Czech and aim to express the Czech national spirit, as do some of his choral works. His most famous opera is Rusalka, premiered in 1901. Among his shorter works, the seventh Humoresque is also widely performed and recorded. The Dvořák Prague International Music Festival is an important concert series held annually to celebrate the life and work of the composer.