Antonín Dvořák

Who is Antonín Dvořák?

Antonín Dvořák was a Czech composer widely regarded as one of the most important figures of the Romantic era and a leading voice in nationalist classical music. Born in a village near Prague, the son of a butcher and innkeeper, he trained at the Prague Organ School and gradually built a reputation through works infused with Czech and Slavic folk idioms, including the "Slavonic Dances" and numerous symphonies, chamber works, and operas. His music won international acclaim, aided by the support of German composer Johannes Brahms, and he was invited to direct the National Conservatory of Music in New York from 1892 to 1895. During his American years he composed his best-known work, Symphony No. 9, "From the New World," which drew on African-American spirituals and Native American melodies alongside his native Czech influences. He also wrote the famous "American" String Quartet and the Cello Concerto in B minor, considered among the greatest works in the cello repertoire. Dvořák returned to Bohemia in 1895 and continued composing until his death in Prague in 1904, leaving a legacy central to Czech national musical identity.

Sources: Otakar Šourek, Antonín Dvořák: His Life and Works · Dvořák, Symphony No. 9 "From the New World" (1893), score and program notes · New York Philharmonic archives, Dvořák American-period records