1. Antonín Dvořák
Whitney R. Driscoll
Not long after the after Classical era ended, a new era swept Europe: the Romantic era.
This period in art history first appeared in England, Germany, and France in the forms of
paintings, poetry, and music. It was the music, however, that revolutionized the entire music
production. It was during this time that brought about “a movement of greater subjectivity” and
delved into the deep secrets of the human soul. Composers were more isolated from the public
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and printed their music only to gain interest – not because it was in high demand. They also
wished to be truly original from each other, not following a certain way of composing. Great
composers like Weber, Mendelssohn, Brahms, and Chopin were rising to popularity.
(AlfredEinstein, 4, 17) Perhaps one of the greatest was Antonín Dvořák.
Antonín Leopold Dvořák was born in a small Bohemian village called Nelahzeves on
September 8, 1841. His parents were František and Anna Dvořák of whom he was the eldest of
their nine children. There was some musical talent in the family which was not uncommon in the
Bohemian village Antonín lived in; during his life at home, he learned to play the fiddle and sing
under the schoolmaster and organist, Josef Spitz. But that was to change after six years of school.
(Clapham, 3-4)
František worked as a butcher like his father before him, Jan Nepomak Dvořák. Since his
profession was butchery, František desired his son, Antonín to learn the trade. So he sent twelve-
year-old Antonín to live with his uncle in Zlonice to apprentice in a butcher’s shop. During his
stay in the Czech town, Antonín not only learned some German but also studied under Josef
Toman, an organist and choirmaster at the local church, and Antonín Liehmann, a Czech
Musikant who played the violin and clarinet. Both Toman and Liehmann saw potential in the
young Dvořák and urged his father to send him away to get professional training in music.
František ignored their wishes however, knowing full well he could not afford that kind of
training due to a decline in business. (Clapham, 4-5) He was soon adamant that his son was not
meant for music when Antonín “butchered” the trumpet transposition in a polka he had
composed in order to prove his talent in the music world. (Dole, 628)
The boy’s fate to be a butcher might have been sealed had it not been for his uncle in
Zlonice who agreed to pay for the youth’s studies. In 1857, Antonín found himself on his way to
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Prague where he would study at the organ school. (Clapham, 4-5) During his two years at the
Prague Organ School, he learned under K.F. Pitzch and, later on, Josef Krejcí. (Mason, 126-127)
After graduation, Antonín found himself on his own, scraping up nine dollars a month by playing
the viola in cafés. Eventually, he played the viola for the Karel Komzák Band which played in
inns. It was his participation in the band that would give Antonín the knowledge and training he
would need in the future when he became a famous composer. (Mason, 126-127; Clapham, 5)
Later in his life, Antonín began teaching music to the Čermáková sisters. He fell madly in
love with the eldest, Josefina, and eventually, in 1864, wrote eighteen songs for her which would
later be known as the Cypresses. Despite his attempts to woo her, Josefina remained unmoved by
his devotions and rejected him. (Clapham, 6)
Before and during his time with the sisters, Antonín Dvořák wrote many compositions.
Many for these compositions would be thrown away and lost to the world unfortunately.
However, a few did escape the fire including the String Quartet in A minor (1861) and the String
Quartet in A major. These years would not do much for Dvořák; yet in 1873, as fate would have
it, his luck would change and his fame begin. (Clapham, 6)
The year 1873 would be a very blissful period for Dvořák. First, he would become the
appointed organist at St. Adelbert’s Church where his salary would be far better than when he
had begun playing in cafés. (Mason, 128) Second, he would court and marry Josefina’s younger
sister, Anna Čermáková; (Clapham, 7) their marriage was a happy one which produced twelve
children, the three eldest ones dying in infancy. (anotin-dvorak.cz) Lastly, he would have his
first, successful, public work known today as “The Heirs of the White Mountain.” (Mason, 128)
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During these years of success and happiness, Dvořák also created the opera The King and
the Collier and presented it in the National Theatre of Bohemia. This work was based on his
admiration for the famous composer, Wilhelm Richard Wagner, therefore expressing German
qualities. However, it failed in its first public performance due to the audience considering it
boring. Dvořák, realizing his mistake, rewrote the opera and performed it again. It failed again,
due to the liboretto dissatisfying the audience. He rewrote it a third time, the only thing
remaining from the original composition being the title; this time he met with success and won a
government pension of $250. (Mason, 128) Life was looking up for the Dvořák family.
During his early life composing, Dvořák’s compositions hinted at being influenced by
Ludwig van Beethoven, Franz Schubert, as well as Richard Wagner. (www.britannica.com)
However, the composer kept most of his originality by using inspiration from Bohemian folk
tales and songs which he heard as a child. (www.mfiles.co.uk) However, his works would be
more heavily influenced by these tales and songs after a series of events that would begin the
year 1876. (Clapham, 8-9)
The year 1876 was fruitful for Antonín Dvořák. It was during this time the composer
wrote his piano trio in G minor, piano concerto, and Theme and Variations for the piano. He also
wrote the twelve Evening Songs, fifteen of his Moravian Duets, as well as sketched out the
Stabat Mater. As the years went by, Dvořák entered his compositions in a competition and won
the Austrian State Prize four times. Johannes Brahms, one of the judges for the competition, after
seeing this consecutive success from Dvořák, realized the composer had potential but could not
flourish if he kept sending his works to be published outside of small firms in Prague. So he
wrote to his publisher, Simrock in Berlin, and encouraged him to publish the Moravian Duets.
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After that act, not only did Brahms and Dvořák become very close friends, but also fame rapidly
entered the latter’s life. (Clapham, 8-9)
Simrock published the duets as well as commissioned the first set of Slavonic Dances.
Soon after, Ehlert wrote a positive review about the rising composer which brought him fame in
Germany. Later on Joachim heard about Dvořák directly from Brahms himself and gave the first
performance of Dvořák’s string sextet with the composer present. In 1882, the Stabat Mater was
performed in the Hungarian capitol then in London the following year. Dresden, Hamburg, and
Vienna also showed growing interest in the composer’s works; Hamburg and Dresden, in fact,
played The Cunning Peasant. (Clapham, 9-10) In 1892, Antonín had success in Moscow,
Russian; the year after, the University of Cambridge gave him the title of honorary doctor of
music. (www.britannica.com) Eventually he became the Director at the Prague Conservatory
where he worked as a professor. (www.mfiles.co.uk) Soon the composer’s music reached across
the Pacific Ocean to America.
In 1892, a wealthy American lady (a music patron) named Jeannette Thurber offered
Antonín Dvořák the position of composition professor as well as director at the National Music
Conservatory in New York City provided with an annual salary of $15,000. (www.classical.net)
When Antonín arrived in America with his family, he was surprised and pleased at the strong and
emphatic patriotism of all Americans as well as the enthusiasm of the youth to learn all they
possibly can. However, he also states in his article, “Music in America,” written in the last year
of his stay in America that it astonished him that, with the strong patriotism and all the major
leaps Americans have made in other arts and sciences, “I can only marvel that so little has been
done for music.” Because of this and the enthusiasm of the young musicians in America, the
composer felt it his duty to “to give what encouragement I can to the young musicians of
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America.” (“Music in America”) So, inspired by his own patriotism as well as this duty, he wrote
several compositions that reflected Americanism. These pieces included the American Quartet,
Symphony No. 9 (aka “New World Symphony”), (www.mfiles.co.uk) and his cantata The
American Flag. (www.classical.net) As always, he used traditional folk music based on that of
the African and Native Americans. However, the same year he wrote his article, Antonín Dvořák
became homesick for his own homeland and eventually returned to Prague, Bohemia in 1895.
(www.mfiles.co.uk)
Dvořák continued to write several more works living in Prague with his family. Some of
them include The Water Goblin, The Golden Spinning-Wheel, and the operas The Devil and Kate
and Rusalka. The great composer would continue to write compositions until his death in 1904.
(www.britannica.com)
Antonín Dvořák is perhaps one of the greatest composers that ever lived. His legacy can
be seen in how he indirectly affected music in America through his interest in the African
American and Native American music. The music of the 1920’s and 1930’s could be said to have
been born from Dvořák’s influence on John Stepan Zamecnik who had studied under him and
aided the Sam Fox Publishing Company in creating numbers of works for silent films.
(www.mfiles.co.uk) But it was not just America that benefited from Dvořák’s influence. Dvořák
helped bring about a great sense of nationalism and patriotism in many countries in Europe.
Hence, the world can thank the composer for spreading this sense of musical patriotism by his
use of simple yet traditional folk dances and music.
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Bibliography
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<http://www.mfiles.co.uk/composers/Antonin-Dvorak.htm>.
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Clapham, John. Antonin Dvorak Musician and Craftsman. 1966.
Dole, Nathan Haskell. Famous Composers. 4th. New York: St. Martin's Press, 1968.
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www.britannica.com. 29 October 2015. <http://www.britannica.com/biography/Antonin-
Dvorak>.
Mason, Daniel Gregory. Great Modern Composers. New York: St. Martin's Press, 1968.
