Dvorak, AL
NAME: Dvorak, Anton Leopold
ACHIEVEMENT: First world-famous Czech composer
NICKNAME/ALIAS: None
DISCIPLINE: Composer
FIELD: Music
LANGUAGE: Czech.
DATE & PLACE OF BIRTH: September 8, 1841, Nelahozeves, Bohemia, Austrian
Empire (now in Czech Republic])
DATE & PLACE OF DEATH/AGE AT DEATH: May 1, 1904, Prague (now Czech Republic). Aged 62
PARENTS: Frantisek Dvorak; mother unknown
SIBLINGS: Unknown
SPOUSE: Anna Cermakova
CHILDREN: 6
EDUCATION: Village school
LIFE & TIMES:
At the Prague Organ School, Dvorak, an excellent viola player, took part in the concerts of the St. Cecilia Society, whose programs included contemporary works. He also played
in the prestigious Golden Jubilee celebrations of the Prague Conservatory and attended the concerts of Liszt*, Hans von Bulow*, and Clara Schumann* .
Dvorak"s first professional job on leaving school was with a small band, paying at restaurants and for balls and which, in 1862, during the great upsurge of national culture in Bohemia, became the nucleus of the new Provisional Theatre orchestra. For the next
nine years, Dvorak was principal violist in the orchestra.
In, 1863, in Prague, at a recital of Wagner*'s work, conducted by Wagner himself, Dvorak played the overture to "Tannhauser", extracts from "Die Meistersinger" and "Die Walkure" and the prelude to "Tristan und
Isolde".
Dvorak's earliest serious compositions date from the 1860s. They include some chamber music, two symphonies (1865), a cello concerto, and a song cycle inspired by his unrequited love for one of his pupils, Josefina Cermakova.
Dvorak gave up his position in the Provisional Theatre orchestra in 1871 and devoted more time to composition, but he was still virtually penniless until, in 1873, he met Jan Neff, a wealthy merchant. Neff hired him to him as an accompanist for his own and his wife's singing and to teach piano to their children. For roughly the next five years, Dvorak relied on teaching as the main source of his income.
By July, 1874, Dvorak developed enough confidence to enter 15 compositions for the Austrian State Stipendium, established to assist young, poor and talented artists. He won a prize, which gave him fresh encouragement. One adjudicator was Brahms*, who became the chief agent of Dvorak’s success and a lifelong friend.
Dvorak went on to write more chamber music and a five-act opera, which had little success. But his next major composition, "Symphony no. 5 in F major" achieved success and was a great advance on anything he had previously written.
From 1873, some of Dvorak's compositions were published, but the publishing firm was small and no large sales were expected. Dvorak sent Brahms some scores, which Brahms sent to his publisher, Fritz Simrock. Several pieces, notably the Moravian Duets (1876) for soprano and contralto and the Slavonic Dances (1878) for piano duet, were published in 1878 and favorably reviewed.
With so much of Dvorak's music now available, foreign performances followed in rapid succession. He played in Dresden (1878), Hamburg, Nice, Berlin and Berne (1879), and several American cities (1880).
In 1884, conducting his first concert outside Bohemia, Dvorak took the podium at three London venues. He conducted his "Stabat mater" at the Royal Albert Hall, his "Hussite Overture", "Slavonic Rhapsody no. 2" and "Sixth Symphony" at St James’s Hall, and finally his "Scherzo capriccioso" op. 66 and "Nocturne for strings" op. 40 at the Crystal Palace.
Invitations poured in from other British concert halls and Dvorak was invited to write large choral works for the Birmingham and Leeds festivals and a new symphony for the Philharmonic Society. This latter became his "Symphony no. 7 in D minor", which he hoped would take the world by storm.
In 1890, Dvorak went to Russia to conduct and hoping to visit Tchaikovsky*, with whom he had formed a friendship during Tchaikovsky's stay in Prague in 1888. In Moscow, Dvorak conducted a program comprising his "Fifth Symphony", the Adagio from the "Serenade in D minor", the "Scherzo capriccioso", "Slavonic Rhapsody no.1", and the "Symphonic Variations". Unfamiliar with Dvorak's style and technique, many Russians left before the end of the concert, and the critics were lukewarm.
But in St. Petersburg, the program for the Russian Musical Society was much better received. Back from Moscow, Dvorak was elected a member of the Czech Academy of
Sciences and Arts, and a few days later left for London to conduct his "Eighth Symphony"at the Philharmonic Society.
In 1891, he was made an honorary Doctor of Music of the University of Cambridge. In 1892 he was offered the post of director of the newly established National Conservatory of Music in New York. During his years in the United States, Dvorak composed his most popular work: "Symphony No. 9 in E Minor" (From the "New World"). He travelled as far west as Iowa and went to the Chicago Expo 1893*.
Though Dvorak found much to interest and stimulate him, he soon came to miss his children and his country, and he returned to the Prague Conservatory in 1895. The final years of his life saw the composition of several string quartets and symphonic poems and his last three operas.
Dvorak visited London for the last time in early 1896 for the world premiere of the "Cello Concerto.” In Vienna a few days later, he visited the ageing Brahms, who strongly wished to stem Bruckner's growing influence at the conservatory. Brahms tried to persuade Dvorak to move to Vienna, and offered to place his entire fortune at his friend's disposal. But Dvorak did not want to leave Bohemia. Dvorak saw Brahms once more, on his deathbed, the following year.
Dvorak was elected a member of the Austro-Hungarian House of Peers, and, in
1901, became the director of the Prague Conservatory. He spent 17 months, until August, 1903 working on his last opera, "Armida", which was a failure. During its first performance in March, 1904, he left early because of a pain in his side. He was ill for 5 weeks and died on May 1.
MAJOR WORKS: "Symphony No. 9 in E Minor" (From the "New World").
ASSESSMENT: With Smetana and Janacek, he is regarded as one of the greatest
composers of the nationalist movement in what is now the Czech Republic.
EXTRA CONNECTIONS: He was a friend of Grieg*
ONELINER: Anton Dvorak, first world-famous Czech composer
BIBLIOGRAPHY:
EB
New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians, ed. Stanley Sadie, Macmillan: London, 1980
Clapham, John, "Antonin Dvorak", in New Grove Late Romantic Masters, London: Macmillan, 1985