The Classical Music Book

213

See also: The Bartered Bride 206 ■ Finlandia 220–221 ■ The Lark Ascending

252–253 ■ Janá cˇ ek’s Sinfonietta 263 ■ Bartók’s String Quartet No. 5 270–271

Antonín Dvorˇ ák

The son of an innkeeper,

Dvorˇák was born in a village

north of Prague in 1841. He

shared his father’s passion

for the violin, and from 1857

he also studied the organ in

Prague, playing the instrument

in several orchestras.

By the early 1870s, Dvorˇák

had taken up composition

full time and was married to

Anna, with whom he would

have nine children. Dvorˇák's

career was aided by Johannes

Brahms, who sat on a panel

that awarded Dvorˇák a grant

to pursue his music. He also

recommended Dvorˇ ák to his

publisher, who encouraged

him to write a set of Slavonic

dances. Their publication

changed his fortunes; new

commissions at home and

from England soon followed.

Dvorˇák directed the National

Conservatory of Music in New

York from 1892–1895, before

returning to Prague to teach

and write new works based

on Bohemian folk tales. He

died from a stroke in 1904.

classical European symphonic and

chamber forms to produce works

of a strongly patriotic nature that

incorporated the spirit of regional

folk songs and dances.

Two composers

Dvorˇ ák was an accomplished

keyboard player and violinist,

who had played in several Prague

orchestras when he joined the one

at the city’s Provincial Theatre in

1866, conducted by Smetana. The

older Smetana was already

cultivating a reputation as a

champion of a Czech style of music

after spending most of his early

creative years in Sweden.

Smetana’s first language was

German, and he had only recently

begun to study Czech when he

responded to a contest to compose

a Czech opera. He submitted The

Brandenburgers in Bohemia, which

premiered in 1866, and went on to

produce many celebrated works in

Czech, such as The Bartered Bride,

a set of symphonic poems called

Má vlast (My homeland), and

Vlatava, which paints the course

of the river running through Prague.

Inspired by Smetana’s Czech

operas, Dvorˇ ák composed Alfred

in 1870, but it was not performed in

his lifetime. His next, The King and

the Charcoal Burner, was at first

rejected as unplayable, though

eventually accepted after extensive

rewrites. Dvorˇ ák gave up his ❯❯

NATIONALISM 1830–1920

Other key works

1878 Slavonic Dances, Book 1,

Op. 46

1885 Symphony No. 7, Op. 70

1900 Rusalka, Op. 144

The Bohemian polka, illustrated here

by Herrman Koenig, is attributed to

Anna Slezáková, who danced the steps

to a folk song in 1834. Dvorˇák’s earliest

surviving composition was a polka.

Time signature

of 2 quarter note

beats per bar.

Originally a Bohemian peasant dance, the polka

has two strong beats in each bar, inviting dancers to

step in lively, bouncing fashion. It became a popular

ballroom dance in the 1830s.

1st Beat 2nd Beat 1st Beat 2nd Beat

Emphasis Emphasis

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