Dvořák, Antonín 1841 - 1904
Author: Okada, Akihiro
Last updated：June 1, 2009
Author: Okada, Akihiro
Antonín (Leopold) Dvořák (Antonín Dvořák) was born on September 8, 1841, in the village of Nelahozeves (German name: Mühlhausen an der Moldau), located approximately 30 kilometers north of Prague, along the Vltava River (German name: Moldau). His surname contains an R sound with a very difficult-to-pronounce háček (the symbol above the v), which involves pronouncing the [r] and [z] sounds almost simultaneously. Due to this, the kana transcription in Japanese is not always consistent. In this encyclopedia, the spelling "Dvořák" will be used consistently.
Dvořák is often positioned in music history as a composer of the "National School," particularly in the genre of opera. While this is also true for the folk-like melodies and the use of various dance styles in his works, the young Dvořák was initially drawn to Wagner. However, he did not achieve success with that style, and following the withdrawal of his opera King and Charcoal Burner from performance, he gradually shed that influence.
The spread of his name beyond his homeland is largely due to the contribution of Brahms. The catalyst for this was Dvořák's works, submitted for the Austrian State Scholarship, catching the eye of Brahms, who was one of the judges.
Some of Dvořák's works had been published by the Prague publisher Starý since around 1873, but when his works began to be published by the Berlin publisher Simrock in 1878, thanks to Brahms's intercession, performance opportunities for his works abroad increased dramatically.
Dvořák's works also began to be featured in concerts across the sea in England, where his choral works, in particular, were most welcomed. This stands in contrast to Russia, a geographically close country, where, even when Dvořák visited at Tchaikovsky's invitation, his works were virtually unknown and received no welcome whatsoever.
In June 1891, Dvořák was offered the position of director of the National Conservatory of Music in New York and accepted it. Symphony No. 9 "From the New World", composed during his stay in New York, became one of the most famous symphonies of all time. Anton Seidl, who conducted the premiere of this work, was a close associate of Wagner and actively promoted the performance of Wagner's works in America. Through his interaction with Seidl, Dvořák's inclination towards Wagner resurfaced, particularly in the composition and revision of his operas.
Upon returning to his homeland, Dvořák was awarded numerous honors and celebrated for his achievements. Standing on the conductor's podium for concerts and composing new symphonic poems, he became increasingly engrossed in composing operas. The opera Rusalka, which approached Wagner's idiom, is a work from this period.
The composer, who died in Prague on May 1, 1904, was buried in the cemetery of the Vyšehrad district, where many cultural figures rest. Currently, this cemetery is the resting place of figures such as the writer Karel Čapek, the composer Bedřich Smetana, and the conductor Rafael Kubelík.
Dvořák's Piano Works
Most of Dvořák's works for piano are short pieces, and among them, works in dance style particularly stand out, both in terms of quantity and the high quality of their content. Many of his piano pieces were composed at the request of the Simrock publishing house, and the famous Slavonic Dances were also composed at the request of this publisher. Although Dvořák had disputes with Simrock regarding remuneration and the spelling of his name, one must not forget the contributions of this publishing house, which was involved in the creation of numerous Dvořák's piano pieces, and the role of Brahms, who mediated.
Among his piano works, which are predominantly short pieces, Theme and Variations stands out in terms of both scale and content. A strong influence of Beethoven's Piano Sonata Op. 26 can be observed in this work. Furthermore, Humoresque, famous for Kreisler's arrangement, was composed as the seventh piece of the piano solo work Humoresques.
Works(42)
Concerto (1)
concerto (1)
Concerto for piano and orchestra Op.33 B.63
Key: g-moll Composed in: 1876 Playing time: 40 min 30 sec
Piano Solo (10)
pieces (9)
variation (1)
polka (2)
waltz (2)
other dances (3)
Piano Ensemble (4)
pieces (3)
Various works (4)
Chamber Music (5)
Chamber music (2)
etc (4)
Chamber music (1)
Orchestral work (1)