ANTONÍN DVOŘÁK

by

Dr David C. F. Wright

_________________________________________________________________________________________

Copyright David C F Wright 1979 revised and renewed 2004. This article or any part thereof, however small, must not be quoted, used, copied, stored in any retrieval system or downloaded without the prior written permission of the author. Failure to comply is a breach of copyright laws and is both illegal and theft and will render the offender(s) liable to action at law.

________________________________________________________________________________________

In the year of the centenary of Dvořák's death we should reflect on this gifted composer.

Dvořák, like Mendelssohn is, in my opinion, liked rather than admired or appreciated. But it is my contention that they were both very fine but flawed composers. Perhaps the problem is the perennial one of fashion and how music opinion changes. Music-lovers can be fickle and often want to go with current opinion rather than detach themselves from the general consensus, which is often wrong or prejudiced and, and not using musical facts to consider both the music and the man.

The first outstanding asset of Dvořák was that he was a very pleasant man and morally good as were composers like Bruckner and the aforementioned Mendelssohn. Dvořák was not a martinet as was Mahler. He was not pompously arrogant or a megalomaniac. He was not lascivious but a faithful husband. He was not a racist. He was a devout Catholic who eschewed the militancy of some branches of the Roman church.

It has always been my belief that the man is revealed in his music and therefore these two aspects must be considered side by side with every composer or artist. Dvořák was a man who loved both God and humanity and would never offend anyone deliberately. In his music there is heart, and it is a big heart as well, yet it is not slushy or sentimental as one might find in Tchaikovsky, for example. He was a down-to-earth person and further to be commended for that.

But he has been maligned. Some of his early works have been dismissed as Wagnerian as if that were a hanging offence. Some shallow musicians, musicologists and music lovers have insulted him by comparing his music to that of Schubert, a matter that understandably and grossly offended Dvořák in his own lifetime. Because someone writes good melodies does not mean they are a disciple of anyone else. Mozart wrote some glorious melodies and before Schubert was born. Utter rubbish is written about composers and Dvořák has been unfairly castigated. I have also read that Dvořák was the counterpart of Johann Strauss in Vienna thus debasing his music which is, of course, vastly superior to that of the Viennese waltz composers.

The butcher’s trade had always been in the Dvořák family and music had played an important part in their lives. Jan Nepomuk Dvořák (1764-1842) was a butcher as was the tenth of his twelve children, Frantisek, who added an inn to the family butcher business. Frantisek was Dvořák's father who was accomplished on the zither. Dvořák's mother was Anna Zdenkova (1820- 1882) who had no musical talent but her father had been steward to Prince Lobkowitz. The Dvořáks married on 17 November 1840 and had fourteen children of which only eight survived. Antonín was the first-born arriving on 8 September 1841 in the family house/business at Nelahozeves and he was christened the next day at the little church across the road. He was always known as Tonik. When he was ten months old the inn caught fire and reduced to rubble but the butcher's shop part was repaired.

Dvořák's father taught his son the violin and the boy was fascinated with Bohemian music, music of his own country. By the age of five he was able to entertain the restored inn's patrons by playing the violin for them. He attended the village school and was helped by the schoolmaster/organist Josef Spitz. His learning of German was somewhat neglected which was a necessary discipline particularly after the failed nationalistic uprising of 1848. And Dvořák did not like the German language and, of course, the Germans were hostile in their attitude towards the Czechs..

In 1854, Antonín was sent to his uncle Antonín Zdenek in Zlonice who was a steward at the Court of Count Kinsky. The boy joined the local butchers guild as an apprentice and, in his new school, had, among his teachers, Josef Toman and the German Antonín Liehmann both gifted musicians. In 1855 the Dvořák family moved to Zlonice where Frantisek took up another inn but this was not successful as an inn opposite had an established clientele. By 1860 Frantisek was bankrupt and had to surrender the lease. He demanded his son give up his musical aspirations and concentrate on the more secure livelihood of being a butcher.

On 1 November the young man received his Journeyman's Certificate from the Butcher's Guild. But it was music that he wanted to pursue and in this quest he was aided and abetted by Liehmann. Father Dvořák was not moved but sent his son to school at Bohmisch-Kamnitz, a town in Sudetenland to learn German properly. In July 1857 he returned to Zlonice with a leaving certificate from the school and Liehmann urged his father to let the young man take up music. Uncle Zdenek added weight to the argument. Frantisek gave in, and in September 1857 Dvořák set off for Prague. He was just 16.

His first lodgings were unsuitable and so he moved in with Aunt Josefa. Dvořák enrolled in the organ school being taught by Josef Foerster for organ, Josef Zvonar for singing and Frantisek Blazek for theory. Financially it was a hard time for Dvořák and his hatred of the German language did not help. He worked in orchestras and cheap bands as a viola player. He was befriended by Karl Bendl, a fellow student who had a piano and several scores that Dvořák could use and he was better off.

He completed his studies when he was almost eighteen. He applied for various musical posts but was rejected. He did not want to continue nightly in the Komzak band with daily morning rehearsals.

The Czech National Theatre came into being in November 1862 and employed the Komzaks together with their own National orchestra. Dvořák played the viola in productions and enjoyed the conducting of such notables as Liszt and Richard Strauss. Antonín played in the first performances of the Smetana operas, Dalibor and The Bartered Bride. In fact Smetana was appointed director of the National Theatre in September 1866..

Early in 1865 something happened in Dvořák's life which was to change him completely.

Jan Cermak was a wealthy goldsmith who employed Dvořák to teach music to his daughter Josefina. He fell in love with her immediately but it was not returned. Unrequited love is very debilitating. Antonín suffered dreadfully . He tried to win her, composing the song cycle Cypresses. Much of Dvořák's music reveals his love for Josefina, even music written later in life. The slow section at the end of the finale of the superlative Cello Concerto in B minor is obviously an example. It took him over six years to come to terms with this rejection but he gradually accepted the matter and turned his attention to the younger sister, Anna and married her in 1873. Josefina married Vaclav Count Kaunic in 1877.

All through his life Dvořák contemplated his love for Josefina and what it would have been like to be married to her. This seems to be unfair on Anna to whom he was faithful but his love for Josefina was a torment.

He carried on teaching and by July 1871 could leave the orchestra being no longer dependent on that salary. He extended his interest in composition.

His first work was a piano piece, the Forget-me-not polka of 1856. There were some small organ pieces which could only be classed as exercises. Opus 1 is a String Quintet in A minor and Opus 2 a String Quartet in A major which both date from 1862. Then there is a gap of three years before the Symphony no. 1 in C minor entitled The Bells of Zlonice.

The symphony has been savagely attacked as being too long and of little merit. I can think of two symphonies by a British composer to which this criticism could be made justly, but not Dvořák's Symphony no. 1. As with much of Dvořák's music it recalls and records an event, or events in his life. The dissonances in the first movement are said to represent one of the bells at the church which was cracked and caused a type of dissonance. Dvořák entered the symphony for a competition in Germany. But it was never returned. It came to light in 1923, eighteen year after the composer's death. There is no doubt that Josefina is here as she is in his first Cello Concerto, the one in A major, which is seldom played. This concerto was not discovered until 1918 in a cello and piano version. The orchestration was undertaken by one Gunther Raphael in 1929 but improved upon by Jarmil Burghauser. It is a good piece and recommended but it will always be in the shadow of Dvořák's masterpiece, the greatest cello concerto ever written, his Cello Concerto in B minor Opus 104.

The Symphony no. 1 brought vitriol from critics, so-called musicologists and reviewers when it was first performed in various parts of the world but these writers only displayed their ignorance and stupidity as music reviewers regularly do. Many complained that there was absolutely nothing bell-like in the music yet the whole of the first movement revolves around a bell-like motif.

After seventy years this symphony is still not established yet many inferior works of other composers are. Bells of Zlonice, among all its many other attributes, has a gloriously memorable theme and, to quote current parlance, it is a tune to die for. It is a monumental work, richly orchestrated with a super slow movement which incorporates a sort of march or, to be precise a marziale section, a country pageant, but it is not overblown or pompous. It is a masterly work of which I have never tired, a really super piece. Vaclav Neumann's recording is excellent as is that of István Kertesz and I was present at the rehearsals of all the Dvořák symphonies which Bryden Thomson gave for the BBC some years ago.

A symphony and concerto in 1865 is good going but the year also saw that Symphony no. 2 in B flat, another work also savaged by the critics. It was condemned as being too much like Liszt and Wagner and that the excellent opening was not maintained in quality throughout the rest of the piece. He also wrote the opera Alfred but did not try to get it staged being unsure of it. In fact he took the overture and entitled it Tragic Overture but it was published by Simrock as the Dramatic Overture. The opera was staged in 1938.

In his early career Dvořák wrote three more string quartets in B flat, D and E minor respectively. They were lost for years. Of special note is the E minor quartet which is in one movement and does hint at Wagner's indisputable masterpiece Tristan und Isolde. To me, it is an outpouring of his feelings for Josefina.

He composed eleven operas but not one of them has been really successful. He so wanted to be an opera composer but, like Schubert, had no sense of stage or theatre although it has to be said that the Dvořák's operas are not feeble, as Schubert's are. Dvořák also destroyed a lot of his early compositions and revised many so that, for example, his String Sextet in A Opus 48 was composed, or completed, after his String Quintet in G Opus 77.

Johannes Brahms admired Dvořák immensely and befriended and helped him financially as he had with the Schumanns, which is further evidence of the fundamental goodness of Brahms. He is quoted as having said of Dvořák, "He has more ideas than the rest of us. We could glean main subjects from his left-overs."

Dvořák had a wonderful capacity for friendship. He formed a friendship with a lawyer Dr Ludevit Prochazka and his wife Marta who was a singer and they would have musical soirees at their house where some of Dvořák's work was premiered. The merchant, Jan Neff became a friend and Dvořák taught his two children.

In the Spring of 1872 Dvořák began work on his first real success, Hymnus subtitled The Heirs of the White Mountains for chorus and orchestra to a text by Vitezslav Halek. It was a nationalistic work and displayed Dvořák's feelings. Its premiere in March 1873, conducted by his friend Karel Bendl, was a triumph and Prague music society knew that this was a composer to be reckoned with. Dvořák was 31, the same age as when Schubert died. Brahms rightly said that Schubert never wrote a masterpiece but that Dvořák could not help writing some. This encouraged Dvořák who, feeling that he had been jilted by Josefina, married Anna, her father having died and therefore the slur of a daughter of a rich goldsmith marrying a penniless musician was lifted. The marriage was also sanctioned because Anna was about five months pregnant with their son, Otakar. Their daughter Otilie went on to marry Josef Suk in 1898, the date of her parents silver wedding anniversary.

Antonín and Anna had nine children in all.

It was probably Anna who recommended to her husband that he apply for the organist post at St Adalbert's Church where Foerster was the choirmaster. Dvořák took the post for three years but the money was not good. He had to take other jobs to supplement his meagre income with as much teaching as possible and playing the viola.

The conductor Hans-Hubert Schönzeler told me that you can only understand a composer's music if you understand the man, his character and his attitude to his environment and the world and its morals. I have advocated that truth for years and come in for unfair criticism as a result. If you understand the laziness of Schubert you will understand the poor quality of his music. If you understand the seriousness of Rubbra you will understand his music. If you understand the Catholic spirituality of Bruckner you will understand his music. Dvořák was a devout Catholic although he was still prone to indiscretions, as we all are, but he was a true believer and generally followed the rules of Catholicism but never made an open display of it. At the end of some of his scores he wrote such things as ‘Thanks be to God’ or ‘Praise be to the Lord’ just as Haydn, another very decent man, would end some of his scores with ‘Laus Deo’. Dvořák saw God in all creation and often walked in the country being an early riser. Hans Gál told us that Dvořák worked in his shirt-sleeves. He was a man after my own heart since he hated pomp and ceremony and simply abhorred official occasions. He was easily embarrassed by any praise of his music. "I am a simple Bohemian composer", he would protest.

He had two hobbies namely trains and his pigeons. He would meet his friends and smoke a cigarette and drink the local beer and, latterly, was fascinated by the game of skittles.

The other great quality about this man, to add to his enviable modesty, was his love for his family. He was always happy playing with his children. Their noisiness did not trouble him and he was always helpful in the kitchen.

He composed a Piano Quintet and after its first performance reworked it into his Piano Quintet in A, Opus 81, a sublime chamber work of the highest quality which should be cherished by all music lovers. He began work on his Symphony no. 3 in E flat, his only symphony in three movements. The influence of Wagner is less but, from a personal point of view, the lack of rhythmic contrast in the finale is a little tedious.

The award of an Austrian State Grant around 1874 inspired him to write his finest symphony, the Symphony no. 4 in D minor. It is grievous that some mischief-makers have said that it is Schubertian proving again that comparisons are unhelpful and a positive hindrance. This is pure Dvořák with his infectious love of God and nature with its mountain streams of refreshing clear water. It is decidedly original with glimpses of Bohemian nationalism. The scherzo is an absolute joy and totally irresistible. Smetana conducted it as a separate piece in 1874 and the complete work was not heard until 1892 under the composer's direction. The recording by István Kertesz is a must. In this minor masterpiece we are spared every excess and all those base things such as ceremony, pomp, pageantry and ostentation. It is a real gem.

The composer next worked on the second version of his opera The King and the Charcoal Burner which was staged. He also completed his Quartet no. 7 in A minor Opus 16.

Over Christmas 1874 he completed his opera The Stubborn Lovers and then turned to three major chamber works, the String Quintet in G Opus 77 and the Piano Trio in B flat Opus 21 and the Piano Quartet in D Opus 23 although these were on the drawing-board for some time before. They are happy works reflecting his own contented life but they are certainly not superficial. This sunniness is also shown in his Serenade in E for string orchestra Opus 22 .Would that all serenades for string orchestra were of this quality! He composed his Moravian Duets Opus 20 for Jan and Marie Neff.

In the middle of 1875 he began work on his Symphony no 5 in F which some have opined is his pastoral symphony. It continues in the stream of self-assured, confident and happy music which, perhaps, is sometimes bucolic . It was the first of his symphonies to reach the concert hall and originally hailed as the Symphony no. 1. Sadly some have likened it to Schubert because of its melodic inventiveness but that comparison is odious. Dvořák's melodies are extensive not fragmentary and not always repetitive. Dvořák had a gift for modulation and could handle key relationships which Schubert certainly could not. The Finale is not brilliantly constructed whereas Schubert had no sense of construction at all. Dvořák asked Von Bulow if he could dedicate this symphony to him. Von Bulow replied, "A dedication from you? Next to Brahms you are the most gifted composer. Such a dedication would be a higher decoration that any sort of award from the hands of a prince."

For the rest of 1875 Dvořák worked on his opera Vanda. The following year saw many chamber works completed, the Piano Trio in G minor, Opus 26, the String Quartet in E, initially given the opus number of 27 but published by Simrock as opus 80. And he was considering a big choral work, the Stabat Mater, as well as the Piano Concerto in G minor Opus 33 which seldom gets played. It is not in the same class as either the Violin Concerto or the Cello Concerto because Dvořák was not a pianist but rather a string player. The Piano Concerto is relatively simple and is not virtuosic and yet it is the simplicity that gives it an appeal. Do concertos always have to be showpieces? Surely it is the quality of the music that counts.

However, I do have to admit that the piano parts is some of his chamber music does let the music down. The Piano Trio in E minor known as the Dumky may be a case in point.

When everything is going well there is often something that happens to spoil it. The year 1877 was not his best year. He had his state grant renewed which enabled him to resign as organist at St Adalberts. In July he went on a walking tour with his friend Leoš Janáček who was then 23 years old and who had recently conducted Dvořák's Serenade for string orchestra. He renewed his friendship with Alois Gobl who was a gifted singer and fellow viola player and probably encouraged Dvořák to write opera.. In August Dvořák's daughter Ruzena, died being less than a year old, followed about four weeks later by Otakar, a victim of smallpox. This tragedy happened on Dvořák's 36th birthday. On 6 June 1878 his daughter Otilie was born, one of six children to survive their father and well-known because she married Josef Suk.

In November 1877 Dvořák had moved house where he received visitors such as Brahms, Grieg and Tchaikovsky as well as his publisher Simrock. Later he visited Vienna, missed Brahms but met Hanslick. Dvořák worked on his Symphonic Variations based on the folk song ‘I am a fiddler’. He was still attracted to opera and began work on The Cunning Peasant. He wrote a setting of Ave Maria and the last set of Moravian Duets. Because of the tragedy in his life, Dvořák had temporarily become very stern however humour shot through. His comment on his Symphonic Variations is an example: "This is ’I am a fiddler“ muddled up.", he said. However, the Variations were received with great enthusiasm. Hans Richter adored them but that is not necessarily a good omen.

Dvořák's emotional state was reserved for his massive Stabat Mater of 1876/7. It is music of the heart deeply-felt and sometimes beautifully constructed. On a personal note I think it is a little too long at ninety minutes to sustain the material but the religiosity is so natural and there is a wonderful sense of melody throughout. Some movements do seem a trifle banal and the five minute orchestral introduction does not seem to fit but these are minor quibbles to what is the first Czech oratorio. Quite amazingly, Dvořák conveys the message rather than the text. It is the glorious sound he makes that carries the greatness conviction. His next major work was the String Quartet in D, Opus 34, which is quite subdued despite the second movement being a polka. His other 'severe' quartet was no. 11 in C opus 61. It was written in a hurry and received a rebuke from Brahms but not in a malicious way. Nonetheless both quartets are fine in many respects.

His sunny music returned. In the early part of 1878, the Serenade for wind instruments, cello and double bass, Opus 44, appeared. This is somewhat Haydnesque but it is a refreshing and jovial work. A curious work followed namely the Bagatelles, Opus 47, for two violins, cello and harmonium. Can you think of another chamber work of Dvořák's time with a harmonium? Nevertheless they are homely pieces conveying the idea of family and friends in congenial domestic settings.

It was the orchestration of the Slavonic Dances that next occupied him. They were an instant success and have deservedly remained so, although the Slavonic Rhapsodies are finer pieces. It is the sheer exuberance and joy of these pieces with simply marvellous orchestration that endear them. We often speak of the fine orchestration of Richard Strauss and a few others but Dvořák's orchestrations are usually remarkable and stunning. Some have opined that Dvořák's love of locomotives and their splendour influenced his orchestration.

On Christmas Day 1878 he began work on his String Quartet no. 10 in E flat. For some reason this work took over fifteen months to complete which was very slow for Dvořák. It has a Dumka which has some furiant type interjections and the first movement does not work. The slow movement is a Romance.

Despite his aversion for all things German, Dvořák went to Berlin in the summer of 1879 where he met the distinguished violinist Joseph Joachim. In Joachim's house the E flat Quartet and the Sextet in A were premiered. Dvořák, being the shy and modest decent man that he was, melted somewhat into the background but was inspired to write his Violin Concerto for Joachim.

This is a gem, a real delight and vastly superior to other concertos of its time. Much as I admire Mendelssohn I have never been taken by his Violin Concerto in E minor but the Dvořák stands head and shoulders above the Mendelssohn. Dvořák, being a string player, makes this concerto and the sublime B minor Cello Concerto more virtuosic than the Piano Concerto. What I applaud about Dvořák is that he is not a show-off. He is concerned with writing music not technical fireworks yet his music remains enthralling. The glorious Cello Concerto has no cadenza, a brave move for that time, since it is music and not a competition.

Dvořák has two great friends in Brahms and Richter. Richter had made his name in London by conducting Wagner in 1877 and went on to be the conductor of the Hallé Orchestra. Hans von Bulow was a more discerning conductor Bulow always conducted Dvořák and truly admired his greatness.

The next major work was the Symphony no. 6 in D, Opus 60, sometimes said to be the first of the great symphonies. It was dedicated to Richter but the premiere was conducted by Adolf Cech. At that time and, indeed, for some time, Germany had a hostile anti-Czech policy. When Richter did take it up the publishers Simrock published it in 1882 as Symphony no. 1!

If there is a weakness in Dvořák's symphonies it is always in his finales but perhaps the finale of this symphony is his most successful finale. It continues the classic structure of Beethoven but structure was never Dvořák's strong point and his music is sometimes a little too repetitive and therefore wearisome..

It has four movements namely allegro non tanto, adagio, scherzo in the style of a furiant and allegro con spirito. The opening movement is rather leisurely and, perhaps, hints at times at banality, but it is open air music with the hunting horns, the pastoral woodwind, the strings hinting at the rising of the wind and the broad sweep of Bohemian landscapes.

I do not rate this movement. It is not an allegro since allegro means quick, merry and lively. This is not. It is no more than an andante moderato. The second movement is quite beautiful and the furiant is often very exciting and indeed exhilarating, a real allegro. The finale begins somewhat sedately but it gets going with a noble (but non-pompous) theme of great purport but again it is really lively? What it is, is a movement teeming with invention and colour. We are not always on the mountain top but often down in the valley. Structurally, however, it does not work.

As with the Symphony no 7, this symphony's best part is to be found in the final pages and the coda.

I was present at extensive rehearsals of this symphony with the BBC Welsh Symphony Orchestra under Bryden Thomson (as I was with all the symphonies) and revelled in all the detail Jack brought out which I had not heard before or since. The music glowed under his direction and, as usual, Dvořák's orchestration proved to be superb. I regret to say that one cannot say that any of his symphonies are great works..... attractive and popular maybe, but not great, although the Symphony no. 4 in D minor is the finest.

Dvořák alternated big works with small works such as the Ten Legends Opus 59 originally written for piano duet but later orchestrated. He was trying to repeat the success of the Slavonic Dances but his efforts did not work. By the beginning of 1881 he was contemplating a new opera Dimitrij. His work on this was hindered by emotional matters such as the destruction of the National Theatre by fire on 12 August 1881 and the birth of his daughter, Magdalena, five days later. He was seriously behind in the composition of a string quartet he had promised to Hellmesberger and his quartet. . He had written an allegro vivace in F destined for this new quartet but was unsatisfied with it and put it to one side. He began work on the Quartet no. 11 in C and then it was announced that the Hellmesberger Quartet were to premiere a new quartet by Dvořák in a few weeks time. This was news to Dvořák who worked like a Trojan to complete the piece for performance on 15 December. But he need not have bothered since another fire happened which destroyed the venue and so the work was not performed until eleven months later by the Joachim Quartet in Berlin. It is a curious work, somewhat serious but still retaining that distinctive melodic gift. He resumed work on Dimitrij, premiered in October 1882.

The death of his mother in December 1882 threw him into gloom and the composition of the Piano Trio in F minor Opus 80 - a work of little appeal to me. By April 1883 he was composing his Scherzo Capriccioso, a joyful piece for orchestra but which is often played as slush as if it were by one of the Strauss family. He finally came to terms with the sonata form in his fine overture Husitska, Opus 67 a nationalistic work combining the Hussite Hymn and the St Wenceslas Chorale. He visited Berlin to hear Brahms's Symphony no. 3 in F at the end of January 1884.

Dvořák came to England nine times between March 1884 and March 1896. His first trip was with his pianist friend Jindrich Kaan and it was the first time he had seen the sea. He was mightily relieved to find the sea calm at Ostend. Brahms also hated the sea and turned down a degree from Cambridge as he could not face the sea!

I suppose it was Hans Richter with the Hallé Orchestra that paved the way for Dvořák's first visit. What is clear is that Britain loved Dvořák a modest man with poor English and a powerful handshake. He conducted his Stabat Mater in the Royal Albert Hall on 13 March 1884 and on 20 March there was the Husitska Overture, the Sixth Symphony and the Slavonic Rhapsody no. 2. It was a great success. In a concert at Crystal Palace on 22 March he conducted his Nocturne in B, a fine but curious work, and the London premiere of the Scherzo Capriccioso. The publishers Novello offered him Ł200 to publish Hymnus with the proviso that he write a new cantata for England. On his return to Prague he conducted Dimitrij and the Stabat Mater and was exhausted.

The new work for London was The Bridal Shirt (literal translation of the Czech) which title was deemed unsuitable and which Rev John Troutbeck rendered as The Spectre's Bride which became Dvořák's opus 69. He worked on it for months before sailing to England again in August 1884. This was an invitation to the Three Choirs Festival held that year in Worcester where on the 11 September he conducted his Stabat Mater in the morning and his Symphony no. 6 in the evening. Back in Prague he worked on The Spectre's Bride. He made his debut as a conductor in Berlin on 21 November with the Husitska Overture, the Piano Concerto (with Anna Grosser-Rilke as soloist) and the Symphony no. 6.

The Symphony no. 3 of Brahms had made a greater impression on Dvořák than anything else. He vowed to compose another symphony himself and had half-promised a symphony to the London Philharmonic Society. And so his Symphony no. 7 in D minor came into being. It is sometimes a sombre work. Some claim that the death of his mother was the reason, and others that it reflected his misery at failing to be a successful opera composer. It seems such a pity to admit that only the final bars of the last movement which is in the major key makes any real impact.

He arrived in London again on 19 April 1885 this time with Professor Josef Zubaty. At St James's Hall on 22 April 1885 Dvořák gave the world premiere of the Symphony no. 7 which was not as well received as the Symphony no. 6 and the press gave mixed reviews. At other concerts the Piano Concerto was played as was the British premiere of Hymnus. The composer enjoyed London and the walks in the parks. He met many well known composers. He also met my great uncle, Sir Ivor Atkins and I proudly possess a letter that Dvořák wrote to him.

He spent most of the summer at Vyoska relaxing and making corrections to the Seventh Symphony and Dimitrij. But in August 1885 there was another trip to London. He conducted the premiere of The Spectre's Bride in Birmingham on 27 August. It was a huge success so much so that Leeds invited him to produce an oratorio for the following year. And we should be glad that they did, for it resulted in his choral masterpiece St Ludmilla. It was begun on 17 September 1885 and completed by 30 May 1886. Then he turned to a set of miniatures, the second set of Slavonic Dances Opus 72.

Dvořák left Prague on 1 October 1886 to go to London and then on to Leeds, this time taking his wife, Anna. St Ludmilla was premiered at the Leeds Festival on 15 October which was acclaimed enthusiastically but there are foolish people who will indulge in comparisons of one composer's work which are, frankly, useless and sometimes sheer madness. Dvořák's new work was compared with his Stabat Mater but the works are deliberately quite different and therefore not suitable for comparison. It is like saying that a bottle of fine claret is comparable to a bottle of Budweiser!

Dvořák struggled with the orchestration of the Slavonic Dances. He wrote an unusual chamber work, the Terzetto for two violins and viola, Opus 74 which work gave him much pleasure. The Four Romantic Pieces for violin and piano, Opus 75 also dates from this time. Richter scored a great success with the first performance of the Symphony no. 7 in Vienna.

The composer was asked to compose a Mass and he happily attended to this with the Mass in D Opus 86 which was for a private occasion and so the work is scored for soloists and organ alone. His wife, Anna, was the alto solo on the premiere. It is not his best work by any means but it combines his nationalistic and religious convictions. He also undertook the orchestration of twelve of his early songs called Cypresses ... Josefina was still in his heart. He reworked his setting of Psalm 149, originally for male voices alone, and set it for a mixed choir. It is curious that few settings of the psalms ever find a permanent place for themselves. In December 1888 he took more of the Cypresses and turned eight of them into his Love Songs, Opus 83. One can only conjecture how deep his feelings for Josefina remained and the thoughts constantly in mind as to how happy he would have been if he had made her his. It is also true that his heavy workload had affected his health and, although he was not yet fifty years of age, he may have felt the decline in his health was a portent of what was to come.

His opera The Jacobin had a successful premiere in 1888. Dvořák was still obsessed with opera and was trying to prove to himself that he could write a great opera which he considered was the pinnacle of any composer's success.

The countryside of his retreat at Vyoska lead to the most original of Dvořák's symphonies, the Symphony no. 8 in G, Opus 88. It is completely different from the other symphonies and the content does not agree with the characteristics of the symphony. Some people have nicknamed it ‘the idyllic’ but, thankfully, that has not stuck. To my mind the work is lightweight and the penultimate movement is often played as slush. The Finale is a set of variations with that racing horn tune and the trill and the top which can be very exciting. The work has been praised and condemned but it remains second in popularity to the New World Symphony. It was the only symphony published by Novello and, in some quarters, it is foolishly known as ‘the English Symphony’.

The year 1888 also brought a request from R H Milward to write an oratorio for the Birmingham Festival and Newman's Dream of Gerontius was suggested to him. Dvořák read the text and positively hated it and refused point blank to do it. Dvořák tried writing his Requiem which took him ten months to compose in 1890.

There was an invitation for the Dvořáks to visit Russia. Off they set on 27 February 1888. They had hoped to have been welcomed by Tchaikovsky but he was in Italy. To add to their disappointments, the soloist who was to give the Violin Concerto was ill and the Russians did not like concerts without a soloist. In Moscow Dvořák gave his Symphony no 5, the Scherzo Capriccioso, the Slavonic Rhapsody no. 1 and the Symphonic Variations but he did not receive the acclaim he always did in England. In St Petersburg he conducted the Symphony no. 6 and the Scherzo Capriccioso to a warmer audience. Back in Czechoslovakia he conducted the Stabat Mater and then set off to London to give the British premiere of the Symphony no. 8. This was a short stay but he used the time well to sell the score to Novellos and discuss terms for the Requiem and an orchestrated version of the Mass in D.

Back in Prague he accepted the post of a professor in the Prague Conservatorium. In November he had a letter from Cambridge University wishing to confer on him an honorary doctorate. He worked on the Piano Trio in E minor, Opus 90, known as the Dumky Trio complete with six movements. It is a work not popular in every quarter and I know several pianists of international repute who dislike it intensely. In March 1891 the Czech University conferred upon Dvořák an honorary degree of Doctor of Philosophy.

Dvořák wrote three overture namely In Nature's Realm, Opus 91, Carnival, Opus 92 and Othello, Opus 93. Originally he had designed them as three concert overtures which he had intended to call Nature, Life and Love as to be played as a triptych. Some have opined that the work was meant to be a sort of miniature Ma Vlast, others that it was a symphony without a slow movement in the line of Schumann's Overture, Scherzo and Finale. But Dvořák abandoned the idea and rightly so. The works are completely different and stand alone but would not stand as a trilogy although he did conduct all three in succession in Prague on 28 April 1892 just before leaving for America.

Most people would select Carnival as the finest of the three which, surprisingly, is like a miniature symphony in itself. It is an exhilarating work with a beautiful middle section. The orchestration is peerless. It is the best curtain-raiser for a concert. The old recording with George Weldon is a must.

In June 1891 Dvořák was due to be in Cambridge to conduct the Symphony no. 8 and to collect his D. Mus. Just before he left he had a telegram from Mrs Jeanette Thurber, an American millionaire who had made her fortune in the grocery trade and formed an opera company to compete with the Metropolitan Opera. She had set up a music conservatory in New York. She was a woman of strength and decency. Fees for her music college was what the students could afford and she welcomed everyone and took a terrific stand against racism. She wanted Dvořák to be the Director of her New York Conservatory! He would work eight months of the year at a yearly salary of $15,000 and put on concerts including his own works. The contract was for two years. What an honour!

In September 1891 he made his eighth trip to England to premiere the Requiem at the Birmingham Festival on 9 October. He returned to Prague and sent off a signed contract to Mrs Thurber who immediately pushed him to compose a new piece suggesting an American work, The American Flag.

When he did eventually receive the text he made some sketches but was working hard on his Te Deum, the work then on the drawing board.

Dvořák, his wife, Otilie and Antonín set sail on the SS Saale bound for New York on 17 September 1892. His other children were left with Anna's mother. Also sailing was Josef Jan Kovarik whose parents had emigrated to Spillville, Iowa. During the crossing there was a fierce storm and it is said that everyone was sick except for Dvořák. They were warmly welcomed in New York on 26 September by the secretary of the New York Conservatory and a large contingent of New York Czechs. The first hotel was noisy and Dvořák did not like the brashness of the Americans. He had to attend receptions and parties which he never liked. Still today people go to the ballet and the opera to see what so-and-so is wearing and who so-and-so is going out with. Such events are not vehicles for nosiness. Dvořák felt that he was the main item at an auction.

His first appearance as a conductor was at Carnegie Hall on 21 October. The concert opened with My country 'tis of thee, Liszt's Tasso conducted by Seidl and Dvořák conducted his three overtures and finally the premiere of his Te Deum. This work has been heavily criticised for its American brashness and insincerity and claimed to be typically American yet most of it was written in Prague. Whereas the Requiem is by its very nature often subdued, the Te Deum is a glorious manifestation of Dvořák's belief in God and his denunciation of evolution.

Dvořák was sad that in bustling noisy New York which 'both shut out the light and common sense' he could not pursue his hobbies of trains and pigeons. What Dvořák did like about America was democracy and freedom - valuing these highly. He conducted his Symphony no 6 in New York and the Requiem in Boston . He set J R Drake's poem The American Flag but Dvořák was not in sympathy with patriotic pompous pageantry and it shows. 'It is not natural to write flag-waving music’ he said.

This hatred of pomp and arrogance caused him to compose his final symphony which is entitled From the New World. It is his most popular work but seriously flawed. It loses it structure and form, the finale is repetitive and there is no real development as such yet a flow of melody. In fact it is simply a medley of tunes, a pot-pourri. It is often noisy rather than the natural progression of music ideas. The reintroduction of all the previous themes in the finale is merely a labour-saving device, another pot-pourri. To add to this, and it is not Dvořák's fault, it is often played so badly as to be embarrassing. It sounds like cheap circus music in which the brass writing in particular is made to sound vulgar and crude like a cheap band at the seaside. There is also the problem of the suggested use of Negro melodies. It is true that some sound very much like existing spirituals such as Deep River and Swing Low Sweet Chariot. The music had been bastardised for commercials and furnished with Negro spiritual texts. Quite frankly, this has, in the opinion of some, demeaned the work. The quiet ending of the symphony does not work. It is a disappointing anti-climax.

I like the work very much but it is unsatisfactory in more ways than I have mentioned. Perhaps the quiet ending is akin to the ending of Haydn's Farewell Symphony since Dvořák was homesick and wanted to see his other four children. He had them brought over to America and they landed with their nanny and aunt in New York On 31 May 1893 a week or so after the completion of the New World Symphony. By 3 June they were off to the large Czech community in Spillville, Iowa and en route spent a few hours in Chicago. In Spillville Dvořák was more at home. He would rise early, go for a walk and attend Mass. He was invited to play the organ in the church or conduct the choir and Anna contributed with her rich alto voice. His joy was shown in his next composition the String Quartet in F Opus 96 known as the American and then, almost at once, appeared the String Quintet in E flat which is a better work. This was finished in August 1893. He visited the Chicago World Fair and on Czech Day conducted his Symphony no. 8, Slavonic Dances and the Overture My Home. He went to Omaha and St Paul and at the impressive Minnehaha Falls wrote on his cuff a theme which he developed into his Sonatina in G for violin and piano Opus 100. He was impressed with the Niagara Falls and briefly thought about a new symphony, but that did not materialise. What did was his greatest work, a work that will always be the greatest cello concerto ever.

He scored two other cello works for orchestra, the Rondo in G minor and Silent Woods. He was carefully considering a cello concerto which he originally conceived in D minor.

Dvořák could not settle in New York after his return from Spillville. To many, even today, big cities and large towns are very disorientating and the serenity of the country life is preferred. He dedicated his Sonatina to his six children. It is a pleasant piece but somewhat repetitive and includes the shirt-cuff melody. The New World Symphony was premiered in New York's Carnegie Hall on 16 December and its success was tremendous. On 1 January 1894 the F major Quartet was premiered in Boston and it was repeated twelve days later at Carnegie Hall.

Relationships with Mrs Thurber were not always good. She was tardy at paying Dvořák's salary and adopted the attitude that he was in her control. But another contract was eventually signed for six months from November 1894 to April 1895. But this time was not very happy for Dvořák. Composition was hard work. Von Bulow died as did Tchaikovsky in strange circumstances. His own father also died. These events may have inspired him to compose his Biblical Songs, Opus 99. Later he was to orchestrate them.

The Cello Concerto was not yet work in progress. It was at a concert on 5 April 1894 when his New World Symphony was played as was the premiere of the Cello Concerto in E minor by Victor Herbert played by the composer. Dvořák's friend, Hanus Wihan, had suggested he write a cello concerto but Dvořák was yet to fall in love with the instrument.

The Dvořáks left New York on 19 May 1894 to go home, arriving in Prague on 30 May. Reception after reception was laid on for him but all he wanted was to get to his summer house at Vyoska where he composed his eight Humoresques Opus 101 for piano of which only the seventh in G flat minor usually is performed. He gave the local church an organ and played it at its consecration. But on 26 October 1894 he, his wife and his son Otakar arrived back in New York. It was here that he set to work on the Cello Concerto in B minor, opus 104. It was completed on 9 February 1895, his son Otakar's tenth birthday.

It is an amazing work and courageous in not having a cadenza. On 27 May 1895 his beloved Josefina died shortly after his return home, and he changed the second movement to include one of his own songs which Josefina loved, a song called Leave me alone. He also changed the coda of the finale once more recalling the song over a throbbing timpani heartbeat. It is one of the most stunningly beautiful moments in romantic music. The whole work is a durable masterpiece unequalled in all the cello repertoire. Nothing comes close to it let alone matches it. The only other cello masterpiece is the Kodály Sonata for solo cello Opus 8. It is my view that the best recording of the Dvořák is probably Tortelier and Sargent. Feuermann's 1929 version on Naxos Historical is very interesting. The Du Pré version is awful and self-indulgent. The Kliegel version on Naxos is good but the coupling is not recommended. Fournier is worth hearing.

This is music of the heart but it is not maudlin. The cello is treated with respect and therefore in complete contrast to Tchaikovsky's Rococo Variations. Melody abounds. The orchestration is choice. The balance is just right.

Dvořák cut short his stay in America as Mrs Thurber was seriously in arrears with payments due to him and returned home. Once again the vessel was the S S Saale.

They arrived back home in Prague on 27 April 1895 and there were no welcoming committees as Dvořák did not advise of his return. A month later his beloved Josefina died. He attended her funeral with utmost sorrow. And that day something in him died. He was never the same. Nine years later he was dead; he was only sixty-two years of age. He found great difficulty in composing and taking up a post at the Prague Conservatory on 1 November. He wrote his last quartet the one in G, Opus 106 which is a fine work. The lovely Quartet no. 14 in A flat had been started in America. However the G major is still regarded by discerning musicians as his best.

In February 1896 the New World Symphony had a premiere in Vienna where Brahms sat with the composer in the Director's Box. Its success was overwhelming and the curtain calls Dvořák took after the movements were unprecedented.

Then came his penultimate journey. The London Philharmonic Society wanted him in England to premiere the Cello Concert. So keen were they that they sent the cellist Leo Stern to Prague to study the piece with Dvořák in January 1896. The premiere took place at the Queen's Hall, London on 19 March along with his Symphony no. 8 and the Five Biblical Songs. Sir Alexander Mackenzie took the baton for Beethoven's Piano Concerto no 5 in E flat with Emil Sauer playing the solo part. The reception for the Cello Concerto was overwhelming but it mattered little to Dvořák. His concerto was alive but Josefina was not. The London weather was awful, the food was below standard and, of course, he realised more than ever that this was not home any more than New York was. He turned down Brahms's invitation of a professorship at the Vienna Conservatory. Somehow he knew that his life was coming to an end. He took up Armida as a last attempt to compose a successful opera. He immersed himself in Bohemian myths and composed three symphonic poems, The Water Goblin, The Noonday Witch and the Golden Spinning Wheel, gruesome tales in which he, in his own way, was depicting the injustice of Josefina's death . Two more symphonic poems followed, the Wild Dove and Hero's Song. There is no doubt who are the characters of each of these works. As to the first works in this set of five orchestral ones his friends wrote to him asking him to explain how he could write works on such ghastly subjects. They are well-written pieces and deserve to be enjoyed but they are not outstanding.

Dvořák met Bruckner and was impressed by this man of great spirituality, a man who lived in his own quiet world. The Czech composer would not get drawn into any debate as to what made a composer Wagnerian because such a definition was non-productive. How do you define a Wagnerian? Politically, how do you define a Thatcherite? Does anyone really want to? Comparisons are foolish and odious.

In his last years Dvořák had much sorrow. His friend Brahms died. Simrock died. Karl Bendl, the friend of his student days, died. Fritz Simrock died. Tchaikovsky died in strange circumstances. Adolf Cech the conductor who had championed his work died. The Czech composer Zdenek Fibich died.

Yet on his silver wedding anniversary his daughter Otile married Josef Suk. His second daughter Anna was married in October 1903 and, to backtrack for a moment, Otilie made Dvořák a grandfather on 19 December 1901 and named him Josef Suk after his father. In turn this Josef became the father of third Josef Suk, born 1929, who began a very fine concert violinist.

Dvořák received honorary awards and honours. Mrs Thurber wanted him to return to New York. But his globe-trotting days were over. And he still wanted to write a successful opera which took up his final five years. It did produce his best works in this genre. The Devil and Kate was given its first performance in Prague on 23 November 1899 under Cech. Dvořák tried to correct The King and the Charcoal Burner for the umpteenth time but put this aside when he read the libretto of Rusalka by Kvapil. It was a fairy tale that captured his imagination. It was premiered on 31 March 1901 and was an instant success. Dvořák was appointed a Member of the Senate and the conductor Nikisch performed The Wild Dove. There was talk about Mahler putting on a performance of Rusalka but Mahler was always a difficult and unreasonable man and nothing came of it despite extensive correspondence.

Prague decided to celebrate Dvořák's 60th birthday but he hated pomp and escaped to Vienna to deliver the score of Rusalka to Mahler. He took up Armida again but he was distressed by his lack of inspiration. The premiere took place on 25 March 1904 but, by now Dvořák was rather ill and had to leave before the end. He had suffered from kidney trouble for a while and uraemia. His heart-beat was erratic through his last winter of 1903/4 . On 30 March 1904 he visited Prague railway station to look at locomotives, which he often did, and caught a chill. He was confined to bed missing a concert on 3 April devoted to his work. His condition worsened but he rallied briefly for a few hours on 1 May only to become ill again. The doctor was sent for but it was too late. Dvořák was dead.

Dvořák was man of the people, a kind man and a devout Catholic. He loved nature and in most ways he was an ordinary man loving trains, pigeons and playing skittles. He was a faithful husband and a loving father. He is not a great composer although I wish I could say that. His finest works should be in the library of all music lovers and that list would include the Carnival Overture, the Cello Concerto in B minor, St Ludmilla, Rusalka and the String Quintet in E flat.

David C F Wright

David C F Wright 1974 renewed 2004. This article or any art of it however small must not be copied, quoted, downloaded, stored in any retrieval system or used in any way without the prior consent of the author. Failure to comply is a breach of the copyright laws and will render any offender liable to action at law since breach of copyright is illegal and theft.

This article was published in Chicago in 1976

Advertising Rates
Visitor stats
MusicWeb International
has over 21,000 Classical CD reviews on offer

Gerard Hoffnung Concerts &
The Bricklayer Story

New Releases

New Releases

23rd-27th May

MusicWeb Recommended Recordings 2007

DISCS OF THE YEAR 2007