Antonin Dvorak, a great Czech composer of the Romantic and Nationalist eras
His works included symphonies, concertos, choral and chamber works, operas and songs.
His best-known work is probably his 9th Symphony (known as the New World Symphony or From the New World) that he wrote in 1892-5 during a stay in the United States. This symphony reflected the rhythms of American life and music.
Much of his work reflected the rhythm and melody of Czech music. Dvorak was also greatly influenced by Smetana and Brahms.
Dvorák's Symphony No 9 (New World) -- Conductor: Herbert von Karajan
Dvorak's Handwriting (First Page of his Ninth Symphony Manuscript)
Dvorak's Melodies
"Melody flowed from Dvorak like cider from a jug."
-- H. L. Mencken
Cello Concerto (Dvorák) (Part 1)
Cellist: Mstislav Rostropovich
Dvorak Cello Concerto (Cambridge Music Handbooks)
Dvorak Cello Concerto (Cambridge Music Handbooks)
Amazon Price: $30.26 (as of 12/25/2009)
"Musicians in general and cellists in particular have reason to celebrate: Jan Smaczny has written an erudite, well researched and complete handbook on the Dvor%uFFFDk cello concerto. Smaczny has met the challenge of writing a complete study that is detailed and balanced, as well as consistently interesting. A work like this handbook is a rare and precious thing. It explores in some detail a specific concerto and is able to impart to readers, through that exploration, and increased understanding and appreciation of music and performance in general and a view of a very personal and meaningful source of artistic creation." -- American Music Teacher
Dvorak (Life & Times)
Dvorak (Life&Times)
Amazon Price: $16.95 (as of 12/25/2009)
This is the first biography of the famous Czech composer Antonín Dvorák (1841-1904) to be published in English in more than a decade, released on the centenary of his death. Kurt Honolka weaves the story of Dvorák's life into the rich tapestry of the political and social tensions of the Austro-Hungarian Empire in the twilight of its power. Honolka sets the scene for Dvorák's 'American' music and his return from the United States, providing a fascinating context for his most famous work, the Ninth Symphony from the New World.
Dvorák Music on CD
Dvorak: Symphony No. 9 "From the New World"
Amazon Price: $13.99 (as of 12/25/2009)
Dvorak: Slavonic Dances
Amazon Price: $6.98 (as of 12/25/2009)
Dvorák: Cello Concerto; Tchaikovsky / Karajan, Rostropovich,
Amazon Price: $10.99 (as of 12/25/2009)
Favourite Cello Concertos
Amazon Price: $29.49 (as of 12/25/2009)
Dvorak/Saint-Saens: Cello Concertos - Mstislav Rostropovich, Carlo Maria Giulini, London Philharmonic Orchestra
Amazon Price: $22.49 (as of 12/25/2009)
A. Dvorak - Slavonic Dance No. 2 in E minor, op. 72
With Itzhak Perlman, Yo-Yo Ma, and Seiji Ozawa
On Mozart
"Mozart is sweet sunshine."
-- Antonin Dvorak
Program Notes on Famous Anton Dvorák Works
- Symphony No. 5 in E Minor. Op. 95 ("From the New World") (Dvorák)
- Dvorák's Fifth Symphony is one of peculiar interest, not only because of its intrinsic beauties and excellences, but also because it is in one sense a tribute to America by its utilization of Negro melodies in the thematic treatment...
CLICK ON ABOVE LINK TO READ FULL NOTES ON THIS WORK - Trinity Overture: Nature (In der Natur), op. 91, Carnival, op. 92, and Othello, op. 93 (Dvorák)
- The three overtures entitled above are grouped together for the reason that they were written as a trilogy by the composer and were intended to be played together. They were styled "Triple Overture" and were described in the program of the first performance as "Nature," "Life" ("Bohemian Carnival"), and "Love" ("Othello")...
CLICK ON ABOVE LINK TO READ FULL NOTES ON THIS WORK - Overture, "Husitzka". Op. 67 (Dvorák)
- The "Husitzka" Overture was composed in 1883, the occasion of its composition being a commission to write a piece for the opening of the new Bohemian Theater in Prague, which replaced one destroyed by fire two years previously...
CLICK ON ABOVE LINK TO READ FULL NOTES ON THIS WORK
Dvorak - Humoresque No.7
With Itzhak Perlman and Yo-Yo Ma
Art Tatum plays his Rendition of Humoresque by Dvorak
Antonin Dvorak
New Worlds of Dvorak: Searching in America for the Composer's Inner Life
New Worlds of Dvorak: Searching in America for the Composer's Inner Life
Amazon Price: $29.95 (as of 12/25/2009)
Die-hard Dvorak fans will adore this arcane but vividly written musicological study of the composer's sojourn in America. Dvorak was director of the National Conservatory in New York from 1892-95, and during this time he wrote his famous "New World" Symphony as well as a number of lesser works. Beckerman, a New York University music professor, explores the literary, political and personal influences that helped shape this creative outpouring. His detailed analysis ascribes much of the "New World" to a programmatic setting of Longfellow's Song of Hiawatha, a precursor to a planned opera that never materialized. Beckerman also provides a fascinating account of the ideology of musical nationalism in which Dvorak was steeped. Dvorak, he says, aspired to be the "Slavic Wagner" and was an exponent of a self-consciously "Czech" musical style. In America, egged on by journalist-provocateurs and influenced by black musicians at the National Conservatory, Dvorák became a champion of an "American" national music to be based on African American spirituals and Indian folk tunes. Although an agnostic on the subject of musical nationalism (he feels that Dvorak's music was traditional German-style classical music with Czech and American gestures) Beckerman is a sympathetic and insightful guide to the controversies of an era when music was taken very seriously indeed. His contention that Dvorak suffered from agoraphobia and an accompanying panic disorder brought on in part by tremendous stress, and that the composer drank as self-medication, is interesting but not as compelling as the rest of this committed investigation. An accompanying CD, keyed to the text, illustrates Beckerman's arguments through the music itself.
Interesting Internet Resources on Antonin Dvorak
- Direct Testimony
- Collection of news articles and correspondence about Dvorak's stay in America.
Dvorak - Songs My Mother Taught Me
Singer: Kirsten Flagstad
Latest News on Dvorák
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House Where Dvorak Was Born (Nelahozeves, Czech Republic)
Dvorak - Carnival Overture
Conductor: Seiji Ozawa. Orchestra: Boston Symphony Orchestra.
Show the World You Love Dvorak!
by ilovemusic
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