DVOŘÁK, ANTONÍN

Czech composer; b. Nelahozeves (Vltava), Sept. 8, 1841; d. Prague, May 1,1904. He studied the violin with his village schoolmaster, left home at 16 to enter the Prague organ school, supported himself as a violist and later organist at St. Adalbert's Church, and became professor of composition at Prague Conservatory. He frequently visited England to conduct his music, and from 1892 to 1895 he was artistic director of the National Conservatory in New York.

The popularity of his "American" works—the "New World" symphony, the "American" quartet, and the cello concerto—has overshadowed that of his other compositions. Since the 1950s increasing interest has been shown in his other symphonies, the piano quintet and string quartets, and his vocal music.

Dvořák's deep religious feeling is clearly shown in his sacred vocal works. His Stabat Mater (1876), the most popular of these, and his Requiem (1890), for soloists, chorus, and orchestra, are of oratorio dimensions; his 149th Psalm and Te Deum are shorter. The oratorio St. Ludmila (1886) is uneven and often lapses into the "choir fodder" style of the Victorian oratorio. More noteworthy are his intimate Mass in D (1887) for soloists and chorus (originally with organ and low string accompaniment) and his Biblical Songs (1894) for voice and piano. The choral works contain most of the elements of Dvořák's style: folklike melodies, idiomatic vocal and instrumental writing, harmony that is rich without being cloying, and loose but coherent formal structure.

Bibliography: Complete Works, ed. o. Šourek et al. (Prague 1955–); Letters and Reminiscences, ed. o. Šourek, tr. r. f. samsour (Prague 1954). o. Šourek, Zivot a dílo Antonína Dvořáka, 4 v. (1922–33); Antonín Dvořák: His Life and Works (New York 1954), abr. Eng. tr.; Grove's Dictionary of Music and Musicians, ed. e. blom, 9 v. (5th ed. London 1954) 2:831–845. a. robertson, Dvořák (London 1945). r. longyear, The Larger Sacred Choral Works of Antonín Dvořák (Master's diss. unpub. University of North Carolina 1954). g. chase, America's Music (New York 1955) 386–392. n. slonimsky, ed., Baker's Biographical Dictionary of Musicians (5th ed. New York 1958) 415–416. m. beckerman, ed. Dvořák and His World (Princeton, N.J. 1993). d. r. beveridge, "Dvořák's Dumka and the Concept of Nationalism in Music Historiography," Journal of Musicological Research 12 (1993) 303–325; ed. Rethinking Dvořák: Views from Five Countries (Oxford 1996). h. crohn, "Antonín (Leopold) Dvořák," in International Dictionary of Opera, ed. c. s. larue, 2 v. (Detroit 1993) 370–373. m. ivanov, In Dvořák's Footsteps: Musical Journeys in the New World, ed. l. karel, tr. s. slahor (Kirksville, Mo.1995). w. landowska, "Thoughts on Modern Music: Tchaikovsky and Dvořák," in Landowska on Music, ed. and tr. d. restout, (New York 1964) 343–344. j. parsons, "Rusalka, " in International Dictionary of Opera, ed. c. s. larue, 2 v. (Detroit 1993) 1158–1160. j. c. tibbetts, Dvořák in America (Portland, Ore.1993).

[r. m. longyear]