Chapter 2 A Brief Background of Dvo??k
Anton?n Dvo??k (1841?1904) was one of the most versatile and prolific composers of the nineteenth century, reaching into almost all genres of music from piano miniatures to comprehensively conceived vocal-orchestra compositions. His output encompasses nine symphonies and fifty-five other orchestral pieces, eleven opera, eleven works for chorus and orchestra, nine small choral works, thirty-five sets of songs and duets, fifty-five chamber works for various combinations of instruments, and thirty-two sets of short pieces for piano. In each of these areas he created works that can be considered masterpieces in their genre.
Dvo??k was arguably the foremost representative of Czech culture in an international …show more content…
They played various works of Beethoven, Mendelssohn, Spohr, Schumann, Joachim Raff and Wagner. Dvo??k?s time in Prague also gave him a chance to explore and enrich his musical experience, through events such as hearing Liszt conduct his own works in 1858 and attending concerts conducted by Hans von B?low with Clara Schumann as soloist in 1859. In addition, Dvo??k broadened and deepened his knowledge of music through extensive study of scores borrowed from his fellow student and friend Karel Bendl. The scores that Dvo??k borrowed from Karel Bendl included Beethoven?s septet and the quartets of George Onslow. By studying these scores thoroughly while, at the same time, continuing to compose, Dvo??k gradually gained a deeper grasp of orchestration and instrumentation.[footnoteRef:3] The musical experience Dvo??k had acquired outside of school gave him a solid foundation for his journey into composition.[footnoteRef:4] In 1859, he graduated as salutatorian of his class at the Prague Organ School, and he left as a professionally trained organist. [3: David R. Beveridge, ed., Rethinking Dvo??k: Views From Five Countries (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1996), 286.] [4: ?ourek, Anton?n Dvo??k: Letters and Reminiscences, …show more content…
In his own words, Dvo??k said, ?I am just an ordinary Czech musician, who does not love such exaggerated humbleness, and although I have moved quite enough in the great musical world, I still remain what I have always been ? a simple Czech musician.?[footnoteRef:10] In his manuscripts, he would begin with the date and ?With God? and end with the date and ?Thanks be to God!?; ?God be praised!? and ?God requite you!? to express his thankfulness to God.[footnoteRef:11] In the interview with Dvo??k?s grandson, Mr. Dvo??k III said: ?my grandfather was a religious man who loved his family.?[footnoteRef:12] As mentioned by Jamil Burghauser, ?the spiritual background of his creation, which was based on his profound Christian faith, inherited in rudimentary form, and inspired later by his schooling in liturgical music and his short career as an organist? was vitally rethought and refelt in the 1880s.?[footnoteRef:13] [10: ?ourek, Anton?n Dvo??k: Letters and Reminiscences, 13.] [11: Peter Herbert, Anton?n Dvo??k Complete Catalogue of Works (Tadley: The Dvo??k Society, 2004), 11.] [12: Anton?n Dvo??k III, interview with the author, September 24, 2015.] [13: Beveridge, ed., Rethinking Dvo??k: Views From Five Countries,
Anton?n Dvo??k (1841?1904) was one of the most versatile and prolific composers of the nineteenth century, reaching into almost all genres of music from piano miniatures to comprehensively conceived vocal-orchestra compositions. His output encompasses nine symphonies and fifty-five other orchestral pieces, eleven opera, eleven works for chorus and orchestra, nine small choral works, thirty-five sets of songs and duets, fifty-five chamber works for various combinations of instruments, and thirty-two sets of short pieces for piano. In each of these areas he created works that can be considered masterpieces in their genre.
Dvo??k was arguably the foremost representative of Czech culture in an international …show more content…
They played various works of Beethoven, Mendelssohn, Spohr, Schumann, Joachim Raff and Wagner. Dvo??k?s time in Prague also gave him a chance to explore and enrich his musical experience, through events such as hearing Liszt conduct his own works in 1858 and attending concerts conducted by Hans von B?low with Clara Schumann as soloist in 1859. In addition, Dvo??k broadened and deepened his knowledge of music through extensive study of scores borrowed from his fellow student and friend Karel Bendl. The scores that Dvo??k borrowed from Karel Bendl included Beethoven?s septet and the quartets of George Onslow. By studying these scores thoroughly while, at the same time, continuing to compose, Dvo??k gradually gained a deeper grasp of orchestration and instrumentation.[footnoteRef:3] The musical experience Dvo??k had acquired outside of school gave him a solid foundation for his journey into composition.[footnoteRef:4] In 1859, he graduated as salutatorian of his class at the Prague Organ School, and he left as a professionally trained organist. [3: David R. Beveridge, ed., Rethinking Dvo??k: Views From Five Countries (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1996), 286.] [4: ?ourek, Anton?n Dvo??k: Letters and Reminiscences, …show more content…
In his own words, Dvo??k said, ?I am just an ordinary Czech musician, who does not love such exaggerated humbleness, and although I have moved quite enough in the great musical world, I still remain what I have always been ? a simple Czech musician.?[footnoteRef:10] In his manuscripts, he would begin with the date and ?With God? and end with the date and ?Thanks be to God!?; ?God be praised!? and ?God requite you!? to express his thankfulness to God.[footnoteRef:11] In the interview with Dvo??k?s grandson, Mr. Dvo??k III said: ?my grandfather was a religious man who loved his family.?[footnoteRef:12] As mentioned by Jamil Burghauser, ?the spiritual background of his creation, which was based on his profound Christian faith, inherited in rudimentary form, and inspired later by his schooling in liturgical music and his short career as an organist? was vitally rethought and refelt in the 1880s.?[footnoteRef:13] [10: ?ourek, Anton?n Dvo??k: Letters and Reminiscences, 13.] [11: Peter Herbert, Anton?n Dvo??k Complete Catalogue of Works (Tadley: The Dvo??k Society, 2004), 11.] [12: Anton?n Dvo??k III, interview with the author, September 24, 2015.] [13: Beveridge, ed., Rethinking Dvo??k: Views From Five Countries,