Biography of Antonin Dvorakor Dvorak and the violaAntonin
Dvorak (Antonín Leopold Dvořák) is another of the many composers who played the viola.
In this short biography of Antonin
Dvorak you'll read something
Antonin Dvorak was a Czech composer, born in 1841 and died in 1904. With Smetana, Fibich and Janáček he is regarded as one of the great nationalist Czech composers of the 19th century. Long neglected and dismissed by the German-speaking musical world as a naive Czech musician, he is now considered by both Czech and international musicologists Smetana’s true heir. He earned worldwide admiration and prestige for 19th-century Czech music with his symphonies, chamber music, oratorios, songs and, to a lesser extent, his operas.
He wrote in almost all music genres of the time: opera, oratorio, cantata and mass; symphony, symphonic poem, concert overture, serenade, suite, dance and march; concert piece and solo concerto; chamber music ranging from the solo sonata to the sextet; piano music; and secular choral works and songs. While you
read, listen to the first movement of the "American" quartet, with the
viola
starting the main them
Early years and studiesAntonin Dvorak was born near
Prague from a
simple family, his father was a
butcher and innkeeper who played zither for is guests, and was the
first of eight children. He received his first musical education at
the age of six, at his village school, learning to sing and play violin
and soon playing at church in the village band, thanks to his progress. Initial professional experiencesIn 1859 Dvořák as a viola player
joined a dance band that played in restaurants and for balls, remaining
there for some years. In 1862 a Czech opera house was built and the
band musicians came to form the original group of the theatre
orchestra, with Dvořák as principal
violist.
They performed German, French and mostly Italian operas by Rossini,
Donizetti, Bellini and Verdi. (They had built a Czech opera house but
they didn’t yet have a Czech opera to perform in there). In 1866 Smetana became the theatre
conductor, having won a competition for an
opera based on a Czech theme. From then, more and more local composers’
works were included in the programmes.
So far, you’ve seen that in his young, formative years, while Dvorak was studying composition, he went through a sort of “practical training” about instrumental music, playing viola in orchestra from the age of 16 to the age of 30. No doubt this was a better way to learn about other composers’ styles and how to write for instruments than by just reading books. In composing, Dvorak aim was that no instrument should be playing a part that is merely filling in, every instrument speaks a language of its own. His first first official opus work was a quintet with two violas. First successes as a Czech composerBefore leaving the orchestra in 1871, he was composing an opera on a Czech libretto and soon his works started to get performed in Prague and be received well. In the following years Dvorak worked as a composer ad as a teacher and, to supply his income, he applied for a salary for artists granted by the Austrian state. This was granted for several years and on one of these occasions (1877) Brahms, who was in the jury, became so enthusiastaic about Dvorak's Moravian duets (on folk songs) that recommended Dvorak to the Berlin music publisher Simrock.
The Slavonic Dances were performed in Dresden, Hamburg, Berlin, Nice, London and New York and also the Slavonic Rhapsodies (1879) were performed in Europe and USA. The famous violin player Joseph Joachim was an important supporter of Dvorak, performed his sextet and the publisher Simrock suggested Dvorak to write a violin concerto for him, which Dvorak did. Talking about Dvorak as a viola player, it's also interesting to note that, although Dvorak was no longer playing viola professionally in the orchestra, in 1878 he took part in the first private performance of Smetana's "From my life" quartet, another important composition where the viola has a leading role from the beginning. At the same time Dvorak also composed music for important public celebrations, a historical grand opera for the inauguration of the Czech National Theatre. Following the international fame achieved, Dvorak was invited to England to conduct his own works. In 1884 he travelled to London and conducted there his Stabat Mater, the Slavonic Dances and othe works in different parts of the country. It was a great success and over the following years Dvorak travelled to England eight more times and also received an honorary degree by the university of Cambridge. Dvorak composer had been getting more and more recognition for his works, at home and abroad. Having met and made friends with Tchaikovsky, who had been in Prague as a conductor, Antonin Dvorak also travelled on a concert tour to Moscow and St Petersburg. Antonin Dvorak the teacherSince young, Dvorak had been teaching piano privately, but in 1891 he accepted a post as a professor of composition and instrumentation at Prague Conservatory. His job here didn't last long, as the following year he was asked to become the artistic director and professor of composition at the National Conservatory of Music in New York, with a salary of $15,000. This proposal came from Mrs Jeanette Thurber, the conservatory's president, who chose him because of his reputation as a nationalistic composer. Mrs Thurber wanted to create a national American style of music. After some hesitation, Dvorak accepted and soon started a tour of over 40 concerts as a conductor and pianist.Dvorak arrived in america in October 1892 and appeared at Carnegie hall conducting his own Te Deum, written to celebrate the 400th annversary of discovery of America by Columbus. The "American" compositionsWishing to find original music material, Dvorak asked to hear a black student sing to him negro spirituals and plantation songs, as well as see transcriptions of natives' melodies.
Final yearsBack in Prague, Dvorak spent some time resting, enjoying his family and country. He completed some works started in the USA and began to teach again at the conservatory, of which he become the director in 1901.Dvorak's final works were mostly operas and he himself explained that he considered them very important for the nation, because large portions of the society hear it and often. His last composition was the opera Armida; during the first performance he didn't feeel well and had to leave and after a few weeks died. Some chamber music works with interesting viola parts:
Terzetto for two violins and viola Here is some music for you to play  Dvorak's "American" quartet Full score and parts Downloadable sheet music: pdf, Mp3 and MIDI files Dvorak's "American" quartet Full score and parts - Printed sheet music  All Dvorak's music - Printed sheet music: Terzetto, quartets, quintets, sextet, orchestral excerpts etc. Play along CDs (Music Minus One) Terzetto for two violins and viola - Printed sheet music ...or to listen:  CD recordings All Dvorak's music on CDs "American" quartet recordings on CD Terzetto for two violins and viola on CD Go from Antonin Dvorak to Home
|
||||||
