Antonín Dvořák

Antonín Dvořák played in the viola section of the Provisional Theatre orchestra in Prague from 1862 to 1871. Born at Nelahozeves and trained as an organist, he was past thirty when Brahms's advocacy and Eduard Hanslick's support brought the Moravian Duets and the Slavonic Dances into print and carried his name across Europe. His music draws on Czech rhythms and melodic traditions. From 1892 to 1895 he directed the National Conservatory in New York, told American composers to look to spirituals and Native melody for material of their own, and wrote the New World Symphony, the American Quartet and the Cello Concerto in B minor. Rusalka was first performed in 1901. He died in Prague in 1904. Bedřich Smetana backed him early, and his first Austrian state scholarship was awarded in January 1875, following his application in 1874, and further awards followed, after which Simrock's printing of the Slavonic Dances carried his name abroad. His 1890 Russian tour included concerts in Moscow and Saint Petersburg, Cambridge made him an honorary doctor of music the year after, and in 1896 he went to London for the last time to conduct the first performance of the Cello Concerto. From 1901 until his death he directed the Prague Conservatory, and his sixtieth birthday was kept as a national occasion.