Antonin Dvorak
DvoŘÁk, AntonÍn - änˈtônēn dvôrˈzhäk, 1841–1904, Czech composer. He studied at the Organ School, Prague (1857–59) and played viola in the National Theater Orchestra (1861–71) under Smetana. With the performance (1873) of his Hymnus he attracted wide attention. In 1884 he went to England to conduct some of Read More...
DvoŘÁk, AntonÍn - änˈtônēn dvôrˈzhäk, 1841–1904, Czech composer. He studied at the Organ School, Prague (1857–59) and played viola in the National Theater Orchestra (1861–71) under Smetana. With the performance (1873) of his Hymnus he attracted wide attention. In 1884 he went to England to conduct some of his works and eight years later moved on to the United States. While director (1892–94) of the National Conservatory, New York, he composed his most famous work, the Symphony in E Minor, Op. 95, From the New World (1893). It conveys with great exuberance Dvořák's impressions of American scenes and folk music and at the same time evokes nostalgia for his native land. After his return to Prague he was professor and director of the conservatory there. He drew freely on Czech folk music and materials in his works, which are outstanding for their rhythmic variety, melodic invention, and brilliant instrumentation. They include nine symphonies (two published posthumously), as well as symphonic poems, concertos, overtures, string quartets and other chamber music, operas, songs, choral works (mostly religious), and some piano pieces, notable for their freshness of romantic imagination. See biographical studies by G. Hughes (1967), J. Clapham (1966), V. Fischl, ed. (1943, repr. 1970), and M. B. Beckerman (2002). The Columbia Encyclopedia, Sixth Edition Copyright© 2004, Columbia University Press. Licensed from Lernout & Hauspie Speech Products N.V. All rights reserved. |
Antonin Dvorak
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Although Dvorák's cello concerto is enormously popular, no extended study of it has been undertaken hitherto. This book is a comprehensive study intended for concertgoers and students of this well-loved work. It considers aspects of historical background, form, virtuosity, performance and the concerto's rich personal content. This guide sees the work as a crucial means of exploring the composer's emotional life and links it intimately to the woman who was probably his first love.
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This book's twenty-four essays offer the latest insights into this Czech composer by experts worldwide, including many Czechs who have never before published in English. They present new viewpoints reflecting the changed political climate in Eastern Europe; and emphasize Dvorak's significance not only as a Czech nationalist, but as a composer whose message is universally understood.
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This important compilation lends a new perspective to music criticism by gathering the comments of 85 well-known composers concerning the work of their peers. Encompassing all forms of commentary, from caustic attacks to perceptive criticism and praise, the book offers new insights into the development of music and its most important creators by collecting under each composer's name the remarks made about him by other composers.
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A lively commentary by 123 important conductors of the past and present on the music they perform, this work discloses fascinating insights on much of our classical concert and recorded repertoire. It reveals different approaches of these interpreters of great music and also sometimes surprising prejudices and enthusiasms. The material comes from hundreds of sources, mainly conductors' autobiographies and their critical writings, interviews with conductors, and biographical works, all interwoven into a cohesive narrative for each of the 71 composers covered. A companion to the author's Composers on Composers, this volume is similarly organized alphabetically by composer. Brief biographies are given of the conductors, and their remarks on the music can be traced via indexing.