Dvorak Biography.pdf

12 SET WORK D2 Slavonic Dance No 2 Opus 72 - Dvořák (1841-1904) Biography & Musical Output Antonín Dvořák (1841–1904) was a Czech composer of Romantic music, who employed the idioms of the folk music of Moravia and his native Bohemia. Dvořák's most well-known work is his Symphony No.9, 'From the New...

12 SET WORK D2 Slavonic Dance No 2 Opus 72 - Dvořák (1841-1904) Biography & Musical Output Antonín Dvořák (1841–1904) was a Czech composer of Romantic music, who employed the idioms of the folk music of Moravia and his native Bohemia. Dvořák's most well-known work is his Symphony No.9, 'From the New World'. Dvořák was born the eldest of eight children in a small village north of Prague in Hungary. His father was a butcher, innkeeper and an amateur musician. Dvořák grew up in a musical household, and his father encouraged him to learn to play several instruments. He received his early music education from his village schoolmaster. Folk music accompanied every occasion, and Dvorak soon joined his father in the local band. He studied organ, violin, piano and, less successfully, German. In 1871, still with none of his music publicly performed or published, he left the orchestra to go to Prague where he studied at the Organ School and received a thorough education in music theory and composition. He later became a violist in the orchestra of the Provisional Theatre, where he met his future wife, Anna Čermáková, a pianist and a singer. The couple married in 1873 and had nine children together, although only four survived to adulthood. On the recommendation by Brahms, the publisher Simrock commissioned Dvořák to write some Slavonic Dances for piano duet, aimed at the lucrative domestic market. Dvořák fast became an international celebrity, in some places almost overnight. In Berlin the sheet music sold out in one day. In 1884 Dvořák made the first of nine visits to England, where he became extremely popular and where several works (e.g. Requiem, Symphony No.8) were first performed. In 1891 Dvořák got an offer to become the Director of the New Conservatory of Music in New York. For a little teaching and conducting, with four month's vacation, he would receive the unimaginable salary of $15, 13 000 - 25 times what he was paid in Prague, and worth about £500,000 in today's terms. The Dvořák’s sailed to New York in the autumn of 1892, and their time in America produced three of his most famous works, the String Quartet No.12, 'American', the Cello Concerto in B minor; and the 'New World' Symphony. In 1895 he was made director of the Prague Conservatory and began to concentrate on opera. During the last years of his life, Dvořák was content. He composed some short orchestral works and wrote his operatic masterpiece, Rusalka. When he died of a heart attack after a short illness, he was mourned as a national hero, and his music has remained popular ever since. Orchestral music - Symphonies, Slavonic Dances, Concertos, Symphonic poems Chamber music – string quartets, quintets, piano trios, quartets and quintets Operas, Choral music, Piano music & Songs The Slavonic Dances The Slavonic Dances are a series of 16 orchestral pieces composed by Antonín Dvořák in 1878 and 1886, and published in two sets of 8 - as Opus 46 and Opus 72, respectively. Originally written for piano four hands, the Slavonic Dances were inspired by Johannes Brahms's own Hungarian Dances and were orchestrated at the request of Dvořák's publisher soon after composition. The pieces, lively and overtly nationalistic, were well received at the time and today are among the composer's most memorable works, occasionally making appearances in popular culture. Initially, Dvořák used Brahms's Hungarian Dances as a model - but only as a model; there are a number of important differences between the two works. For example, whereas Brahms made use of actual Hungarian folk melodies, Dvořák only made use of the characteristic dance-like rhythms of Slavic folk music; the melodies are entirely his own. The publisher was immediately impressed by the music Dvořák produced (originally for piano four hands), and asked the composer for an orchestral version as well. Both versions were published within the year, and quickly established Dvořák's international reputation. The second set of dances (Opus 72) met with a similar reception. These are the pieces of Opus 72 – we are studying No. 2 No. 1 (9) in B major (Odzemek) No. 2 (10) in E minor (Starodávný) No. 3 (11) in F major (Skočná) No. 4 (12) in D-flat major (Dumka) 14 No. 5 (13) in B-flat minor (Špacírka) No. 6 (14) in B-flat major (Starodávný) No. 7 (15) in C major (Kolo) No. 8 (16) in A♭ major (Sousedská) Background Notes Slavonic Dance No.2 in E minor is a dance movement is based on the Starodávný, which is a dance for couples from the province of Valassko in northeastern Moravia. " Starodávný” is an old traditional dance, but the meaning is more complex in that it refers also to something that recalls a cherished memory. So, the translation is a traditional dance that is fondly remembered. Moravia is a historical region adjacent to Bohemia in the east of the Czech Republic. Moravia became part of the modern state of Czechoslovakia and subsequently of the Czech Republic. It should be noted that despite the title, the Slavonic Dances were not intended for dancing, only for listening. A compelling element of the music is its strong dance-like rhythms, the contrasting melodies and their repetitious nature, suggest that the music tells a story. Perhaps it involves two or three characters and some simple action. The score provided is for piano solo but the audio arrangement is the orchestral version. This can make study difficult as mention is also made, in the official analysis, to the orchestral score – for example, which instruments are playing the melody and which are playing the accompaniment at any point in the piece. Because of this, particular attention should be made to the instruments playing the themes throughout. To assist teachers, a pdf file of the orchestral score is included with this package but remember that the piano arrangement will be the one printed in the exam.