 The late 19th century brought an increasing awareness of national identity to various ethnic groups in Europe and Antonin Dvorak's musical career was influenced by the spirit of Bohemian nationalism.
Antonin Dvorak was the greatest Bohemian composer and one of the leading masters of symphonic and chamber music of the late 19th century.
Born near Prague, Antonin Dvorak studied the violin with the local school master. Dvorak displayed unusual musical talent at an early age played viola in the National Theater Orchestra (1861-71) under Smetana.
His first successful composition was Hymnus (1873), a patriotic choral work.
Antonin Dvorak's fame grew steadily - in part owing to encouragement from Johannes Brahms and Franz Liszt - and after the publication of the first set of his "Slavonic Dances" (1878), Dvorak enjoyed wide popularity.
Brahms befriended him and enabled his music to be performed and published in Germany.
Between 1884 and 1891 Antonin Dvorak often conducted his music in England; he wrote his great "Symphony No. 7" (1885) and the oratorio "St. Ludmilla"(1886) for the English.
From 1892 to 1895, Dvorak was director of the National Conservatory of Music in New York City. While in the U.S. he acquired a great liking for black spirituals and American Indian music.
Two of his most famous works, the "Symphony No. 9 in E Minor" (From the New World) and the "Quartet in F", known as the "American Quartet", were composed in the U.S. in 1893; two years later Antonin Dvorak completed his popular "Cello Concerto".
Dvorak returned to Bohemia in 1895, and in 1901 he became director of the Prague Conservatory.
Antonin Dvorak's early works were also influenced by the music of the Austrian composer Franz Schubert and of Ludwig van Beethoven, and throughout his career he was influenced to some extent by the work of the German composer Richard Wagner.
Dvorak drew on Czech and Slavonic folk music, and his most mature works reflect his deep national consciousness.
A prolific composer, Dvorak worked in all forms, and his music has a spontaneous freshness that sometimes conceals the skill of its construction.
He was a melodist of genius and a superb orchestrator, and, like Brahms, cultivated the traditional classical forms.
Although Dvorak is best known for his orchestral music - which includes nine symphonies, several overtures and symphonic poems, the "Slavonic Rhapsodies", the "Scherzo Capriccioso", and many other works - much of his finest music is found in his string quartets and other chamber works, particularly the "Piano Quintet" in A and the "Humoresque" (1894).
Most of his songs have the flavor of Czech folk melody, which is also present - if more subtly - in his other music.
Among his choral works are the "Stabat Mater" (1877), "Requiem" (1890), and "Te Deum" (1892); his operas include "Vanda" (1875), "The Jacobin" (1887-88), "Rusalka" (1901), and "Armida" (1902-1903);
Antonin Dvorak died in 1904, shortly after the first performances of his last opera, "Armida"
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