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Sample Card Text
A statue of what composer, who left his native Czechoslovakia in 1892 to become director of the newly formed National Conservatory of Music in New York City, resides in Stuyvesant Square?
Answer
Antonín Dvořák (Czechoslovakian, 1841–1904)
“I should be glad if something occurred to me as a main idea that occurs to Dvořák only by the way,” said Johannes Brahms of his Bohemian contemporary, a principal founder of the Czech national school. The son of a butcher, Antonín Dvořák showed talent on the violin at a young age, and played the viola professionally in the Prague Provisional Theatre Orchestra after studying music in Prague. Wagner’s influence is evident in Dvořák’s early works, such as the progressive 18-song cycle Cypresses (1865)—written to impress a woman—and his First Symphony (1865). Brahms, an admirer and friend, recommended Dvořák’s Slavonic Dances (1878) to a large European publisher, whose publication of Dvořák’s work helped make him famous throughout Europe. Although he called himself “a simple Czech musician,” Dvořák adeptly combined the folk influences of his home country with musical innovation and craftsmanship to create enduring works such as the Carnival Overture (1891) and his Ninth Symphony (1893).
Answer
Antonín Dvořák (Czechoslovakian, 1841–1904)
“I should be glad if something occurred to me as a main idea that occurs to Dvořák only by the way,” said Johannes Brahms of his Bohemian contemporary, a principal founder of the Czech national school. The son of a butcher, Antonín Dvořák showed talent on the violin at a young age, and played the viola professionally in the Prague Provisional Theatre Orchestra after studying music in Prague. Wagner’s influence is evident in Dvořák’s early works, such as the progressive 18-song cycle Cypresses (1865)—written to impress a woman—and his First Symphony (1865). Brahms, an admirer and friend, recommended Dvořák’s Slavonic Dances (1878) to a large European publisher, whose publication of Dvořák’s work helped make him famous throughout Europe. Although he called himself “a simple Czech musician,” Dvořák adeptly combined the folk influences of his home country with musical innovation and craftsmanship to create enduring works such as the Carnival Overture (1891) and his Ninth Symphony (1893).
