Antonín Dvořák (1841–1904), the celebrated musical composer, brilliantly combined Czech folk traditions with sophisticated Western classical music. Born in the small village of Nelahozeves near Prague, in what is now the Czech Republic, he was the son of an innkeeper and butcher who also played the zither. At age six, Dvořák began violin lessons, then studied the organ. He completed his education in 1859 at the Prague Organ School, where he was exposed to folk music as well as classical and contemporary composers. After graduation, he worked in various orchestras, initially supporting himself by playing the viola under the direction of Bedřich Smetana. His early compositions came to the attention of Johannes Brahms, who, impressed by Dvořák’s talent, recommended him to the publisher Fritz Simrock.

In the 1870s Dvořák began to gain recognition for his compositions. Influenced in his early works by Wagner, Schumann, and Liszt, he gradually developed his own distinctive style. A turning point in his career came when he won several times the Austrian State Prize for composition, while the publication and international distribution of the Slavonic Dances (1878) brought him widespread fame across Europe.

The most famous chapter in his career was his three-year tenure as director of the National Conservatory of Music in New York from 1892 to 1895. During this time, he composed several highly regarded pieces, notably the Symphony No. 9 in E minor, “From the New World,” Op. 95, B. 178. Premiered in 1893, it incorporated elements inspired by African-American spirituals combined with traditional Czech music. The work’s famous “Largo” movement, with its nostalgic English horn melody, has become one of the most recognizable items in classical music.

Dvořák suffered periodic bouts of illness, excessive fatigue, and gastrointestinal problems. Letters from this period hint at anxiety, which may today be recognized as depression or a stress-related disorder. He tragically lost of three of his children in infancy or early childhood, devastations that had a marked effect on his music, infusing it with a deep undercurrent of spirituality and mourning, such as in his Stabat Mater (1877).

Later in life, Dvořák’s health declined more sharply. He became more reclusive and died in 1904, perhaps from a stroke. His legac is immense. He wrote nine symphonies, many chamber works, operas (including Rusalka), and sacred music, establishing himself as a leading Romantic-era composer whose works still inspire audiences worldwide.