September’s composer of the month is Antonín Dvořák (AN-tuh-nin DVOR-zhak).
Born: September 8, 1841
Died: May 1, 1904
• Dvořák was born in a small village north of Prague — the eldest of 14 children.
• In 1873, he married his wife Anna Čermáková — only after being turned down by her sister, Josefina.
• According to contemporaries, Dvořák suffered from agoraphobia, which is a fear of open spaces. It was so bad that toward the end of his life, students would often accompany him home to keep his mind at ease.
• The composer visited Minnesota in 1893, and while at Minnehaha Falls, he hurriedly scribbled a melody on his shirt sleeve. The melody became the basis for the Larghetto movement from his Violin Sonatina in G
• Dvořák was fond of smoking. He once told one of his students, “You don’t smoke? Then you’ll never be a composer. All composers have to smoke!”
Three important works:
• Slavonic Dances, Op. 46 (1878)
• String Quartet No. 12, Op. 96 "American" (1893)
• Symphony No. 9 in E minor, Op. 95 "From the New World" (1893)
Audio Backpack playlist: Antonín Dvořák