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| {{picture|file=Antonin Dvorak.jpg|caption='''Antonín Dvořák''' (1841–1904)}}
| | <includeonly>Discographie</includeonly><noinclude> {{bibitem |id=1989/32 |Contributors=Kaminski, P. (author) |Title=Discographie |In={{bib|1989/37|Tchaikovski. La dame de pique}} |Imprint=Paris : L'Avant-scène, 1989 |Extent=177 p. (p. 134-141) |Series=L'Avant Scène Opéra (119/120) |Format=Article |Language=French }} [[Category:Bibliography (1989)]] {{DEFAULTSORT:Bibliography (1989/032)}}</noinclude> |
| Czech composer, conductor and teacher (b. 8 September 1841 {{NS}} in Nelahozeves, near [[Prague]]; d. 1 May 1904 {{NS}} in [[Prague]]), born '''''Antonín Leopold Dvořák'''''.
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| ==Biography==
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| The son of a butcher and innkeeper, his parents recognised Antonín's early musical talents and sent him to study in [[Prague]]'s Organ School, where he became an accomplished player of the violin and viola, playing the latter in the Bohemian Provisional Theatre Orchestra under their conductor Bedřich Smetana (1824-1884). He abandoned his performing career to become a professional composer in the early 1870s, and was encouraged by [[Johannes Brahms]], who helped to promote his music. In 1888, he was appointed a professor at the [[Prague]] Conservatory, and embarked on a series of international tours. After gaining popularity in England and the United States, he accepted an invitation to become director of the National Conservatory of Music in [[New York]] from 1892, where he remained for three years. He was later director of the [[Prague]] Conservatory from 1901 until his death in 1904.
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| ==Tchaikovsky and Dvořák==
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| Tchaikovsky was introduced to Dvořák during his visits to [[Prague]] in 1888 <ref name="note1"/>, and the two men found much to admire in each other's music <ref name="note2"/>. On 6/18 February 1888, Dvořák gave a copy of his Symphony No. 2 with a warm inscription to Tchaikovsky, which is still preserved in the House-Museum at [[Klin]] <ref name="note3"/>. Two days later, Tchaikovsky repaid the compliment by presenting Dvořák with a photograph of himself bearing the following inscription: "To my dear and deeply esteemed friend Anton [''sic''] Dvořák from a sincere admirer, P. Tchaikovsky. 20/8 February 1888". Later that year, Tchaikovsky returned to [[Prague]] to conduct, on 24 November/6 December 1888, the first performance outside Russia of '' [[Yevgeny Onegin]]'' (the opera's libretto had been translated into Czech by [[Marie Červinková-Riegrová]], who was the librettist for a number of operas by Dvořák). The performance was attended by Dvořák, who wrote an enthusiastic letter (in Czech) to Tchaikovsky on 2/14 January 1889:
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| {{quote|My dear friend!}} | |
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| {{quote|When you visited us the last time in [[Prague]] I promised to write to you about your opera '' [[Onegin]]''. I am prompted to do so not just by your request, but also by my own feeling, which impels me to express everything that I felt while listening to your work. I joyfully confess that your opera made a big and profound impression on me, precisely of the kind that I always expect from a true work of art. I do not hesitate to say that not one of your compositions has pleased me so much as '' [[Onegin]]'' has.}}
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| {{quote|This is a wonderful work, full of warm feeling and poetry, worked out into the smallest details — in short, it is a music which lures us to itself and penetrates so deeply into the soul that it is impossible to forget it. When I am at the theatre [during performances of ''[[Onegin]]''] I feel myself transported into another world.}}
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| {{quote|I congratulate you and ourselves on such a work, and God grant that you may bequeathe many more such works to the world.}}
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| {{quote|Yours devotedly,}}
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| {{quote|Antonín Dvořák" <ref name="note4"/>.}}
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| Tchaikovsky replied (in Russian) two weeks later: "You cannot imagine how glad your letter made me. Your opinion about my opera is especially valuable to me not just because you are a great artist, but also because you are a truthful and sincere person! I am proud, I am happy to the utmost that I have succeeded in winning a word of sincere approval precisely from you, my kind, much esteemed friend! I thank you once again with all my heart!!!" <ref name="note5"/>.
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| It was on Tchaikovsky's initiative that Dvořák was invited to Russia, to conduct concerts of his own works in [[Moscow]] and [[Saint Petersburg]] <ref name="note6"/>. Dvořák's successful Russian tour took place in March and April 1890, when Tchaikovsky was unfortunately away in Italy.
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| ==Correspondence with Tchaikovsky==
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| 3 letters from Tchaikovsky to Antonín Dvořák have survived, dating from 1888 to 1889, all of which have been translated into English on this website:
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| * '''[[Letter 3529]]''' – 15/27 March 1888, from [[Vienna]]
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| * '''[[Letter 3772]]''' – 18/30 January 1889, from [[Frolovskoye]]
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| * '''[[Letter 3800]]''' – 17 February/1 March 1889, from [[Leipzig]]
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| One letter from Dvořák to Tchaikovsky has survived, dating from 2/14 January 1890, and is preserved in the {{RUS-KLč}} at [[Klin]] (a{{sup|4}}, No. 928).
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| ==Bibliography== | |
| * {{bib|1896/28}} (1896)
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| * {{bib|1949/4}} (1949)
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| * {{bib|1951/15}} (1951)
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| * {{bib|1951/36}} (1951)
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| * {{bib|1952/46}} (1952)
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| * {{bib|1952/47}} (1952)
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| * {{bib|1953/3}} (1953)
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| * {{bib|1954/69}} (1954)
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| * {{bib|1954/84}} (1954)
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| * {{bib|1954/99}} (1954)
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| * {{bib|1960/61}} (1960)
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| * {{bib|1961/46}} (1961)
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| * {{bib|1963/31}} (1963)
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| * {{bib|1964/21}} (1964)
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| * {{bib|1964/37}} (1964)
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| * {{bib|1964/54}} (1964)
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| * {{bib|1965/12}} (1965)
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| * {{bib|1965/51}} (1965)
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| * {{bib|1967/14}} (1967)
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| * {{bib|1967/38}} (1967)
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| * {{bib|1969/29}} (1969)
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| * {{bib|1981/45}} (1981)
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| * {{bib|1984/70}} (1984)
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| * {{bib|1991/49}} (1991)
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| * {{bib|1991/102}} (1991)
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| * {{bib|2006/39}} (2006)
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| ==External Links== | |
| * [[wikipedia:Antonín_Dvořák|Wikipedia]]
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| * {{IMSLP|Dvořák,_Antonín}}
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| * {{viaf|71577743}}
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| ==Notes and References== | |
| <references>
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| <ref name="note1">See also Tchaikovsky's diary entry for 31 January/12 February 1888, in which he notes that on the evening of the day of his arrival in [[Prague]] he attended a performance of [[Verdi]]'s ''Otello'' at the opera-house and spoke with Dvořák during one of the intervals. See {{bib|1993/231|Дневники П. И. Чайковского, 1873–1891}} (1993), p. 195. See also letter 3490 to [[Modest Tchaikovsky]], 2/14 February 1888, in which he describes how he had been received in [[Prague]], noting among other things: "Yesterday morning there was a visit from ''Dvořák'', who sat in my [hotel] room for two hours [...] Today [...] I am having dinner at Dvořák's place". That same evening, he noted in his diary: "Dinner at Dvořák's. His wife is a simple, likeable woman and a splendid housewife". Dvořák attended the rehearsals for the concert of his works which Tchaikovsky was due to conduct in [[Prague]] on 7/19 February 1888, as the latter noted in his diary on 4/16 February: "Rehearsal [...] Didn't go too badly. Lots of curious people. Dvořák was there and was awfully kind". See {{bib|1993/231|Дневники П. И. Чайковского, 1873–1891}} (1993), p. 196.</ref>
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| <ref name="note2">For example, during his first visit to [[Prague]], Tchaikovsky attended a musical soirée in his honour at the Artists' Forum (''Umělecká beseda'') on 2/14 February 1888, and he noted in his diary later that evening: "They played a quartet by ''Smetana'', a quartet by ''Kovařovic'', and a quintet by ''Dvořák ''[the Piano Quintet No. 2 in A major, Op. 81]. The latter is very nice to me, and I like his quintet". See {{bib|1993/231|Дневники П. И. Чайковского, 1873–1891}} (1993), p. 196.</ref>
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| <ref name="note3">See {{bib|1940/107|Дни и годы П. И. Чайковского}} (1940), p. 439.</ref>
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| <ref name="note4">Dvořák's letter is included in {{bib|1970/6|Чайковский и зарубежные музыканты}} (1970), p. 179-180 (Russian translation), p. 219 (original text in Czech).</ref>
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| <ref name="note5">[[Letter 3772]] to Antonín Dvořák, 18/30 January 1889.</ref>
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| <ref name="note6">See [[Letter 3763]] to [[Adolf Patera]], director of the Czech Museum, on 9/21 January 1889, in which Tchaikovsky asked [[Patera]] to discuss with Dvořák the possibility of his coming to Russia to conduct some concerts of the Russian Musical Society. [[Patera]] wrote back to Tchaikovsky on 18/30 January 1889 and told him that Dvořák was very interested in visiting Russia together with his wife, and that he had started taking Russian lessons. This and other letters from [[Patera]] to Tchaikovsky are included in {{bib|1970/6|Чайковский и зарубежные музыканты}} (1970), p. 182.</ref>
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| </references> | |
| [[Category:People|Dvorak, Antonin]]
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| [[Category:Composers|Dvorak, Antonin]]
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| [[Category:Conductors|Dvorak, Antonin]]
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| [[Category:Correspondents|Dvorak, Antonin]]
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