Antonín Dvořák is perhaps the most internationally known Czech composer. Born near Prague, Czech Republic in 1841, Dvořák was raised by his father, who was a professional musician and his mother, who had Bohemian ancestry. This Bohemian heritage would influence many of his compositions later in life.  As a teenager, he was sent to live with an uncle to learn German and wrote his first piece, a polka, in 1855. His musical education continued with organ, piano, violin, as well as music theory and composition lessons. His deeply religious family agreed to let him become a musician, but on the condition that we would become a professional organist. In 1857, he returned to Prague and was soon integrated into a professional orchestra. Bohemian Provisional Theater Orchestra’s director Jan Nepomuk Maýr hired Dvořák as a viola player. Working in such an environment provided young Dvořák with the advantageous opportunity to watch many concerts without having to pay for tickets. In 1862, he composed his first string quartet. He also played in Wagner-directed concerts, which would set off a lifelong admiration for the famous composer. 

While working for the Bohemian Provisional Theater Orchestra, Antonín Dvořák fell in love with his colleague Josefína Čermáková, who never returned his affection. Dvořák later married Josefina’s sister Anna and had nine children with her. In 1871, he left the Provisional Theater to focus on composing. He proposed his first opera, The King and the Charcoal Burner, to his former employer at the Provisional Theater, but his work was rejected for being too difficult to stage. A philharmonic version was performed in 1872. In 1875, he wrote his second string quartet and in 1877, he won the Austrian State Prize with his Moravian Duets. The years of the 1880s were marked by strong anti-Czech sentiments in Vienna, and Dvořák was not spared. His Stabat Mater was particularly targeted by what the composer felt was “destructive criticism”. He left with his family and traveled to Russia and Britain, where his work was well appreciated. He then accepted a job as composition professor at the Prague Conservatory for a while, before moving to the US for three years, from 1892 to 1895, under contract at the National Conservatory of Music in New York City. Unfortunately, the music school underwent great financial difficulties, and in 1895, Dvořák and his family left the US permanently, returning to Europe. He went back to teaching in Prague and focused on chamber music and opera composition. In 1904, his health took a downturn, and he fell ill, dying a few months later in May of that same year. His most well-known pieces range from chamber music and Slavonic Dances to the majestic New World Symphony, as well as solo concertos for violin, cello, and piano.