Page:Antonín Dvořák by J. E. Vojan (1941).pdf/7



The first day of May, 1904, the day of Dvořák’s death, brought the first great epoch of modern Czech music to a close. The founder, Bedřich Smetana, died on May 12, 1884. Zdeněk Fibich who gave the finishing touch to the epoch died on October 15, 1900. Now Dvořák who brought it to its climax in symphonies and in chamber music passed.

Dvořák’s life presents a story like a fairy-tale. A naive village boy, with a conjuror’s wand in his hand, conquers the world. This wand is his genius,—whatever he touches, changes into charming melodies, dancing rhythms and great tonal architectures. Dvořák was a genius of spontaneous directness. In this respect he is related to Schubert with whom he has many things in common. Dvořák’s wealth of inspiration is unique in Czech music. Hardly conscious of his wonderful power, he proved that even in this aged world a creative innocence, untainted by scrupulosity and struggles of knowledge, was possible. Smetana and Fibich were fighters,—Dvořák is a Czech musician raised by the gods to the sphere of the highest Art. He goes through life as a herald of the Goddess of Beauty who guides his creative hand. And America is indebted to him forever for the best symphony ever written in this country, the splendid symphony “From the New World.”

Antonín Dvořák was born at Nelahozeves upon Vltava, a small village not far from Prague, on September 8, 1841. His father Frank was the village butcher and