Antonín Dvořák

Like his compatriots Smetana and Janácek, Dvorák also composed strongly nationalistic music. In many of his works, he strived to combine specifically Czech musical elements with the contemporary musical language of Western Europe. Some of his early compositions were well-received, but it was Brahms' support in the mid-1870s that gave Dvorák's career the decisive boost. By the early 1880s, his Fifth Symphony, the first volume of the Slavonic Dances, his Piano and Violin Concertos, and numerous chamber music works were regularly featured on concert programs in Europe and the USA. In 1892, he traveled to New York, where he directed the National Conservatory of Music for almost four years in total. These American years found their most lasting expression in the String Quartets in F major and E-flat major, as well as in his Ninth Symphony, subtitled "From the New World." After his return to Prague, Dvorák intensively engaged with musical theater, though only one of his operas, Rusalka, achieved success outside his homeland.