The older nicknames, without negative connotations for the composition, were abandoned after the 1950s. Burleigh, a baritone and later a composer, who knew Dvořák while a student at the National Conservatory, said, "I sang our Negro songs for him very often, and before he wrote his own themes, he filled himself with the spirit of the old Spirituals." Dvořák said: "In the Negro melodies of America I discover all that is needed for a great and noble school of music." For its presumed association with African-American music, the quartet was referred to with nicknames such as Negro and Nigger, before being called the American Quartet. To the quartet he gave no subtitle himself, but there is the comment "The second composition written in America." Dvořák's influences įor the London premiere of his New World symphony, Dvořák wrote: "As to my opinion I think that the influence of this country (it means the folk songs as are Negro, Indian, Irish etc.) is to be seen, and that this and all other works (written in America) differ very much from my other works as well as in couleur as in character." ĭvořák's appreciation of African-American music is documented: Harry T. And it's good that it did." įor his symphony Dvořák gave the subtitle himself: " From the New World". Dvořák defended the apparent simplicity of the piece: "When I wrote this quartet in the Czech community of Spillville in 1893, I wanted to write something for once that was very melodious and straightforward, and dear Papa Haydn kept appearing before my eyes, and that is why it all turned out so simply. In the American Quartet it finally came together. The American Quartet proved a turning point in Dvořák's chamber music output: for decades he had toiled unsuccessfully to find a balance between his overflowing melodic invention and a clear structure. It was fast." It was his second attempt to write a quartet in F major: his first effort, 12 years earlier, produced only one movement. ĭvořák sketched the quartet in three days and completed it in thirteen more days, finishing the score with the comment "Thank God! I am content. We like it very much here and, thank God, I am working hard and I'm healthy and in good spirits." He composed the quartet shortly after the New World Symphony, before that work had been performed. The children arrived safely from Europe and we're all happy together. Writing to a friend he described his state of mind, away from hectic New York: "I have been on vacation since 3 June here in the Czech village of Spillville and I won't be returning to New York until the latter half of September. ĭvořák felt very much at ease in Spillville. He told Dvořák about Spillville, where his father Jan Josef was a schoolmaster, leading Dvořák to spend the summer of 1893 there.
When Josef Jan accepted, he came to live with the Dvořák family in New York. Kovařík had finished violin studies at the Prague Conservatory and was about to return to Spillville-his home in the United States-when Dvořák offered him a position as secretary.
Dvořák came to Spillville through Josef Jan Kovařík. He spent his vacation in the town of Spillville, Iowa, which was home to a Czech immigrant community. Problems playing these files? See media help.ĭvořák composed the quartet in 1893 during a summer vacation from his position as director (1892–1895) of the National Conservatory in New York City.