Representations of Antonín Dvořák: A Study of his Music through the Lens of Late Nineteenth-century Czech Criticism

Commenting on Antonín Dvořák (1841–1904), music critic Václav Juda Novotný declared in 1881 that “a Czech composer has to write, first and foremost, for a Czech audience.” Scholars have given considerable attention to Dvořák’s reception abroad and have shown that his path to success on foreign stages, particularly in Vienna, was not always direct. The composer’s reception in the Czech lands during the late nineteenth century was no less complicated – shaped by various cultural and political factors, as the Czechs sought to assert themselves in the fight for the nationalist cause, while remaining under Habsburg rule. Drawing on the wealth of newspaper and journal articles that were printed in the Czech press at this time, the dissertation places Dvořák’s music into its Czech context. The topic is explored by way of three case studies that deal with Dvořák’s contributions to choral, operatic, and symphonic genres. Each of the works examined came at a significant moment in Dvořák’s career in the Czech lands. The performance in 1873 of the choral cantata Hymnus: Heirs of the White Mountain marked Dvořák’s professional debut; with the 1878 production of the comic opera The Cunning Peasant, Dvořák celebrated his first major triumph on the coveted Czech operatic stage; and the Prague premiere in 1881 of his first widely recognized symphony, the D major, Op. 60, proved to be crucial in defining Dvořák’s role in the concert hall. These case studies reveal that Dvořák’s treatment in the Czech press varied depending on the unique traditions of these genres and their differing status within Czech musical culture. The project highlights the complex relationships and interactions among critics, audiences, and composers. In the politically-charged climate of fin-de-siècle Bohemia, Czech critics took ownership of Dvořák and enlisted his music to advance their own agendas. Dvořák, in turn, was keenly aware of and often catered to public tastes and critical expectations. Intertwining various realms of contextual inquiry, including nationalist rhetoric, contemporary critical discourses, and the musical repertories that were cultivated in the Czech lands, the dissertation draws attention to the multiple agents at play in Dvořák’s nineteenth-century Czech reception.

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