Antonín Dvořák's 182nd Birthday

Today’s Doodle celebrates Czech musician and composer Antonín Dvořák. On this day in 1841, he was born in Nelahozeves, north of Prague.

Dvořák grew up interested in his father’s musical skills. He played a string instrument called a zither, which sparked the young Dvořák to experiment with music in his youth. Around age 12 he found a music teacher who encouraged him to learn the basics of the organ, piano, violin, and music harmony. He also began writing his first musical compositions. Seeing that music was his forte, his teacher persuaded his parents to send him to music school, and Dvořák was off to Prague Organ School in 1857.

He graduated as a trained organist and began working as a musician. He joined the an orchestra as a violist and taught private piano lessons on the side. He composed operas, symphonies, and chamber music and gained recognition in Prague with his hymn, The Heirs of the White Mountain, in 1873. He also became an organist at St. Adalbert’s Church and entered a few of his scores into music competitions. 

One of the judges who awarded him in 1875 introduced Dvořák to his music publisher, who commissioned Slavonic Dances. This made Dvořák a well-known name across Europe, and more commissions came his way — notably Symphony No. 7 in D minor, the orchestral work Saint Ludmila, and Moravian Duets. After several successful performances in his native country and England, the Prague and Cambridge Universities made him an honorary doctor of music.

In 1892, he was invited to direct the National Conservatory of Music in New York City. There he found inspiration in Black and Native American music and wrote one of his most famous pieces, Symphony No. 9 From the New World. Fun fact: this piece was brought to the moon by astronauts years later, in 1969! And this year marks 130 years since the premiere of this Symphony at Carnegie Hall.

After about three years in the U.S., Dvořák returned to Prague and became director of the conservatory there, passing on his knowledge to future Czech composers. In his later years, he focused on operas and premiered his smash hit Rusalka in 1901 — this musical fairytale has been popular worldwide for over a century.

Dvořák is remembered for his romantic music with folk influences and for being one of the first Czech composers to gain worldwide acclaim. Happy birthday, Antonín Dvořák!