How did Antonín Dvořák compose two of his most celebrated works in a little over three months in the small Iowa village of Spillville?
How did a man like Antonín Dvořák, who was an international celebrity, spend a little over three months in a small Iowa village, and while staying here, end up composing two of his most enduring and celebrated works?
Transcript
[Narrator] In the summer of 1893 the world-renowned Czech composer Antonin Dvořák lived here.
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This is Spillville, Iowa, a town with a population of around 350 people. The question is how did a man like Dvořák who was an international celebrity spend a little over three months in the small village and while staying here end up composing two of his most enduring and celebrated works?
Antonin Dvořák musical legacy is profound. During his lifetime he had become one of the most influential musical writers. His works were performed by leading artists in the most prestigious places in the world. By the end of his life he was described by some as the world's greatest living composer.
After great success in Europe Dvořák negotiated a contract with the National Conservatory of Music in New York City. In 1892 he sailed across the ocean to America to begin a new chapter in his life.
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Dvořák drew inspiration from nature. The sounds of birds streams and brooks. But his music was deeply connected to his homeland. After a year in the hustle and bustle of post-industrial New York City, life began to wear on him. He grew homesick.
(People chatter, horses hooves and wagon wheels clack on the street)
He initially planned to travel back to Bohemia for his summer holiday, but his assistant, Josef Kovařík, an American of Czech ancestry, told Dvořák about his hometown of Spillville. Dvořák took to the idea of spending some time in the company of his fellow countrymen. By June he and his family set out west by train to find that piece of Bohemia in Iowa's rolling hills.
The era of the great migration from Europe began about 1820 during these years a tremendous movement set in from the countries of Southern and Eastern Europe.
From the mid-1800s on, a large number of immigrants from Bohemia began to settle in the area around Spillville. It was very much a Czech village. Dvořák immediately fell in love with the town. Spillville became something of an American Bohemia for Dvořák. He quickly started a daily routine that copied patterns he had adopted in his homeland. He would wake up early in the morning, go for a walk in the woods, attend Mass at St. Wenceslaus Church, playing the organ during the service.
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(birds chirping)
He would sit along the banks of the Turkey River listening to the birds. He quickly composed two pieces which are now among his most popular — the String Quartet Number 12 in F Major and the Quintet Number 3 in E Flat Major. On the last page of the sketch Dvořák noted, "Thank God. I am pleased. It all went so quickly."
This would become his American period. All inspired by his stay in Spillville. By the middle of August the idle calm of Spillville came to a close. He and his family departed for New York, leaving this quiet little town of 350 behind.
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Even though this world famous composer only stayed here for three months his legacy has lasted well over a century. If you're ever in northeast Iowa, it might be worth it to visit this small town. Walk along the banks of a creek and listen to that inspiration Dvořák found here in the summer of 1893.
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