Antonín Dvořák – timeline - Památník Antonína Dvořáka

Antonín Dvořák

8 September 1841

Antonín Dvořák was born in Nelahozeves

2018

1853

1853 – 56

Dvořák and his family lived in Zlonice, where he met his tutor, Antonín Liehmann.
He taught Dvořák the basics of music theory, the violin, piano, and organ.

1841

1857

1857 – 1859

Dvořák studies at the organ school
in Prague

1856

1862

18 November 1862

Dvořák begins his engagement in the Provisional Theatre Orchestra. He played the viola, from 1866 under the baton of Bedřich Smetana, and thus performed in the premieres of his operas
(e.g. The Brandenburgers in Bohemia, The Bartered Bride, and also in Dalibor marking the laying of the foundation stone of the National Theatre).

1859

1864

1864

He begins to visit the Čermák family to give piano lessons to Josefina and Anna, his future wife.

1862

1871

10 December 1871

Dvořák’s first known performance of an independent composition, the song Remembering (Vzpomínání) with lyrics by Eliška Krásnohorská

1864

1873

17 November 1873

Dvořák married Anna Čermáková

1871

1877

1877

On the occasion of the wedding of Josefina Čermáková and Count Václav Kounic, Dvořák and his wife were invited to the chateau in Vysoká for the first time. Dvořák was the best man of Václav Kounic and the wedding took place in the church in Třebsko. During the summer months, Dvořák and his family visited Vysoká several times. They stayed in the adjacent building, the so-called courtyard.

1873

1878

17 November 1878

Dvořák's first solo concert (the programme consisted of Serenade in D minor,
Slavonic Rhapsodies I and II,
Three Modern Greece Poems, Two Furiants)

1877

1878

1878

Dvořák composes the first series of Slavonic Dances for Simrock (a major music publisher from Berlin). These works are published on the recommendation of J. Brahms and received with great acceptance. Brahms and Dvořák remained friends for many years until Brahms' death.

1878

1884

1884 – 1896

Tours to England. Dvořák visited England nine times in total, and the financial success of the first tour (together with additional royalties from published works) enabled him to buy a farmhouse (a granary and a sheep shed) on the land of his brother-in-law, Count Kounic.

1878

1884

1884

In Vysoká, Dvořák purchased an old granary, which was rebuilt into a house and became the summer residence of the Dvořák family. Except for one summer which they spent in Spillville, they would come to Vysoká in May and return to their apartment in Prague only in early autumn. Dvořák engaged in gardening, fruit growing, and pigeon breeding. He was also very fond of walking in nature and composing.

1884

1892

September

1892

Journey to New York. Dvořák's American period inspired the compositions of many works. Although he was very successful and almost enthusiastically welcomed everywhere, the letters he wrote to his children are full of memories of Vysoká. He also urges his estate caretakers to look after their residence well.

“I am very much looking forward to seeing you. God willing, I will never leave Vysoká again.”
“As you are having such dry weather there, please tell me how our little trees have grown, especially the spruces in the back, and whether the fruit trees are thriving, and how our garden looks like. And what about the pigeons? Do you feed them a lot? If there are pretty little pigeons, they need a lot of flying.”

1884

1894

1894

A new organ was purchased for the church in Třebsko. Dvořák admired the nature and landscape surrounding Vysoká. He would get up early in the morning and go for walks, he even used to walk to the nearby church in Třebsko for morning mass and to play religious songs on the organ. He bought a new organ for the church, which was consecrated on Dvořák's birthday (8 September 1984). In 1953, however, the organ was destroyed in a fire.

1892

1901

January

1901

Dvořák was portrayed by Max Švabinský

1894

1901

31 March 1901

The premiere of Rusalka, a work closely connected to Vysoká and its surroundings, takes place in Prague. When he was composing the opera, Dvořák is said to be inspired by Rusalka’s pond, which is located in the woods near the chateau. The name Rusalka was given also to the villa, the summer residence in Vysoká, which is still in the possession of the Dvořák family.

1901

1904