HEYWARD CONDUCTS MAHLER( EARTH | SONGS)
NOTES ON THE PROGRAM
By Heather O ' Donovan
Antonín Dvořák
Born September 8, 1841, in Nelahozeves, Bohemia Died May 1, 1904, in Prague, Bohemia
IN NATURE’ S REALM, OP. 91 [ 1891 ]
The 1870s were a catalytic decade for Antonín Dvořák, a Bohemian of humble origins with talents that would take him from the Czech countryside to Prague, from his homeland to the concert halls of Europe, and, eventually, from Europe across the Atlantic to America.
In 1874, Dvořák, then a relative unknown in Europe, was awarded the Austrian State Prize for composers of demonstrated financial need. Twice more he won the grant— in 1876 and 1877. Notification of the 1877 prize arrived in a fateful letter from eminent critic Eduard Hanslick, who was on the selection jury. Along with congratulations, he offered the then-36-year-old composer crucial advice:“[ I ] t would be desirable for your [ compositions ] to become known beyond your narrow Czech fatherland […].” It was on his suggestion that Dvořák sought the support of Johannes Brahms, Hanslick’ s co-juror. On Brahms’ recommendation, the publishing firm Simrock accepted several of Dvořák’ s works and commissioned the set of folk-inspired Slavonic Dances( Op. 46) that ushered in broad recognition of the composer beyond Bohemia with performances of his works across Europe.
Dvořák found repose from the bustle of concertizing in the peaceful environs of his summer retreat, Vysoká, where his brother-in-law owned an estate with a little chateau ensconced in forested grounds. By the mid-1880s, Dvořák’ s music had earned him enough money to enable the purchase of his very own plot at Vysoká. There, he would spend every summer save one— passed in his“ American Vysoká” of Spillville, Iowa— composing, enjoying walks through his garden, and tending to his cherished collection of rare pigeons. When absent, he longed for this eden, requesting news from the grounds’ caretaker:“ Have you moved any shrubs and, if so, where have you put them? What about those young fruit trees, wouldn’ t it be better to prune any superfluous branches […]?”
Dvořák completed In Nature’ s Realm, the first in a planned trilogy of overtures inspired by the“ three great creative forces of the Universe”— Nature, Life, and Love— at Vysoká in July 1891. In this first overture, we glimpse less of nature as quietude or solace, and rather more of
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