In September, 1892, Antonín Dvořák and his family left their comfortable life in Bohemia, Czech Republic, to sail to America. Dvořák was nearing 50, and was an internationally-esteemed composer when he was first approached by the National Conservatory of Music in New York City, USA, to be its new director. Its founder, Jeannette Thurber, offered Dvořák an annual salary of $15,000 USD, about 25 times what he was currently earning as a professor at the Prague Conservatoire. To sweeten the deal further, Dvořák would have four months’ holiday in the summers. He initially planned to travel back to Bohemia for his summer holiday in 1893, but his assistant Joseph Kovarik, an American of Czech ancestry, told Dvořák about his hometown of Spillville. Iowa. Dvořák liked the idea of spending some time in the company of his fellow countrymen, and by June of that year, he and his family set out West by train to find a piece of Bohemia in Iowa’s rolling hills. From the mid-1800s on, large numbers of immigrants from Bohemia had began to settle in the area around Spillville. It was very much a Czech village, and Dvořák immediately fell in love with the town upon his arrival.
As the summer progressed, 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 early in the morning, go for a walk in the woods, and attend mass at St. Wenceslaus Church, playing the organ during the service. He would sit along the banks of the Turkey river listening to the birds. He quickly composed two pieces which now are among his most popular, the string Quartet No. 12 in F Major and the String Quintet No. 3 in E flat major. On the last page of the sketch he wrote, “Thank God. I am pleased. It went quickly”. This would become Dvořák’s “American” era - all inspired by his stay in Spillville. By the middle of August, the idyll calm of Spillville came to a close, and he and his family departed for New York, leaving this quiet little town of 350 behind.
So now you know the history of this piece, here is an excerpt of the beautiful second movement of Dvořák’s “American” Quartet, featuring Dave Camwell and Kateřina Pavlíková, as well as our friends Magdalena Probstová and Anna Kurzová. All movements of this performance can be heard here: • "American" Quartet | A... and the arrangement can be purchased here: covertensemble.com/product/10...