dvoRAk aND nelahozeves
Dvorak’s first encounter with music occurred in Nelahozeves – at home with the family (his father was a fan of the zither), at village dances held in the Dvorak family tavern, and also during Mass, at which the local school teacher Josef Spitz played the organ. Spitz also began to teach young Dvorak to play the violin, thus Antonin was soon performing in front of guests in the taproom, later even in the church organ loft. According to the memoirs of Dvorak’s friend Vaclav Juda Novotny, the composer thus described his first solo appearance in the church serving the nearby village of Veprek: |
Shortly after finishing school, young Antonin was sent by his father to Zlonice to stay with his uncle, and his period spent in Nelahozeves came to an end. We know he returned to his birthplace for visits at least several times, also during the 1860s, when he visited his parents, and then in April 1889, when he took part in a concert at the castle featuring a programme of his works. In 1901, to mark the composer’s 60th birthday, the village of Nelahozeves named Dvorak its honorary citizen. Several days after Dvořák's visit to his birthplace in 1889 the Czech music journal Dalibor published a report from a Nelahozeves correspondent (here in abbreviated form): The first morning train brought us the famous Dvořák, accompanied by photographer Mulač and by Velebín and Mojmír Urbánek. As soon as our master deboarded the train he headed directly for our little church, from which the noble sounds of singing and the organ could be heard. Clearly moved, master Dvořák looked down from the choir loft on the pleasant sanctuary and followed with pleasure the singing of the boys and girls, mixing with the voices of the people who filled the church. Surely he recalled how thirty years ago he had sung on this choir loft, or played violin and organ, or pulled the bellows. From the church our guest made his way to the house where he had been born, and to his considerable joy found almost everything as it was thirty years ago. With great interest he asked the present occupants of the building about all his acquaintances from the time of his youth, whereupon he set out on a walk around our village. Our master found many of his old friends still living, but he also learned that many now reside in our nearby, beautifully situated cemetery. Master Dvořák invited three of his former fellow students to join him and spoke with them for a long time about those bygone days; various recollections of past times, pleasant and unpleasant, were called to mind. For the afternoon a splendid welcome had been prepared for master Dvořák in the local prince's castle, which houses a girls' school run by the honourable sisters of the order of Christian love. Master Dvořák arrived in the castle shortly after 2 o'clock with his wife (who had come by the noon train), with the Urbáneks and their wives, and with his guides, and was cordially welcomed by the honourable lady in charge of the school. Then began a concert by students in which most of them displayed advanced technique and uncommonly mature expression. This phalanx of female concert artists glowing with youth and bursting with good health made a charming sight, as they followed each other at the piano with genteel bows: it was a real joy to listen to these youthfully fresh and spring-like voices when they sang 'Where is My Land?', and on many a face and in many an eye during the singing of the national anthem 'Where is My Home?' you could clearly read that the words born by their lips found a bright response in their young hearts. Our national anthem closed with a mighty chord, and these fresh voices thrilled master Dvořák: the enthusiasm of the youthful singers passed to him so fully that he sat down at the piano and, having requested a repetition of the first verse of our anthem, accompanied the singing himself. The impression made by this moment was ravishing: nobody who was present will ever forget it. Hardly had the singing stopped when an acclamation for master Dvořák sounded forth, and a whole swarm of tender little hands rose up begging the master to play one of his compositions. The master did not resist, and so we heard the first improvisation on motives from The Jacobin: on the scene in front of the church, the noble song of the count, Jiří's 'Do you know this man?': master Dvořák conjured up a whole series of gorgeous pearls and precious gems before the enthralled listeners. The applause and shouts became more and more intense. Again and again the master had to go to the beautiful Bösendorfer until the dusk outside became noticeable and the sound of the evening bell reminded us it was getting late. translation: David R. Beveridge |