mythical world

In the latter part of his career Dvořák’s music betrayed a shift towards the realm of myths and fairy tales. He first wrote four symphonic poems inspired by texts from the collection Bouquet by Karel Jaromír Erben, beginning with The Water Goblin, then The Noon Witch, The Golden Spinning Wheel and finally The Wild Dove. This collection is one of the composer’s few contributions to the programme music genre. Dvořák’s musical legacy concluded with three stage works. The first is the comic opera (arguably the composer’s most original) The Devil and Kate. After this came the composer’s most frequently performed opera, the lyrical Rusalka, whose premiere in 1901 was a pure triumph and assured him his rightful place in the opera repertoire as well (until now he had been regarded chiefly as an author of symphonic and chamber music). The very last work Dvořák wrote is the opera Armida, set in the exotic environment of the Orient. The premiere in March 1904 did not go as the composer would have wished, mostly due to shoddy preparation work on the part of the company. Dvořák’s frustration at the careless staging of the opera was compounded by health problems. With the onset of acute kidney pain he was forced to leave the theatre during the performance.