Zlonice

Shortly after finishing school, young Antonín was sent by his father to the nearby town of Zlonice, where their relatives lived. Thus, in 1853, at the age of twelve, Dvořák found himself under the supervision of Zlonice teacher and multi-instrumentalist Antonín Liehmann. Liehmann, an excellent musician in the vicinity, soon recognised an exceptional talent in young Dvořák and so he began to instruct him in the basics of harmony and playing organ, violin, and piano; later he also allowed Dvořák to play at Mass. It was during this time that Dvořák wrote his first compositions, short polkas. Since he invested much more of his time learning music than anything else, he began to fall behind with his German, a subject that would be essential to him as a future tradesman. So his father decided to send him to Česká Kamenice (Böhmisch Kamnitz), the majority of whose inhabitants spoke German, to spend a year living in a German-speaking family. Here Dvořák not only improved his German, but he also continued his music after making the acquaintance of the local regenschori, Franz Hanke, who permitted him to play the organ in the local church during Mass. Dvořák never did learn the butcher’s trade, since Liehmann finally managed to convince his father František that his son’s extraordinary talent deserved the consistent supervision and instruction that only a music institution could provide. Thus, in the autumn of 1857, 16-year-old Dvořák moved to Prague.