Dvorak almost became a butcher like his father, but became a composer instead. He was inspired by Native American music in Iowa to write his "American" String Quartet. He enjoyed unusual hobbies like weightlifting, pigeon racing, and trainspotting. As a composer, he struggled to find neighbors tolerant of his late-night composing. He supplemented his income as a violinist in Prague cafes and married Anna Cermáková in 1873 after being rejected by her sister.

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10 things you didn’t
know about…
Dvorák

2. Dvorák was almost a butcher instead
of a composer – his father assumed his
son would continue the family trade.
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3. www.colstonhall.org/classical
In 1893, Dvorak
spent time with the
Iroquois Indians in
Iowa, listening
to their
traditional music.
It inspired him
to write his
‘American’ String
Quartet.

4. The composer
enjoyed weightlifting
and was partial to a
game of skittles.www.colstonhall.org/classical

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He also enjoyed
pigeon racing and
trainspotting, and while
in America developed
a love of steamboats.

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As a composer, Dvorák found
it hard to find neighbours
who would put up with his
composing in the middle of
the night. He had to move
house several times.

7. In the 1860s,
Dvorák
supplemented
his income
by playing
the violin
in Prague
cafés.
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8. The Hovis advertisement, which
brought the slow movement of
Dvorak’s ‘New World’ Symphony
to millions of new ears (albeit
in a brass band arrangement),
was filmed on Gold Hill in
Shaftesbury, Dorset in 1973.
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9. www.colstonhall.org/classical
Dvorák
married Anna
Cermáková in
1873
... but only after
being turned
down by her
sister, Josefina.

10. The piano duet score for the first
volume of Dvorák’s Slavonic Dances
sold out in a day in 1878, testament
to the power of the domestic
music market.
But then, television
wasn’t a thing in
those days.
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While in London in 1896, Dvorák
mistook the Athanaeum Club
in Pall Mall for a café and was
promptly ejected…

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