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Letting the Music ‘Speak For Itself’? Dvořák as Strategist

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  07 March 2022

Eva Branda Open the ORCID record for Eva Branda [Opens in a new window]
Eva Branda*
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Wilfrid Laurier University ebranda@wlu.ca
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Abstract

‘I only write music and let it speak for itself’ – such was Antonín Dvořák's attitude, according to Josef Kovařík, the composer's personal secretary in New York. Indeed, throughout his career, Dvořák seemed reluctant to share his views publicly. He did not contribute articles to Czech periodicals, his acquaintances were well aware of his dread of making public appearances and speeches, and contemporary critics often commented on his humble and unenterprising nature.

Yet Dvořák was not as passive as his alleged statement to Kovařík would imply. While visiting England during the 1880s, he became particularly concerned about forging a certain kind of image for himself in the Czech lands. Not only did Dvořák take an interest in English reviews of his music, he also sent several of these critiques to his contacts at home with the request that they be reprinted in Czech translation in the newspapers and journals of Prague. He proved to be equally strategic in some of his other professional choices, including the surprising decision to dedicate his patriotic cantata Hymnus: Heirs of the White Mountain ‘to the English people’, which can be understood as a clever tactical ploy, meant to signal the composer's international credentials to audiences at home.

Drawing upon various letters and the many excerpted English reviews that appeared in the Czech press, this article shows that Dvořák played an active part in determining which aspects of his reception in England would be relayed to the Czech public. More broadly, the article examines Dvořák's role as strategist – an aspect of the composer's career that has remained largely unexplored. Ultimately, Dvořák was mindful of what Michael Beckerman calls ‘the public-relations aspect of nationalism’, and the suggestion that he was content simply to let the music ‘speak for itself’ does not tell the whole story.

Type
Research Article
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Nineteenth-Century Music Review , Volume 19 , Issue 3 , December 2022 , pp. 599 - 624
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Copyright © The Author(s), 2022. Published by Cambridge University Press

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References

1 Kovařík, Joseph, ‘Dr. Dvořák as I Knew Him’, Fiddlestrings 1/8 (1924): 4Google Scholar.

2 Smetana became especially involved in music criticism during the 1863–64 season, and his heated exchanges with František Pivoda are particularly well-documented in the scholarly literature; see, for instance, Clapham, John, ‘The Smetana-Pivoda Controversy’, Music & Letters 52/4 (1971): 353–64Google Scholar.

3 Upon Václav Juda Novotný's resignation as editor of Dalibor in May of 1881, the incoming editor and publisher František Urbánek writes that he relies on the contributions of three individuals in particular: Otakar Hostinský, Emanuel Chvála and Zdeněk Fibich; see Fr. A. Urbánek, ‘Ctěným pp. odběratelům “Dalibora”’ [To the honoured subscribers of ‘Dalibor’], Dalibor 3, 2nd ser., no. 13 (1 May 1881): 97. Fibich is likewise listed among the journal's contributors in the 1884 and 1885 volumes of the journal.

4 Dvořák did co-author two articles for the American press: Antonín Dvořák, in collaboration with Finck, Henry, ‘Franz Schubert’, The Century Illustrated Monthly Magazine 48 (1894): 341–6Google Scholar; and Antonín Dvořák, in collaboration with Edwin Emerson Jr., ‘Music in America’, Harper's New Monthly Magazine 90 (1895): 429–34.

5 Dvořák's 1873 debut is discussed at length in Branda, Eva, ‘Capturing the Zeitgeist: Dvořák's Prague Debut and the Politics of Patriotism’, Music & Letters 102/2 (2021): 1–39Google Scholar.

6 For a discussion of the origins and nature of this two-party system in the Czech lands, see Bruce Garver, The Young Czech Party, 1874–1901, and the Emergence of a Multi-Party System (New Haven: Yale University Press, 1978).

7 For example, excerpts from several positive reviews of the St Ludmila (Svatá Ludmila) oratorio appeared in Národní listy and Politik: Unsigned, ‘Hudba: Triumfy Antonína Dvořáka v Anglii’ [Music: the triumphs of Antonín Dvořák in England], Národní listy 26/295 (24 Oct. 1886): 5; Unsigned, ‘Theater, Kunst, und Literatur: Ueber die erste Aufführung von Dvořáks neuen Oratorium’ [Theatre, art, and literature: about the first performance of Dvořák's new oratorio], Politik 25/295 (24 Oct. 1886): 9.

8 Czech press coverage of Dvořák's trips to England includes the following articles: J. z. K., ‘Antonín Dvořák v Londýně’ [Antonín Dvořák in London], Dalibor 6, 2nd ser., no. 11 (21 Mar. 1884): 104–6; Josef Zubatý, trans., ‘Hlas novin anglických o Antonínu Dvořákovi: The Times’ [English newspaper articles on Antonín Dvořák: The Times], Dalibor 6, 2nd ser., nos. 11–13 (21 Mar., 28 Mar. and 7 Apr. 1884): 106–8, 115–18, 124–5; Unsigned, ‘Antonín Dvořák v Londýně II’ [Antonín Dvořák in London II], Dalibor 6, 2nd ser., no. 12 (28 Mar. 1884): 114–15; V. U., ‘Antonín Dvořák v Londýně III’ [Antonín Dvořák in London III], Dalibor 6, 2nd ser., no. 13 (7 Apr. 1884): 123–4; Unsigned, ‘Hlasy novin anglických o Antonínu Dvořákovi: Birmingham Daily Post’ [English newspaper reports on Antonín Dvořák: Birmingham Daily Post], Dalibor 6, 2nd ser., no. 15 (21 Apr. 1884): 143–4; ik., ‘Druhá cesta mistra Dvořák do Anglie’ [Dvořák's second trip to England], Dalibor 6, 2nd ser., no. 35 (Sept. 21, 1884): 341–6; Josef Zubatý, ‘Dvořák v Birminghamě’ [Dvořák in Birmingham], Dalibor 7, 2nd ser., no. 32 (28 Aug. 1885): 315–16; ‘Mistr Dvořák v Birminghamě’ [Master Dvořák in Birmingham], Dalibor 7, 2nd ser., no. 7 (7 Sept. 1885): 324; Josef Zubatý, ‘Mistr Dvořák v Birmighamě’ [Master Dvořák in Birmingham], Dalibor 7, 2nd ser., nos. 33 and 34 (28 Aug., 28 Sept. [sic] and 14 Sept. 1885): 315–16, 323–4, 335–9; Josef Zubatý, ‘Páty pobyt mistra Antonína Dvořáka v Anglii’ [Antonín Dvořák's fifth stay in England], Dalibor 8, 2nd ser., no. 41 (7 Nov. 1886): 403–4.

9 Jarmil Burghauser, for instance, highlights this aspect of Dvořák's personality, stating, based on retrospective accounts, that a small circle of Dvořák's early friends found him to be ‘shy and reticent, but very intransigent and obstinate in the opinions he held’; Jarmil Burghauser, ‘Metamorphoses of Dvořák's Image over Time’, in Rethinking Dvořák: Views from Five Countries, ed. David R. Beveridge (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1996): 13.

10 The following excerpts are an example of scholarship in which Dvořák's self-marketing is overlooked, implying that it was a series of entirely fortuitous events that advanced Dvořák's career and that he was merely a passive benefactor of this good fortune: ‘Dvořák was among the more fortunate ones, for the tide began to turn in his favor even before he reached full maturity as a composer. It was from Vienna that he received the invaluable initial support that made it possible for his music to be heard and appreciated beyond the frontiers of his beloved homeland’; Clapham, John, ‘Dvořák's Relations with Brahms and Hanslick’, The Musical Quarterly 57/2 (1971): 241–54Google Scholar, esp. 241. In a similar vein, Clapham writes: ‘Dvořák's good fortune in winning this award [the Austrian State Stipend in 1874] led to a remarkable burst of creative energy’; John Clapham, Dvořák (New York: Norton, 1979): 36. Klaus Döge likewise gives unequivocal credit to Brahms – and, to a lesser extent, to Simrock – for making Dvořák ‘famous’ beyond the borders of his homeland: ‘Jeho Moravské dvojzpěvy vyjdou v nakladelství respektovaném v celém hudebním světě, na obálce bude jeho jméno, jeho dílo se bude prodávat a jméno dosud zcela neznámého pražského skladatele Dvořáka pronikne za hranice české vlasti. Dvořák nikdy nezapomněl, že inciátorem tohoto vývoje byl Johannes Brahms’ (‘his Moravian Duets were to be published by a publishing company that was respected all over the musical world [Simrock], his name would be on the cover, his work would be sold, and the name of the hitherto unknown Prague composer – Dvořák – would penetrate beyond the border of the Czech nation. Dvořák would never forget that the initiator of this development was Johannes Brahms’); Klaus Döge, Antonín Dvořák: Život, Dílo, Dokumenty [Antonín Dvořák: Life, works, documents], trans. Helena Medková (Zürich am Mainz: Atlantis Musikbuch, 1997): 129–30. Though Dvořák's early Czech biographer Otakar Šourek offers a more nuanced telling of the story, emphasizing the mutual respect and camaraderie between Dvořák and Brahms, his ultimate conclusion is much the same: ‘intervencí Brahmsovou otevřela se Dvořákovi cesta k přednímu nakladatelskému podniku světovému i cesta k úspěchům v cizině, a to vše bylo pro českého skladatele něčím dosud nepoznaným, ba netušeným, tím spíše pro skladatele tak skromného a ústraní se držícího, jako byl Dvořák’ (‘Brahms's intervention opened the way for Dvořák to the foremost publishing firm of world renown and to success abroad, and all of this was something unprecedented for a Czech composer, indeed unsuspected, especially for a composer so humble and withdrawn as Dvořák was’); Otakar Šourek, Život a dílo Antonína Dvořáka [The life and works of Antonín Dvořák], vol. 1 (Prague: Hudební Matice Umělecké Besedy, 1916): 289.

11 Dana Gooley, ‘Franz Liszt: The Virtuoso as Strategist’, in The Musician as Entrepreneur, 1700–1914: Managers, Charlatans, and Idealists, ed. William Weber (Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 2004): 146.

12 According to the Sunday Times, Dvořák stated in 1885 that Hymnus ‘gained a great success and gave [him] vast encouragement’, and in an 1886 interview for The Pall Mall Gazette, he allegedly said: ‘at home in my own circles I was by this time [mid-1870s] pretty well-known as the composer of a Bohemian Patriotic Hymn’; Unsigned, ‘From Butcher to Baton: An Interview with Herr Dvorák’, The Pall Mall Gazette, 22 (13 Oct. 1886): 415; reprinted in David R. Beveridge, ed., Rethinking Dvořák: Views from Five Countries (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1996): 291.

13 This topic has been theorized in the scholarly literature. See, for example, Martha Woodmansee, The Author, Art, and the Market: Rereading the History of Aesthetics (New York: Columbia University Press, 1994) and William Weber, The Musician as Entrepreneur, 1700–1914: Managers, Charlatans, and Idealist (Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 2004).

14 ‘Es gibt vielleicht nicht sobald ein Land außer meiner Heimat, wo meine Werke so gepflegt, geschätzt und geliebt werden’; Milan Kuna et al., eds, Antonín Dvořák: Korespondence a dokumenty, vol. 2 (Prague: Editio Supraphon, 1988): 205 (letter dated 6 Nov. 1886).

15 For more extensive discussions of Dvořák's reception in England, see Jitka Slavíková, Dvořák a Anglie [Dvořák and England] (Prague: Paseka, 1994) and Clapham, John, ‘Dvořák's First Contacts with England’, The Musical Times 119/1627 (1978): 758–61CrossRefGoogle Scholar. The cities that Dvořák visited included Birmingham, Cambridge, Leeds, London and Worcester.

16 ‘Jako obyčejně, tak i dnes přišly Pražské listy … z nichž jsem se teprv obsah a smysl londýnských kritik vlastně dozvěděl neb jsem ustavičně zaměstnán, že ani k tomu nepřijdu, abych někoho požadál o přeložení’; Milan Kuna et al., eds, Antonín Dvořák: Korespondence a dokumenty, vol. 1 (Prague: Editio Suphraphon, 1987): 403 (letter dated 20 Mar. 1884).

17 ‘Nepotřebuji Vám tedy ani říkat, že mě to velice těší a jak se z toho raduji, když tak ten dobrý český lid se dozví o triumfech českého umělce’; Kuna et al., eds, Antonín Dvořák: Korespondence, vol. 1, 403 (letter dated 20 Mar. 1884).

18 Unsigned, ‘The Birmingham Triennial Festival: Final London Rehearsal’, Daily News (21 Aug. 1885): 5.

19 ‘Nezmiňujte se ale o tom, že jsem musel promluvit pár slov německy, poněvadž anglicky ještě neumím … Napište třebas, že jsem mluvil turecky! Víte jak to u nás chodí’; Kuna et al., eds, Antonín Dvořák: Korespondence, vol. 2, 86 (letter dated 21 Aug. 1885).

20 For a full discussion of these German titles and texts, see Branda, Eva, ‘Speaking German, Hearing Czech, Claiming Dvořák’, Journal of the Royal Musical Association 142/1 (2017): 109–36CrossRefGoogle Scholar, esp. 115–22.

21 Zubatý complied with Dvořák's request in his translation of the article for Dalibor; no mention is made of the German address: ‘at the conclusion [of the rehearsal] Mr. Dvořák spoke several heartfelt words of praise, acknowledging the impeccable way in which the orchestra [members] sight-read their parts’; ‘k závěrku [zkoušky] proslovil pan Dvořák několik slov srdečného uznání výtečného spúsobu, jakým orchestr provedl z listu svojí úlohu’; Josef Zubatý, ‘Dvořák v Birminghamě’, 316.

22 A Czech translation of the quotation from the Daily News appeared in Unsigned, ‘Hudba: Triumfy Antonína Dvořáka v Anglii’ [Music: The Triumphs of Antonín Dvořák in England], Národní listy 26/295 (24 Oct. 1886): 5. The translator takes great liberties with the text: ‘Zřídka byl zde viděn potlesk takový, jakým byl Dvořák vyznamenán; a když po druhé a po třetí český skladatel byl vyvolán a obecenstvo nepřestalo volati, tu objevil se Dvořák, veden jsa nejznamenitějším komponistou anglickým, sir Arthurem Sullivanem; nadšení dosáhlo vrchole, když Antonín Dvořák děkoval v jazyku anglickém. Pamatujme, že ovace podobné se dostalo pouze Lisztovi, stařičkému Nestoru výkonného umění’ (‘Rarely has such applause as Dvořák was awarded been witnessed; and when the Czech composer was called out twice and three times and the audience did not stop with their calls, Dvořák made an appearance, led [onto the stage] by the most significant English composer, Sir Arthur Sullivan; the enthusiasm came to a climax when Dvořák thanked [the audience] in English; let us remember that only Liszt, the elderly Nestor of the performing arts, received similar ovations’). The actual quotation appears in the Daily News as follows, with no apparent mention of Liszt or Dvořák's speech in English (the translator must have received information about Dvořák's speech elsewhere): ‘Few novelties produced at Leeds have ever excited the widespread interest felt in “Saint Ludmila” … yet the applause at the end was as great as that showered down when the first part concluded; and after acknowledging the plaudits, Dvořák had again to return, led on this time by Sir Arthur Sullivan. Clearly then, no work could have had a more flattering verdict passed upon it at first hearing’; Unsigned, ‘Leeds Musical Festival’, Daily News 36 (16 Oct. 1886): 6.

23 Unsigned, ‘From Butcher to Baton: An Interview with Herr Dvorák’, 415; This statement is preceded by the following sentence: ‘With regard to music it is with the English as it is with the Slavs in politics- they are young, very young, but there is great hope for the future’.

24 ‘zejména Vás upozorňuji na konečnou větu, kde jsem řekl, že kdysi celá Evropa hleděla na náš národ s obdivem a že snad zase pro nás opět nadejde doba slávy a že, ač malý národ, že přece dovedeme ukázat, co jsme byli a co jsme a budeme!’; Kuna et al., eds, Antonín Dvořák: Korespondence, vol. 2, 184–5 (letter dated 15 Oct. 1886).

25 ‘Dejte to zejména do Národ[ních] listů, myslím, že to v národě dobře bude působit. Životopisná data vynechte, ale zejména další rozmluvu ku konci článku dejte celou. Národ bude jásat’; Kuna et al., eds, Antonín Dvořák: Korespondence, vol. 2, 188 (letter dated 18 Oct. 1886).

26 ‘Známe sice všichni, komu bylo přáno setkati se s ním osobně, upřímné Dvořákovo vlastenectví, a pisatel těchto řádků měl loňského jara skoro každým dnem příležitost přesvědčiti se, že Dvořák v příčině té není jiným v daleké Anglii než u nás v Praze, ale přece vždy novou radostí nás naplňuje vidíme-li, že nikdy nebude nám kaliti slávu jména jeho výčitkou národního indifferentismu’; Josef Zubatý, ‘Páty pobyt mistra Antonína Dvořáka v Anglii’, Dalibor 8, 2nd ser., no. 41 (7 Nov. 1886): 403.

27 David R. Beveridge, ed., ‘Appendix: Interviews with Dvořák’, in Rethinking Dvořák: Views from Five Countries, ed. David R. Beveridge (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1996): 292–3, n. 53. Beveridge is making reference to the interview cited above: ‘From Butcher to Baton: An Interview with Her Dvorák’.

28 ‘Přeložte je všecky jak jsou, dejte to Novotnému, ať to zpracuje jak sám bude chtít. Snad by mohl udělat fejeton pro svůj časopis Hlas a Vy pak dejte – neb on sám – do Politik a Národ[ních] listů kritiky, které budou nejlepší se Vám zdát. Nejlepší asi jsou Daily News, Daily Telegraph, Saturday Times (obzvlášťe), Daily Chronicl[e], Globe, Standard … Jenom tedy dejte všem novinám stejné kritiky, třebas ze dvou, třech a více, ale v krátkosti nebo jak myslíte’; Kuna et al., eds, Antonín Dvořák: Korespondence, vol. 2, 188 (letter dated 18 Oct. 1886).

29 ‘Měl jsem s ním před dvěma lety rozmluvu a tu jsme se spolu nepohdli, řekl jsem mu své upřímné mínění a od těch dob chová ke mně jaksi zdrženlivě a kde může, rád mě šťouchne’; Kuna et al., eds, Antonín Dvořák: Korespondence, vol. 2, 196 (letter dated 26 Oct. 1886).

30 Dvořák refers to Bennett as the ‘main representative of criticism [in England]’ (hlavní representant zdejší kritiky); Kuna et al., eds, Antonín Dvořák: Korespondence, vol. 2, 38 (letter to Novotný dated 24 Apr. 1885). ‘Dvořák jest dnes – díky kritice a žurnalistice anglické – osobností populární a osobou oblíbenou nejen v kruzích uměleckých ale i v nejširším londýnském obecenstvu. Zvláště sympatickým učinil Angličanům Dvořáka kritik Benett [sic], poctivá to anglická duše, který v listě svém Daily Telegraphu prostě a věrně vylíčil strastiplnou minulosť Dvořákovu a jeho význam pro českou národní hudbu’; Unsigned, ‘Antonín Dvořák v Londýně II’ [Antonín Dvořák in London II], Dalibor 6, 2nd ser., no. 12 (28 Mar. 1884): 114–15.

31 Kuna et al., eds, Antonín Dvořák: Korespondence, vol. 2, 38 (letter dated 24 Apr. 1885).

32 ‘úplně mé dílo jako vždy pochopil’; Kuna et al., eds, Antonín Dvořák: Korespondence, vol. 2, 38 (letter dated 24 Apr. 1885).

33 According to Zubatý, Bennett writes as follows: ‘Every movement bears the mark of not only the composer, but also his nation, and this symphony, though it has no title, could be called “Slavonic” with just as much reason as Mendelssohn's A minor is named “Scottish”’ (Každá věta nese na sobě znak netoliko skladatelův, nýbrž i znak jeho národa a symfonie tato ač nemá zvláštního titulu, mohla by snad býti nazvána ‘Slovanskou’ s touže oprávěností, jako se jmenuje Mendelssohnova z A-moll ‘Skotskou’); Josef Zubatý, ‘Třetí Dvořákův pobyt v Anglii’ [Dvořák's third visit to England], Dalibor 7, 2nd ser., no. 20 and 21 (28 May 1885): 196.

34 ‘O mém sextetu unapsal před 4 lety, že je to mistrovské dílo a originalní, a nýni mi vše tu tak zvanou orig[inalitu] slov[anskou] vyčítá. Zkrátka je to strašná volovina a nestojí abych o tom dále mluvil’; Kuna et al., eds, Antonín Dvořák: Korespondence, vol. 2, 38 (letter dated 24 Apr. 1885).

35 Unsigned [Francis Hüffer], ‘Philharmonic Society’, The Times (24 Apr. 1885): 13. (The emphasis is mine.)

36 Often critics do not provide any indication of the omissions, and the Czech reprints of the English reviews read more like loose paraphrases of the original than literal translations.

37 Unsigned [Francis Hüffer], ‘Dvořák's Stabat Mater’, The Times (15 Mar. 1884); Josef Zubatý, trans., ‘Hlas novin anglických o Antonínu Dvořákovi: The Times’, 107–8; the omitted passage: ‘Herr Dvorak [sic], indeed, treats his text quite cavalierly as ever Handel or other early masters ventured to do. He even ignores the most ordinary rules of prosody. In one place he scores “pendebat” with the accent on the second syllable, in another with the accent on the first, being evidently undecided whether that verb belongs to the second or third conjugation. And similar solecisms of declamation abound throughout the work. But these after all are minor matters if the numerous and in many cases original beauties are considered. Herr Dvorak [sic] does not give us as humanly impassioned a rendering of the sacred tragedy as Beethoven, or, in a different manner, Berlioz, might have done’.

38 Kuna et al., eds, Antonín Dvořák: Korespondence, vol. 2, 89–90 (letter dated 2 Sept. 1885).

39 The following part is included: ‘The production of Herr Dvorák's [sic] cantata The Spectre's Bride created quite a sensation, moving the Festival audience to a stronger declaration of approval than had yet been evinced. Never was applause more fairly earned by the executants, and never did a composer win a more richly merited triumph … Enthusiasm such as was bestowed upon The Spectre's Bride has seldom been heard at Birmingham; and the composer, who conducted, received a greeting at the close that will still ring in his ears when he returns home to Prague’ (Provedení p. Dvořákovy kantáty The Spectre's Bride vzbudilo pravou sensaci, povzbudivši obecenstvo festivalu k mocnějšímu projevu nadšení, než k jakému kdy před tím se dalo povzbuditi. Ani jednou před tím nedostalo se účinkujícím hojnější žně potlesku, ani jednou nedobyl si skladatel triumfu zaslouženějšího … Enthusiasmu takového s jakým přijata byla Dvořákova skladba, žřídka byl Birmingham svědkem; a skladateli, jenž sám řídil, dostalo se po ukončení takového potlesku, že mu ještě bude zníti v uších, až se vrátí do Prahy); Unsigned, ‘The Birmingham Music Festival’, The Standard no. 19071 (28 Aug. 1885): 3; Josef Zubatý, trans., ‘Mistr Dvořák v Birmighamě’, 324.

40 The following part is excluded: ‘The choice of such a lugubrious, repellant subject as the Bohemian version of the ancient fable, wherein the dead lover comes to claim his living bride, and forces her to journey with him to the place of his sepulture, appears to me to be oddly at variance with the ostensible purpose of a “Festival”’. Unsigned, ‘The Birmingham Music Festival’, 3; Josef Zubatý, trans., ‘Mistr Dvořák v Birmighamě’, 324.

41 On the whole, articles published on Dvořák in German-speaking Europe were not as consistently favourable as his English reviews.

42 Articles in Dalibor on Dvořák's American stay are comparatively brief and lacking in detail. See for example, Unsigned, ‘Vřelé uvítání mistra Dvořáka krajany v Americe’ [A warm welcome for Dvořák by his countrymen in America], Dalibor 14, 2nd ser., nos. 43–44 (5 Nov. 1892): 338. It is possible that the comparative lack of engagement with American views was also due in part to the large geographical distance between the United States and Prague.

43 ‘The composer Antonín Dvořák has undertaken the task of setting to music all over again the libretto of the opera The King and the Charcoal Burner, putting aside his earlier work, the performance of which could not be realized on our stage because of its complexity. Such self-criticism and self-denial calls for unlimited praise and admiration. Let us hope that such characteristics would appear more often in our composers!’ (Skladatel Antonín Dvořák odhodlal se, libreto ku zpěvohře Král a Uhlíř zcela znovu v hudbu uvésti, odloživ zcela stranou dřívější svou práci, jejížto provedení jedině za příčinou přílišné její složitosti na našem jevišti nemohlo býti uskutečněno. Autokritika taková i sebezapření podobné vybízí k neobmezené chvále i obdivu. Kéž by se vlastnosti té skladatelům našim častěji dostávalo!); R., ‘Zprávy z Prahy a venkova’ [News from Prague and rural areas], Dalibor 2, 1st ser., no. 17 (25 Apr. 1874): 134 (emphasis mine).

44 Alan Houtchens, ‘Antonín Dvořák’, in Nineteenth-Century Choral Music, ed. Donna M. Di Grazia (New York: Routledge, 2013): 392.

45 The following statement appears in several of the composer's obituaries (published in 1904): ‘it was only in 1873 that Dvořák was able to bring himself before the public for the first time, with a very deep work, Hymnus from Hálek's Heirs of the White Mountain; on account of its grand scale, distinctive characteristics and well-handled technique, it still earns a spot among Dvořák's most remarkable works’ (Teprve r. 1873 poprve podařilo se Dvořákovi uvésti se před veřejnost dílem hluboce založeným Hymnem z Hálkových Dědiců Bílé hory, jehož mohutný obrysy, výrazná charakteristika a skvělé ovládání stránky technické staví je dnes ještě mezi nejznamenitější díla Dvořákova); O. Sl. N., ‘Dr. Antonín Dvořák’, Hlas Národa no. 122 (2 May 1904): 1; Unsigned, ‘Slavný český skladatel hudební Dr. Ant. Dvořák’ [The famous Czech composer Dr. Ant. Dvořák] Národní Politika 22/122 (2 May 1904): 1; and Unsigned, ‘Antonín Dvořák’, Pražské Noviny no. 122 (2 May 1904): 1.

46 ‘Milujme ji [ … ] jak žádný národ ješťe nemiloval’; Vítězslav Hálek, Dědicové Bílé hory: Báseň [Heirs of the White Mountain: Poem] (Prague: E. Grégr, 1869): 87.

47 For a detailed discussion of the Hymnus premiere, see Branda, ‘Capturing the Zeitgeist’.

48 For a discussion of the ‘Hohenwart episode’, see Hugh LeCaine Agnew, The Czechs and the Lands of the Bohemian Crown (Stanford: Hoover Institution Press, 2004): 133–6; Jeremy King, Budweisers into Czechs and Germans: A Local History of Bohemian Politics, 1848–1948 (Princeton: Princeton University Press, 2002): 15–47.

49 The exact date of the performance was 9 March 1873.

50 For a more detailed discussion, see chapter 2 of Eva Branda, ‘Representations of Antonín Dvořák: A Study of his Music through the Lens of late Nineteenth-Century Czech Criticism’ (PhD diss, University of Toronto, 2014).

51 The New Town Theatre is the venue at which Dvořák's Hymnus was premiered in 1873.

52 ‘mysli si Novoměstské divadlo asi pětkrát tak veliké a poznáš, co je to Albert Hall, kde 10,000 lidí “Stabat Mater” poslouchalo a 1050 hudebníků a zpěváků hrálo a zpívalo, a přitom ty kolosální varhany!’; Kuna et al., eds, Antonín Dvořák: Korespondence, vol. 1, 410. This is an exaggerated claim, since the Royal Albert Hall does not hold that many people at maximum capacity.

53 Emily H. Green, ‘Between Text and Context: Schumann, Liszt and the Reception of Dedications’, Journal of Musicological Research 28/4 (2009): 331–3.

54 Bonds, Mark Evan, ‘The Sincerest Form of Flattery?: Mozart's “Haydn” Quartets and the Question of Influence’, Studi musicali 22 (1993): 365–409Google Scholar; Rue, Jan La, ‘The Haydn-Dedicatee Quartets: Allusion or Influence?’ Journal of Musicology 18/2 (2001): 361–73Google Scholar; Jim Samson, ‘Dédicaces reciproques: Les etudes de Chopin et de Liszt’, in Frédéric Chopin: Interpretations, ed. Jean-Jacques Eigeldinger (Geneva, 2005): 127–37.

55 For all information on Dvořák's dedications, I have relied upon Jarmil Burghauser's thematic catalogue: Jarmil Burghauser, Antonín Dvořák: thematický katalog, bibliografie; Přehled života a díla [Thematic catalogue, bibliography; survey of life and work] (Prague: Bärenreiter, 1996).

56 Green, ‘Between Text and Context’, 312–39.

57 Unsigned, ‘St. James's Hall’, Morning Post no. 35224 (14 May 1885): 2.

58 Unsigned, The Monthly Musical Review (1 Jun. 1885): 139.

59 Unsigned, ‘Mr. Geaussent's Concert’, The Times no. 31447 (15 May 1885): 3.

60 David Beveridge made this suggestion to me in a conversation on 7 December 2010.

61 Milan Kuna et al., eds, Antonín Dvořák: Korespondence a dokumenty, vol. 6 (Prague: Editio Supraphon, 1997): 18.

62 John Clapham, Antonín Dvořák: Musician and Craftsman (New York: St. Martin's Press, 1966): 242.

63 ‘Čechem byl Dvořák každým dechem, třeba se mu příčilo každé hlučivé vlastenčení … Je zajímavo a poučno, že týž Dvořák, který doma byl zapřísáhlý nepřítel všeho planého radikalismu, v cizině nedovedl vystupovati než jako Čech tělem i duší … Při příjezdu do Londýna [v roce 1885] byl překvapen Dvořák plakáty, dle nichž ‘Herr Anton Dvořák’ bude říditi dne toho a toho novou symfonii. Dvořák si hned vymohl, aby byl na plakátech titulován po česku “pan Antonín Dvořák”. Klub německých umělců jej tenkráte zval k večeru, chystanému na jeho čest, jako podobné večery byly pořádány před tim na př. Bülowi, Richterovi a j. Dvořák s díky odmítl s odůvodněním, že není německým umělcem’; Josef Zubatý, ‘Z Upomínek na Antonína Dvořáka’ [Memories of Antonín Dvořák], Hudební Revue 3/1 (Jan. 1910): 20.

64 On some level, this is significant because it speaks to the role of London as a hub of nationalist display. It is worth noting that London served as something of a clearinghouse for the patriotic movements of diverse countries.

65 ‘was geht uns beide die Politik an, wollen wir froh sein, daß wir nur der schönen Kunst unsere Dienste weihen können!’; Kuna et al.eds, Antonín Dvořák: Korespondence, vol. 2, 94;

66 These terms are used in Novotný's review (signed x): ‘vlasteneck[ý] nadšen[í]’ and ‘vlastenecký ten zápal’; x., ‘Zprávy z Prahy a z venkova’, 88–89.

67 ‘Finally Hymnus brought [Dvořák] into the light of day, but not into artistic maturity; [it] only [brought] success and public interest. This work of a smaller form shows an advanced musician, but also one who is too immersed in the models of old Classical masters. There are no signs of his own expression or of the character of Czech music’ (Konečně “Hymnus” (1873) uvedl jej v jasný den, ale ne tvůrčí uvědomělosti, nýbrž pouze v den úspěchu a veřejného zájmu. Dílo toto menších forem okazuje vyspělého hudebníka, však až příliš vnořeného ve vzory mistrů staroklasických. Po vlastním jeho výrazu i po charakteru české hudby není v díle tom nijakých stop); Ad. Piskáček, and Unsigned, ‘Dr. Antonín Dvořák’, Hlas Národa no. 123 (3 May 1904): 1.

68 In the aforementioned letter to Dvořák, Littleton explains the title: ‘we were obliged to call it a patriotic hymnus as we felt it impossible to say Fatherland while all the text was about Mother Country’. Kuna et al., eds, Antonín Dvořák: Korespondence, vol. 6, 18 (letter dated 2 Feb. 1885).

69 Unsigned, ‘Music’, The Graphic no. 807 (16 May 1885): 490.

70 Unsigned, ‘Monday and Saturday Popular Concerts’, The Musical Times (1 Mar. 1886): 139–40.

71 Unsigned, ‘Crystal Palace’, The Musical Times (1 Mar. 1886): 140.

72 Annette Weiner, Inalienable Possessions: The Paradox of Keeping-While-Giving (Berkeley: University of California Press, 1992).

73 For example, foreign attention led the Czechs to revisit Dvořák's opera The Cunning Peasant (Šelma Sedlák, 1877) in the early 1880s. In an article for Dalibor in early 1883, the reviewer describes the situation in very plain terms: ‘[The Cunning Peasant] is hardly known in Prague; only after its performance in Dresden and Hamburg did the majority of the audience become aware of it’ (opera ta [Šelma Sedlák] v Praze je téměř neznáma; teprve provedením její v Drážďanech a Hamburku byla většina obecenstva na ni upozorněna); Unsigned, ‘Drobné zprávy’ [Brief news], Dalibor 5, 2nd ser., no. 2 (14 Jan. 1883): 16.

74 Michael Beckerman explores this topic, examining the ways in which Dvořák constructed his ‘national style’ in ‘The Master's Little Joke: Antonín Dvořák and the Mask of Nation’, in Dvořák and his World, ed. Michael Beckerman (Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1993): 134–54.

75 ‘Those who know how Dvořák does not like to give speeches will be able to imagine what kind of discomfort was caused him when he was to address the assembled artistic elites of London – but he handled himself well, surpassing everyone's expectations and was able to celebrate his first ever success as an orator’ (Kdo ví, jak nerad Dvořák řeční, učiní si pojem o tom, v jakých rozpacích byl, když měl shromážděnou uměleckou elitu londynskou osloviti – podařilo se mu to však nade všecko očekávání skvěle a on také jako řečník slavil úspěch a sice prvý toho druhu); V. U., ‘Antonín Dvořák v Londýně III’ [Antonín Dvořák in London III], Dalibor 6, 2nd ser., no. 13 (7 Apr. 1884): 123–4.

76 Unsigned, ‘Festival Choral Society: Dvorak's Stabat Mater’, The Birmingham Post (28 Mar. 1884): 4; though Czech critics did not reprint very much of this review in Czech translation, they did select this portion of it: ‘Zde chceme připomenouti k [biograckým informacím] jen tolik, že Dvořák vyniká stejně svojí skromností a neláskou k veřejnému vystupování, jako svým velikým nadáním. Za uvedení jeho do světové literatury máme co děkovati Brahmsovi, který v dílech českého skladatele ducha sobě spřízněného poznal, a žádné píle nešetřil, aby skladateli tomu, dosud zcela neznámému, veškeré kruhy otevřel’; Unsigned, ‘Hlasy novin anglických o Antonínu Dvořákovi: Birmingham Daily Post’, 143.

77 Gooley, ‘Franz Liszt: The Virtuoso as Strategist’, 145–6.

78 The essay is entitled ‘Versuch einer Vereinigung aller schönen Künste und Wissenschaften unter dem Begriff des in sich selbst Vollendeten’ [Toward a unification of all the fine arts and letters under the concept of self-sufficiency].

79 Woodmansee, The Author, Art, and the Market, 11–12.

80 Woodmansee, The Author, Art, and the Market, 12.

81 David Larkin, “Sardanapalian Suppers and Secret Journalism: Media Manipulation in Liszt's Later Career’, Paper Presented at the 20th Biennial Conference on Nineteenth-Century Music, University of Huddersfield, England 2–4 July 2018. Eva Chamczyk makes similar claims in relation to Polish composer and violinist Apolinary Kątski in ‘Apolinary Kątski: A Nineteenth-Century Master of Self-Promotion’, Fontes artis musicae 67/4 (2020): 331–48.

82 William Weber, ‘The Musician as Entrepreneur and Opportunist, 1700–1914’, in The Musician as Entrepreneur, 1700–1914: Managers, Charlatans and Idealist, ed. William Weber (Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 2004): 5.

83 Specifically, Josef Srb Debrnov makes the following statement: ‘Many artists, instead of striving for the ideal in art, revel in their own glory and self-conceit … material gains are frequently their main goal’ (mnozí umělci, místo aby hleděli dospěti k idealu umění, více hoví své slávě a ješitnosti … výtěžek materielný bývá často cílem hlavním); J. S. Debrnov, ‘Umění a škola’ [Art and education], Dalibor 1, 2nd ser., no. 8 (10 Mar. 1879): 59.

84 Milan Kuna et al., eds, Antonín Dvořák: Korespondence a dokumenty, vol. 3 (Prague: Editio Supraphon, 1989): 256 (letter dated 5 Apr. 1894).

85 Beckerman, ‘The Master's Little Joke’, 139. Beckerman puts it another way: ‘if a nation sounds in the concert hall and no one hears it, can it really be national?’