Dvorak was born in Nelahozeves, a small Bohemian village near Prague, on September 8, 1841 to a musical innkeeper and butcher. He grew up hearing Czech folk dances and local songs played at village festivals. He learnt the violin which he played in a band with his father, and also sang in the local church. When he was 12, the family moved to live with a childless uncle at Zlonice and there he studied the viola and organ. He later called his 1st Symphony "The Bells of Zlonice".

*Training
In Zlonice, Dvorak's father set up a new butchery business. However, the shop did not prosper, so Dvorak had to spend most of his time helping at a low wage. His musical gifts were becoming apparent, however, and his father and uncle soon sent him to study at the famous Prague Organ School. Here, he discovered Wagner's music, was encouraged to study orchestral scores and began composing. He produced piles of music, much of it chamber works in the German tradition, which he later destroyed. In 1862, after an upsurge of Czech nationalism, the National Theatre and National Opera were founded in Prague. Dvorak played the viola in the orchestra and took part in first performances of many of Smetana's operas. He attempted to write opera himself but his early efforts, Alfred and King and Collier, were not very successful.

*Early Success
In 1873, Dvorak's Hymnus, a setting of the patriotic poem 'The Heirs of the White Mountain', caused the composer to be hailed as a leading national figure. Success allowed him to become more settled; he became a church organist and married one of his pupils. Meanwhile, he continued to compose pieces ranging from chamber works to operas and award-winning symphonies. In 1874, Dvorak received an award for his Moravian Duets. Brahms persuaded the publisher Simrock to take it up, bringing Dvorak an income and fame across Europe. Simrock wanted more national music, so Dvorak produced the equally successful first set of the Slavonic Dances for piano duet. These works brought him to the attention of Joseph Joachim, the great violinist, who introduced Dvorak's chamber music to Berlin with a Sextet and a String Quartet. It was for Joachim that Dvorak wrote his Violin Concerto of 1879-80. Further successful compositions appeared including the Sixth Symphony, dedicated to Hans Richter. The opera Dimitrij and the brilliant nationalistic overture, Hussitska, were among works written for the opening of the Czech National Theatre in 1883.

*An International Reputation
Dvorak's fame had now spread abroad. The Stabat Mater, written on the death of one of his daughters, had extablished his fame in englandand in 1884, he was invited to London to conduct it at the Royal Albert Hall. Other concerts of various works followed, all received with great acclaim. Later in the year, he again conducted the Stabat Mater, at the 800th anniversary of the foundation of Worcester Cathedral. This gave him contact with English provincial festivals and, over the next few years, he wrote a number of pieces, including the Spectre's Bride for the Birmingham Festival, Saint Ludmilla for the Leeds Festival, and the Requiem for the Birmingham Festival. Dvorak attracted honours from many quarters, including doctorates from Praque and Cambridge Universities. He was also made Professor of Composition at the Praque Conservatoire. He was able to buy a comfortable property near the capital where he settled down to breed pigeons, his favourite hobby. His rustic appearance at this time caused people to describe him as 'a genius who looks like a tinker'.

*Dvorak in the New World
In 1892, after a series of farewell concerts in Bohemia, Dvorak sailed for America at the invitation of Mrs Jeannette Thurber, a wealthy music-lover who in 1885 had founded the National Conservatoire of Music in New York. At a salary of $15,000 a year, Dvorak was to teach, prepare student concerts and conduct ten concerts of his own music a year. On his arrival, he performed his Te Deum, written the year bofore. Though he had brought his family with him, Dvorak grew very homesick and in fact only stayed for three years. During that time, however, he wrote some of his most famous and poplular works. These included Humoreske, String Quartet Op.96 "American", String Quintet Op.97, Ten Biblical Songs, Cello Concerto Op.104 and most celebrated of all, his Ninth Symphony "From the NEw World". The latter sparked a controversy over whether Dvorak had used American or Czech native and folk melodies for his themes. He declared that they were all his own invention.

*His Final Years
On returning to Prague, his settled, routine existence provided a secure base for a further outpouring of mature works. He turned out the late String Quartets, and the four symphonic poems: The Water Goblin, The Noonday Witch, The Golden Spinning Wheel, and The Wild Dove are all brillian, orchestral showpieces based on traditional Czech fairytales. There were also the two folk-operas, The Devil and Kate and Rusalka. In 1900, Dvorak became Director of the Prague Conservatoire and a member of the equivalent of the Austrian House of Lords. He died in 1904 and was mourned as a national hero.