Born: September 8, 1841 in Muhlhausen, Bohemia

Died: May 1, 1904 in Prague, Czechoslovakia

Dvorak wrote a total of nine symphonies, nine operas, and fourteen string quartets amidst his numerous other works. Dvorak spent some time in America from 1892 to 1895, during which he wrote the last and most well-known of his symphonies, “From the New World.” In the same year of 1893, he wrote his Quartet No. 12 in F Major, also known as the “American Quartet.” Some of Dvorak’s most loved pieces for solo instruments include Humoresque for piano, a concerto and Romance in F minor for violin, and a major concerto for cello.

Violin Concerto

I love this concerto! It is on my list of “to learns sometime in my life”. Although, personally, I thought this version was a little too brutal/strong and slow in the beginning…And ignore his facial expression, bc the music is amazing. This is only part of the 1st movement though…

New World Symphony: the thrilling fourth movement!

Romance in F minor: ok, maybe i’m super biased, but this is an exquisitely beautiful piece! I wish I could play this. ^^ the orchestral intro is long, but hey, the orch part is so prominent and gracefully intertwined with the solo part, making this piece worth listening to multiple times! The soloist in the videos below is Itzhak Perlman, a super-famous violinist! For those of you who are wondering, he is sitting down instead of standing because he had polio when he was younger. His playing and expressiveness are awesome! ^_^