When he first started composing, aided by the award of a highly competitive state grant, he came to the attention of one of the grant committee members. He was Johannes Brahms who was so impressed with the young composer that he helped Dvorak find a publisher for his works and introduced him to Fritz Simrock in Berlin. The Moravian Duets and Slavic Dances were thus published, became a huge success and the rest is, as they say, music history.
Dvorak soon rose to international fame on the merit of his works, but he remained modest despite his success. He was a deeply religious man who loved nature and rose early to watch the birds and later incorporated their songs into his works. At his summer home in Vysoka near Pribram, he raised pigeons, but he also loved steamboats and train engines. He could often be seen at the local train station, hanging out with the train engineers or studying train schedules – that was one of his big hobbies.
As a true Bohemian, Dvorak was inspired in his music by Slovakia, Moravia, Poland and Russia and he even created a specific form of the Dumka in Russian folk tradition. He looked to Slavic music for its archaic harmonic modes and unusual modulations, which gave his own music a wealth of rhythms and melodic turnarounds and can be especially found in the Slavic dances and rhapsodies. His fame in Anglophone world started with the huge success in the UK of his Stabat Mater, in 1883.
The piece had its world premiere in Prague on December 23rd, 1880 and this led to the call to England, which, in turn, eventually brought Dvorak to the States. His fame spread to the United States via England, where he was celebrated for the Stabat Mater and then composed over the period of some 10 years several significant works, such as the 7th Symphony for the Philharmonic Society (1885), St Ludmilla for Leeds (1886), Requiem Mass for Birmingham (1890).
