Focusing on Dvorák’s eventful stay in the United States from 1892 to 1895, this book explores the world behind the public legend, offering fresh insights into the composer’s music. We see the traditional image—that of a simple Czech fellow with a flair for composing symphonic and chamber music—give way to one of a complex figure writing works filled with hidden drama and secret programs. In his cogent examination of Dvorák’s state of mind, Michael B. Beckerman, a noted scholar of Czech music, concludes that the composer suffered from a debilitating and previously unexplored anxiety disorder during his American sojourn. Using Dvorák as a model, he argues convincingly that the biographical images we carry of composers condition the way we approach their music.
Michael Beckerman, New Worlds of Dvorák: Searching in America for the Composer’s Inner Life. New York: W. W. Norton, 2003.
