Prague, Antonín Dvořák, and Piano

(By peragro, Flickr ID)

Prague's Astronomical Clock
(By wwwleraar, Flickr ID)


Charles Bridge
(By rodliam, Flickr ID)

The Museum of Antonín Dvořák:
A historic Baroque house by an architect Kilian Ignaz Dientzenhofer

Dvořák's Bosendorfer grand piano
(Last two pictures by Hung Chieh Tsai)



Antonín Dvořák is one of my favorite Romantic composers. His music has a lively spirit and simple yet beautiful melody, which I love and admire. The piece introduced here is Dvořák's Slavonic Dance No. 1.

Prague, today the capital of Czech Republic, is a beautifully-preserved historic city. The oldest parts of Prague's famous astronomical clock were made in 1410, and Prague's beautiful Charles Bridge, which is lined with sculptures, was finished in the 15th century. The Gothic cathedral shown in the first picture is St. Vitus Cathedral, which was completed in 1929, almost 600 years after its first stone was laid in 1344.

Dvořák was born near this city, and was buried here also. Thus not surprisingly, a museum dedicated to the composer, the Antonín Dvořák Museum, is in Prague. This museum, founded in 1932, is housed in a beautiful 18th-century Baroque house by an architect Kilian Ignaz Dientzenhofer.

A Bosendorfer grand piano (made in 1879; pictured above), owned and used by Dvořák, is currently housed in this museum.

Great composers perhaps need a great setting.