Dvořák in Iowa | Iowa PBS Explores

How did a man like Antonín Dvořák, who was an international celebrity, spend a little over three months in a small Iowa village, and while staying here, end up composing two of his most enduring and celebrated works?

In the summer of 1893, the world renowned Czech composer Antonin Dvořák lived here.

This is Spillville, Iowa. A town with a population of around 350 people.

The question is: how did a man like Dvořák, who was an international celebrity, spend a little over three months in this small village, and while staying here, end up composing two of his most enduring and celebrated works?

Antonin Dvořák’s musical legacy is profound. During his lifetime he had become one of the most influential musical writers. His works were performed by leading artists in the most prestigious places in the world. By the end of his life, he was described by some as the world's greatest living composer.

Dvořák drew inspiration from nature. The sound of birds, streams and brooks. But his  music was deeply connected to his homeland too.  After a year in the hustle and bustle of post-industrial New York, city life began to wear on him. He grew homesick.

He initially planned to travel back to Bohemia for his summer holiday, but his assistant Joseph Kovarik, an American of Czech ancestry, told Dvořák about his hometown of Spillville. Dvořák took to the idea of spending some time in the company of his fellow countrymen. By June, He and his family set out West by train to find that piece of Bohemia in Iowa’s rolling hills.

From the mid 1800s on, a large number of immigrants from Bohemia began to settle in the area around Spillville. It was very much a Czech village. Dvořák immediately fell in love with the town.

Spillville became something of  an American Bohemia for Dvořák. He quickly started a daily routine that copied patterns he had adopted in his homeland. He would wake early in the morning, go for a walk in the woods, and attend mass at St. Wenceslaus Church, playing the organ during the service.

He would sit along the banks of the Turkey river listening to the birds. He quickly composed two pieces which now are among his most popular. The string Quartet No. 12 in F Major and the String Quintet No. 3 in E flat major. On the last page of the sketch he wrote, “Thank God. I am pleased. It went quickly”. This would become his “American” period. All inspired by his stay in Spillville.

By the middle of August the idyll calm of Spillville came to a close. He and his family departed for New York leaving this quiet little town of 350 behind.

Even though this world famous composer only stayed here for three months, his legacy has lasted well over a century. If you’re even in NE Iowa, it might be worth it to visit this small town. Walk along the banks of a creek, and listen to that inspiration Dvořák found here in the summer of 1893.