Dvořák was born on 8th September 1841 in Nelahozeves, Czechia, near Prague, where he spent most of his life. He studied music in Prague's only Organ School at the end of the 1850s, and slowly developed himself as an accomplished violinist and violist. Throughout the 1860s he played viola in the Bohemian Provisional Theater Orchestra, which was from 1866 conducted by Bedřich Smetana. The need to supplement his income by teaching left Dvořák with limited free time, and in 1871 he gave up the orchestra in order to compose. He fell in love with one of his pupils and wrote a song cycle, Cypress Trees, expressing his anguish at her marriage to another man. However, he soon overcame his despondency, and in 1873 married her sister, Anna Čermáková.
In 1891 he wrote the famous Requiem Mass, similarly as Stabat Mater and Te Deum his major sacred work. Composition is a reflection of generally alarming questions of human being. The opus shows much of the tonal colour, original instrumentation, impressiveness and purity of composer´s mature work.
From 1892 to 1895, Dvořák was the director of the National Conservatory of Music in New York City. The Conservatory was founded by a wealthy socialite, Jeannette Thurber, who wanted a well-known composer as director in order to lend prestige to her institution. She wrote to Dvořák asking him to accept the position, and he agreed, providing that she were willing to meet his conditions: talented native American and black students, who could not afford the tuition, had to be admitted for free. She agreed to his conditions, and he sailed to America.
It was during this time as director of the Conservatory that Dvořák formed a friendship with Harry Burleigh, an African-American, who became an important composer. Dvořák taught Burleigh composition, and in return, Burleigh spent hours on end singing traditional Negro spirituals to Dvořák. Burleigh went on to compose settings of these spirituals.
In the winter and spring of 1893, while in New York, he wrote his most popular work, his ninth symphony "From the New World". Following an invitation from his family, he spent the summer of 1893 in the Czech-speaking community of Spillville, Iowa. While there he composed two of his most famous chamber works, the string quartet in F major ("The American"), and the string quintet in E flat major.
Also while in the United States he heard a performance of a cello concerto by the composer Victor Herbert. He was so excited by the possibilities of the cello and orchestra combination displayed in this concerto that he wrote a concerto of his own, the cello concerto in B minor (1895). Since then the concerto, considered one of the greatest of the genre, has grown in popularity and is frequently performed today. He also left an unfinished work, the cello concerto in A major (1865), which was completed and orchestrated by the German composer Günter Raphael between 1925 and 1929, and by Jarmil Burghauser in 1952.
He eventually returned to Prague where he was director of the conservatory from 1901 until his death on 1st May 1904. At the end of his life, Dvořák was in serious financial straits, as he had sold his many compositions for so little he had hardly anything to live on. He is buried in the Vyšehrad cemetery in Prague.
Song to the Moon
Antonín Dvořák Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Svetlo tve daleko vidi,
Po svete bloudis sirokem,
Divas se v pribytky lidi.
Mesicku, postuj chvili
Reckni mi, kde je muj mily
Rekni mu, stribmy mesicku,
Me ze jej objima rame,
Vzpomenul ve sneni na mne.
Zasvet mu do daleka,
Rekni mu, rekni m kdo tu nan ceka!
O mneli duse lidska sni,
At'se tou vzpominkou vzbudi!
Mesicku, nezhasni, nezhasni!
The lyrics of Antonín Dvořák's Song to the Moon are a conversation between the moon and the singer. The opening lines of the song evoke a powerful image of the moon's light reaching far and wide in the sky, while the singer expresses admiration for the moon's presence. The singer then goes on to ask the moon to pause for a moment and inquire about the whereabouts of their beloved. The singer instructs the moon to send a message to their lover, asking them to remember the singer in their dreams and to know that the singer thinks of them often.
The song is a tender and romantic piece, full of longing and passion. The poetic and dreamy quality of the lyrics is enhanced by the use of musical motifs that evoke the sound of the moon and the night sky. The repeated use of the word "mesicku," which means little moon, emphasizes the singer's connection to this celestial body. The song also conveys a sense of hope, as the singer urges the moon not to extinguish its light, suggesting that the love between the singer and their beloved will endure.
Line by Line Meaning
Mesiku na nebi hlubokem
Oh moon high up in the sky
Svetlo tve daleko vidi
Your far-reaching light sees all
Po svete bloudis sirokem
You wander wide across the world
Divas se v pribytky lidi
Gazing upon people and their homes
Mesicku, postuj chvili
Moon, please stop for a moment
Reckni mi, kde je muj mily
Tell me, where is my beloved?
Rekni mu, stribmy mesicku,
Tell him, silver moon
Me ze jej objima rame,
That I embrace him in my arms
Aby si alespon chvilicku
So that he may, for just a moment
Vzpomenul ve sneni na mne
Remember me in his dreams
Zasvet mu do daleka,
Shine on him from afar
Rekni mu, rekni m kdo tu nan ceka!
Tell him, tell him who is waiting here for him!
O mneli duse lidska sni,
Let his human soul yearn for me
At'se tou vzpominkou vzbudi!
So that he may awaken with the memory of me
Mesicku, nezhasni, nezhasni!
Moon, do not disappear, do not disappear!
Writer(s): Jaroslav Kvapil, Antonin Dvorak
Contributed by Eva O. Suggest a correction in the comments below.
Shin-i-chi Kozima
Indescribable beauty
Indescribable comfort
Indescribable feeling
and something indescribable
After listening to Fleming's incomparable soprano ,
I may dream of joy and sorrow of the falling in love with someone
Listening to Fleming's breathtaking soprano ,
I might have a dream of nostalgic my late beloved mother .
That is the ultimate in bliss for me
I want to give the feeling of thanks again to nostalgic my late beloved mother
My tears is a testament of long farewell and sincere tribute to you , Mother .
From Tokyo of the Land of the Rising Sun 🇯🇵
Panayiotis Vyras
Měsíčku na nebi hlubokém
Světlo tvé daleko vidí,
Po světě bloudíš širokém,
Díváš se v příbytky lidí.
Měsíčku, postůj chvíli
Řekni mi, kde je můj milý
Řekni mu, stříbrný měsíčku,
mé že jej objímá rámě,
aby si alespoň chviličku
vzpomenul ve snění na mě.
Zasviť mu do daleka,
řekni mu, řekni mu, kdo tu naň čeká!
O mne-li duše lidská sní,
ať se tou vzpomínkou vzbudí!
Měsíčku, nezhasni, nezhasni!
Moon in the deep sky,
Your light sees far away ,
You wander around the wide sky
Peering into human dwellings.
Moon, stand still for a moment,
Tell me, tell where my beloved is!
Tell him silver moon,
That my arms are embracing him,
So that he for at least an instant
Remembers me in his dreams.
Shine to a distance for him, shine for him
Tell him, tell who is here waiting for him!
If his human soul is dreaming about me,
May that remembrance awake him!
Moon, don't disappear, don’t disappear!
Fernando Pinheiro
CANÇÃO À LUA
A ópera Rusalka, inspirada nos contos de fada tchecos,
De Antonin Dvorak, apresenta Song to the Moon, cantada
Por Rusalka, filha de um duende, ao ouvir os bons ecos
De seu coração, fica por um príncipe-caçador encantada.
Na canção, Rusalka roga a lua para levar a sua mensagem
De amor ao príncipe-caçador na região do lago onde
Ele frequenta com assiduidade. Isto pode ser a visagem.
A lua é um lugar onde o amor das pessoas se esconde.
Nos tempos da pandemia com o recolhimento nos lares,
Deve aumentar muito os pedidos de quem não pode sair
À rua para fazer, pessoalmente, a súplica dos cantares.
Rusalka não sofre de doenças, pois o DNA é diferente
Dos humanos e pode ajudar as pessoas a não contrair
Qualquer mal que vive só atormentando a essa gente. (*)
(*) FERNANDO PINHEIRO, presidente da Academia de Letras dos Funcionários do Banco do Brasil. - CANÇÃO À LUA (poesia), de Fernando Pinheiro. - in O mundo de Morfeu, de Fernando Pinheiro.
glynis1007
Beautiful. Thank you, Dvorak, you must have been sent by god.
John K Holloway
We all are, even you
GEORGE GEBHARDT
This is the epitomy of the human voice.
Trapper4265
If ever asked, "What if you had one song to listen for the rest of your life, what would that song be?" I honestly would say "Song to the Moon" by Antonin Dvorak
mamaco 🎩
Sempre que ouço essa música, e ouço muito, sinto a mesma sensação todas as vezes. É algo mágico.
Camilla Rigamonti
This opera is in Czech. I discover right now that Dvorak was born in Boemia.
It's a wonderful piece, thank you very much for put it on with these amazing paintings. Ciao.
Ames Harlem
What's interesting about getting chills, is, they're totally involuntary, which really indicates something has real value.
Shin-i-chi Kozima
I am touched by her clear voice that sings the outpouring of heart of Water,s Spirit in love .
道
her signature song, always on her list in any concert...
icmeler 2000
Antonin immediately captured my attention when I first heard his works in music class at school in 1970. He has a special place in my heart and I have visited the great man's grave in Prague to pay my homage and respect. His mastery of melody & harmony is omnipresent in his works from the captivating 'tunes' within his gorgeous 'Slavonic Dances Opus 46 & 72' to masterpieces like this that grip you in an entirely different way. The highlight of my next visit to Prague will be getting a train from the city to the north and alighting at Nelahozeves - his birthplace - to visit the town that gave us this musical genius and by a method of transport that appropriately enough he was so fascinated and captivated by.