remarkable that a work so excellent and having so many elements of
popularity should not be given more frequently in this country.

ANTON DVORAK.

Anton Dvorak, the Bohemian composer who has risen so suddenly into
prominence, was born at Muelhausen, near Prague, Sept. 8, 1841. His father
combined the businesses of tavern-keeper and butcher, and young Dvorak
assisted him in waiting upon customers, as well as in the slaughtering
business. As the laws of Bohemia stipulate that music shall be a part of
common-school education, Dvorak learned the rudiments in the village
school, and also received violin instruction. At the age of thirteen he
went to work for an uncle who resided in a village where the schoolmaster
was a proficient musician. The latter, recognizing his ability, gave him
lessons on the organ, and allowed him to copy music. Piano-lessons
followed, and he had soon grounded himself quite thoroughly in
counterpoint. At the age of sixteen he was admitted to the organ-school
at Prague, of which Joseph Pitsch was the principal. Pitsch died shortly
after, and was succeeded by Kreyci, who made Dvorak acquainted with the
music of Mozart, Beethoven, and Mendelssohn. The first orchestral work
which he heard was Beethoven's "Ninth Symphony," during its rehearsal
under Spohr's direction. In 1860, being then in his nineteenth year, he
obtained an engagement, with the meagre salary of $125 a year, as
violinist in a band that played at cafes and dances. Two years later he
secured a position in the Bohemian Opera-House at Prague, then under the
direction of Mayer, where he remained until 1871, in which year he left
the theatre and devoted himself to teaching, with the prospect of earning
$250 a year. These were hard days for the young musician; but while he
was thus struggling for a bare subsistence he continued writing
compositions, though he had no prospect of selling them or of having them
played. One writer remarks on this point: "It is far from difficult to
compare him in this respect with that marvellous embodiment of patience
and enthusiasm, Franz Schubert; only, more fortunate than the Viennese
master, the Bohemian has lived to receive his reward. Between these two
men another point of resemblance appears. Neither can be charged with
pushing or intriguing himself into prominence. Schubert had plenty of
artistic ambition, but of personal ambition none; while the quality he so
entir