Composer Antonín Dvořák was born on September 8, 1841 in what is now the Czech Republic. He composed symphonies, chamber music and at least one opera (Rusalka).
Dvorak spent some time in the US as the head of a music conservatory in New York, and he later travelled to Spilville, Iowa, to join a small community of Czech residents living in the US.
The “American” quartet was composed there and became one of Dvorak’s most famous compositions.
Here is pianist Sviatoslav Richter with the Borodin Quartet, performing the Dvorak Piano Quintet:
