PSC ROOTS: Dvořák AND BURLEIGH ON EAST 17TH STREET BEFORE WASHINGTON IRVING AND PEOPLES’ SYMPHONY CONCERTS

The renowned Czech composer Antonin Dvořák and the American baritone and composer Harry T. Burleigh met thanks to 19th century philanthropist Jeannette M. Thurber, who founded the National Conservatory of Music in Manhattan in 1885 (1). In 1892, Thurber’s persistence and the promise of a large salary enticed Dvořák and his family to New York City, where he led the National Conservatory, taught music theory, and lived with his wife and six children near Stuyvesant Square for the next four years (2. Finck). Harry Burleigh was one of a number of Black students accepted at the Conservatory and he became Dvořák’s assistant and a major influence. The school grew from dozens to hundreds of students in its first decade, and occupied two converted homes near Union Square: first at 126-128 East 17th Street, where the Washington Irving Educational Campus currently stands, and later on West 25th Street and 74th Street (3, Finck).

Throughout Dvořák’s first year in New York, Burleigh generously introduced him to the diverse roots music traditions of America (4, Snyder). Burleigh was known to sing Spirituals in the hallways of the Conservatory, and his rendition of “Swing Low, Sweet Chariot” is quoted in Dvořák’s 9th Symphony “From the New World”, written in New York in the Spring of 1893 (5). Dvořák, who had previously used Czech folk music in his compositions, credited Burleigh with introducing him to America’s folk music, which became an important influence.

A few months later, Dvořák and his family trained to Spillville, Iowa, a refuge for Czech immigrants: stopping at the 1893 Chicago World’s Fair and absorbing folk melodies and American roots influences along the way. While in Spillville, Dvořák composed his 12th String Quartet in F Major nicknamed the “American” (6). That same summer, Burleigh successfully auditioned and became the first Black soloist at an all-white congregation at St. George’s Church on 16th Street, where he sang for over 50 years (7, Snyder). In the fall of 1893, Dvořák successfully petitioned Thurber to offer full scholarships to Black students at the National Conservatory (8). Burleigh formally entered the school as a student in 1894 and graduated in 1896 (Snyder). By 1904, Thurber was described in the New York Herald as admitting all “pupils of ability regardless of race, color or creed” to the school (10). The National Conservatory relocated several times and maintained a student body through the 1920s, but the stock market crash of 1929 led to a loss of funding, and the school closed in 1930 (Finck).

Although brief, Dvořák and Burleigh’s years together in New York City were pivotal for both artists. From his Symphonies to his chamber music, Dvořák incorporated folk melodies in his compositions during and after his time in New York City. Burleigh is recognized as an important musical figure, and his vocal arrangements of Spirituals and other American songs remain popular today. In New York City, Dvorak is memorialized with a statue in Stuyvesant Square, and Burleigh is commemorated on 16th Street between 3rd Avenue and Rutherford, by St. George’s Church, with Harry T. Burleigh Place.

Sources:
Czech Museum of Music, Antonín Dvořák Museum Prague. 1893. Photo: “Dvořák with his wife, children, and friends in New York”
Dvorak American Heritage Association
Finck, Henry Theophilus (1916). Thirty Years of the National Conservatory of Music of America. NCMA.
Kafkadesk: On this Day, in 1893: Dvorak’s New World Symphony premiered in New York
Museum of the City of New York, licensed by Bridgeman Images. 1905. Gelatin and Silver Print: “Facade of National Conservatory of Music at 128 East 17th Street”
Prints and Photographs Reading Room, Library of Congress. 1927. “Harry Thacker Burleigh, head-and-shoulders portrait, facing right”
Rubin, Emanuel (Autumn 1990). "Jeannette Meyers Thurber and the National Conservatory of Music". American Music. 8 (3): 294–325 (JSTOR) 
Service, Tom. “Symphony guide: Dvořák's 9th 'From the New World' | Classical music | The Guardian
Snyder, Jean (2016). Harry T. Burleigh: From the Spiritual to the Harlem Renaissance. University of Illinois Press.