Antonín Dvorák: Poetical Tone Pictures op. 85

Dvorak wrote to his Berlin publisher in 1889 informing them of the composition of the Poetic Tone Pictures (Op. 85) and adding "You will like the compositions. Each piece has a title and is meant to describe something." The titles of the different pieces give a good indication of the impulses which prompted Dvorak to write them: the intimate impressions and moods evoked by his enjoyment of the natural beauties of the Vysoka countryside where they were composed, and recollections of its past. Antonin Dvorak (1841-1904) was best known for his New World Symphony, composed in the short time he spent in America – the rest of his career was spent in his native Bohemia and the rest of Europe.