On his first morning in Spillville, Dvorák was struck by the fact he had just heard his first bird call in eight months, since his arrival in America. Within two days of his arrival in Spillville Dvorák completed sketches for the String Quartet in F, opus 96, the American, sometimes referred to as the Spillville, Quartet. He completed the quartet on June 23, 1893. At the bottom of the manuscript he wrote, "Thanks be to God. I am satisfied. It went quickly!" There was another notation regarding the "damned bird" that inspired the piece, the tanager, a red bird with black wings. It is believed the adjective referred to the bird's intriguing color combination and was not a profane condemnation; he loved birds.
See
http://www.chefjeff.org/spillville_iowa.htm
I'm very fond of the music that Dvorak wrote during his stay in America. When he sent the completed manuscript of his Ninth Symphony to his publishers in Prague, he wrote on the envelope in his native language Z Noveho Sveta - From the New World.
Henry
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