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New Worlds of Dvorak: Searching in America for the Composer''s Inner Life.

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By Michael Beckerman. New York: W. W. Norton, 2003. [xxiii, 272 p. 0-7546-0352-0. $29.95.] Illustrations, bibliography, index, compact disc.

The underlying theme of Michael Beckerman's book Nero Worlds of Dvorak: Searching in America for the Composer's Inner Life is the power of the extramusical to inform our perception of an artist's work. Beckerman examines in detail the years that Dvorak spent in America in an effort to arrive at some notion of the composer's private thoughts and feelings, arguing that this will enhance our appreciation or understanding of his music. Beckerman's tone is that of a thoughtful critic who is imaginative and insightful, yet at the same time skeptical. Some readers will be disappointed that questions asked are not always questions answered, but the heuristic value of the book is considerable and it is provocative writing that will engage the reader front the beginning. Beckerman has no qualms about raising questions with which he himself is still grappling.

The book introduces us to various key figures who had an influence on Dvorak during his soujourns in the New World: Jeannette Thurber, philanthropist, who lured the composer to America to teach at the music conservatory she founded and who hoped that Dvorak would point the way toward a new "American" compositional style; Henry Burleigh, African American conservatory student and composer who...

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