Antonín Dvořák (1841–1904) was a Czech composer who achieved worldwide recognition for his ability to weave the folk melodies of his homeland into the sophisticated structures of Romantic-era symphonies and chamber music. Invited to New York in 1892 to lead the National Conservatory of Music, he became a pivotal figure in American music history, famously encouraging American composers to look to African American and Native American melodies for inspiration. It was while living in the United States that Dvořák composed his Ninth Symphony, which he subtitled “Aus der Neuen Welt” – From the New World.