A leading composer of the Czech National School. Born the eldest son into a family of a butcher and innkeeper in a Bohemian village, he grew up surrounded by the vibrant folk music of his community. He is widely known for a style that skillfully blends beautiful, nostalgic melodies and dynamic, ethnically distinctive rhythms into the traditional formal beauty of classical music. In his 50s, he was invited to become the director of a conservatory in New York, where he was deeply impressed by local African American spirituals and Native American music, significantly influencing the development of a unique American national music. His simple, warm, and humane personality, exemplified by his passion for trains (frequenting stations) and his love for caring for pigeons in nature, also endeared him to many.