DVO[VR]ÁK[93] (1841-1904) shares with Saint-Saëns, Tschaikowsky and Richard Strauss the distinction of having done more for the advancement of modern orchestration than any other composer since Wagner. For his conservation of classic symphonic forms he might be ranked as an extreme classical-romanticist, but he has gone far beyond Brahms or Rheinberger in that his harmonic progressions are novel and daring, his orchestration varied and rich. Moreover, his music is conspicuously national in character and embodies the very essence of Bohemian melody and rhythm. But though Dvo[vr]ák's form may be orthodox, it is nevertheless subjected to differentiated transformations according to the particular branch of composition that is being treated. In this he resembles Saint-Saëns, and some interesting comparisons might be made between the latter's symphony in C minor and Dvo[vr]ák's "From the New World." It will be recalled that this successful experiment of Saint-Saëns allows of but two grand structural divisions, which, however, reveal the outlines of the traditional four movements. Organic unity is obtained by reintroducing important subject-matter from the first part of the work into the second. Neither Saint-Saëns nor Dvo[vr]ák make use of a dramatic scheme like Berlioz's "Symphonie fantastique" with its _l'idée fixe_, but as Krehbiel, the eminent New York critic, states it: "Dvo[vr]ák in his symphony entitled "From the New World," in which he has striven to give expression to the American spirit, quotes the first period of his principal subject in all subsequent movements, and then sententiously recapitulates the principal themes of the first, second and third movements in the finale; and this without a sign of the dramatic purpose confessed by Berlioz." [Footnote 93: See Appendix of Musical Illustrations, Examples 90 to 96.] Dvo[vr]ák's chamber music presents still another phase of the subtle manner in which he retains and yet remodels the outlines of classic form. In regard to musical contents, the essence of national melody and rhythm is ever in evidence, but whereas in their original shape these folk-tunes are frequently commonplace and even vulgar, Dvo[vr]ák's brilliant imagination transforms them into worthy conceptions that are both dignified and noble. These he adorns with vivacious yet refined orchestration. Yet another illustration of Dvo[vr]ák's versatility is displayed in the "Spectre's Bride," which embraces in a felicitous manner the supernatural element peculiar to the works of Spohr and Weber.