dvorak unhinged lived in iowa for a couple years (he hated iowa so much missed his motherland so much that he couldn't stay in america for long; went back to what at one point was known as czechoslovakia) two of the most poignant sad slow movements ever written came out of his time in iowa second movement of his ninth 'new world' symphony second movement of his twelfth 'american' string quartet i played the ninth symphony in several different orchestras when i was younger and the rehearsals of the second movement still stand out in my mind as utterly beautiful; the way the big aching longing of the first theme gives way to the intimate prayer of the solo string quartet second theme gets me. every. time. playing the viola part of the quartet my first semester of grad school with two drama queens, the shitty viola i borrowed from the university putting me in physical therapy, resenting playing the viola part even more because the viola gets NONE of the melody in the second movement. 211010 what's it to you? who go blather from