BA9544-90. Dvorák, Antonín, The Spectre's Bride Op69: Dramatic cantata to the words by Karel Jaromír Erben. The preference of English audiences for large-scale vocal works led to Dvorák being commissioned, in November 1883, to write a cantata for solo voices, chorus and orchestra for the 1885 Birmingham Festival. As the basis for his composition Dvorák chose the ballad text “Svatební kosile” (literally ‘The Bridal Gowns’) from the collection “Kytice z povestí národních”: A Garland of Folk Tales.