163, is a symphony by Antonín Dvořák, composed in 1889 at Vysoká u Příbramě, Bohemia, on the occasion of his election to the Bohemian Academy of Science, Literature and Arts.

Dvořák composed and orchestrated the symphony within the two-and-a-half-month period from 26 August to 8 November 1889 at his summer resort in Vysoká u Příbramě, Bohemia.

It opens with a lyrical G minor theme in the cellos, horns, clarinets and first bassoon with trombones playing pianissimo accompaniment, and violas and double basses pizzicato.

[1] Writing about a performance by the National Symphony Orchestra, Peter Laki notes that the development section "works up quite a storm."

The dialogue between the woodwinds dies down and leads into theme being stated by the first flute and oboe, over light clarinets, bassoons, and first horn, descending C major scales in the violins, pizzicato violas and cellos, and gentle quavers in the basses.

A similar statement of the theme is echoed by a violin solo, which ends in cheerful and satisfying double stops.

Similar to Beethoven's "Pastoral" Symphony, the music is inspired by the tranquil landscapes, depicting a summer's day, interrupted by a thunderstorm.

The tension is masterfully built and finally released at approximately two minutes into the piece, with a cascade of instruments triumphantly playing the initial theme at a somewhat faster pace.

After a return to the slow, lyrical section, the piece ends on a chromatic coda, in which brass and timpani are greatly prominent.

The variations vary widely in character: some are slower and some are faster in tempo, some are soft (such as the virtuosic one for solo flute), and some are noisy; most are in the major mode, though the central one, reminiscent of a village band, is in the minor.

After the successful premiere, he conducted the work again on 7 November 1890 in a Museumskonzert in Frankfurt and the following year in Cambridge, on the night before his being awarded an honorary doctorate.

He wrote after the concert in Vienna to the composer: "An dieser Aufführung hätten Sie gewiß Freude gehabt.

[1][2] Simrock wanted to publish the movement titles and the composer's name in German, which Dvořák refused as a "proud Bohemian".