Slavonic Dances

Composition#

Prior to the publication of the Slavonic Dances, Op. 46, Dvořák was a relatively unknown composer and was of modest means. Consequently, he had applied for the Austrian State Prize fellowship (German “Stipendium”) in order to fund his composing work. After he won the prize three times in four years (1874, 1876 and 1877), Johannes Brahms, as one of the members of the committee responsible for awarding the stipend, referred Dvořák to his own publisher, Fritz Simrock. The first of Dvořák’s music to be published by Simrock was the Moravian Duets, which attained widespread success; encouraged, Simrock asked the composer to write something with a dance-like character. Unsure how to begin, Dvořák used Brahms’s Hungarian Dances as a model—but only as a model; there are a number of important differences between the two works. For example, whereas Brahms made use of actual Hungarian folk melodies, Dvořák only made use of the characteristic rhythms of Slavic folk music: the melodies are entirely his own. Simrock was immediately impressed by the music Dvořák produced (originally for piano four hands), and asked the composer for an orchestral version as well. Both versions were published within the year, and quickly established Dvořák’s international reputation. The enormous success of the Op. 46 dances led Simrock to request another set of Slavonic Dances in 1886; Dvořák’s subsequent Op. 72 dances met with a similar reception.

Instrumentation#

The instrumentation for the Slavonic Dances is as follows: ;Woodwinds: :piccolo (Op.46 only) :2 flutes (2nd doubles piccolo in op.72) :2 oboes :2 clarinets :2 bassoons ;Brass: :4 horns :2 trumpets :3 trombones ;Percussion: :timpani :cymbals :bass drum : triangle : glockenspiel (last movement of op.72 only) ;Strings: :violins I and II :violas :violoncellos :double basses

Music#

The types of dances upon which Dvořák based his music include the furiant, the dumka, the polka, the sousedská, the skočná, the mazurka, the odzemek, the špacírka, the kolo and the polonaise. Most of the Slavonic Dances make use of Czech dance patterns with the exception of dumka (Ukrainian), kolo (Serbian) and odzemek (Slovak). A full performance of each opus typically takes approximately 35–40 minutes.

Opus 46#

• No. 1 in C major (Furiant)
• No. 2 in E minor (Dumka)
• No. 3 in A major (Polka) (in some editions, no. 6: see above)
• No. 4 in F major (Sousedská)
• No. 5 in A major (Skočná)
• No. 6 in D major (Sousedská) (in some editions, no. 3: see above)
• No. 7 in C minor (Skočná)
• No. 8 in G minor (Furiant) Dvořák arranged No. 2 for violin and piano under B. 170, and Nos. 3 and 8 for cello and piano under B. 172.

Opus 72#

The dances of this opus are sometimes numbered separately from the first and sometimes as numbers 9–16. Most editions give both numbers. *No. 1 (9) in B major (Odzemek) *No. 2 (10) in E minor (Starodávný, or Dumka, traditional dance) *No. 3 (11) in F major (Skočná) *No. 4 (12) in D major (Dumka) *No. 5 (13) in B minor (Špacírka) *No. 6 (14) in B major (Starodávný, traditional dance) *No. 7 (15) in C major (Kolo) *No. 8 (16) in A major (Sousedská)

See also#

• Musical nationalism

External links#

• Further information on antonin-dvorak.cz
• Václav Talich recording Dvorak Slavonic Dances with the Czech Philharmonic in 1955