Moravian Duets, Op. 29, B60

Opus number

29

Burghauser catalogue number

60

Date of composition

17 May – 21 May 1876

Premiere - date and place

private performance: May/June 1876, Prague

Premiere performer(s)

private performance: Marie Neffová (?), Marie Blažková (?), Antonín Dvořák (?)

First edition

Emanuel Starý, 1876, Prague

Text

Moravian folk-songs

Parts / movements

1. The Fugitive (A já ti uplynu)
2. Fly Away, Little Bird (Veleť, vtáčku)
3. The Slighted Heart (Dyby byly kosa nabróšená)
4. Parting without Sorrow (V dobrým sme se sešli)
5. The Pledge of Love (Slavíkovský polečko malý)

Duration

approx. 9 min

composition history

Dvořák began writing Moravian Duets at the request of Prague wholesale merchant, patriot and patron Jan Neff, who engaged him as a piano teacher for his family in the 1870s. Neff and his wife Marie were great music enthusiasts and regularly organised small concerts at home, where they sang songs and duets. The children’s governess, Marie Blažková, would often join them, and Dvořák would attend these soirees as accompanist on the piano. Neff proposed that Dvořák might like to arrange certain Moravian folk songs from the famous collection by František Sušil, Moravian Folk Songs with Melodies Included in the Texts, as duets with piano. Dvořák initially agreed to this, but then decided that, instead of arranging the existing melodies, he would use only the texts, for which he would write completely new musical settings.

chronological history

The collection of Moravian Duets appeared gradually, over a period of approximately two and a half years. Dvořák initially (probably in March 1875) wrote three duets for soprano and tenor attributed the opus number 20DestinedThe Parting and The Silken Band. He wrote another five duets in May of the following year (marked in the manuscript as Series II, Op. 29), this time for two female voices, namely for Marie Neffová and the governess Marie Blažková: The FugitiveFly Away, Little BirdThe Slighted HeartParting without Sorrow and The Pledge of Love. After an interval of five weeks, he added another ten duets to this collection (marked in the manuscript as Series III, Op. 32) for soprano and alto: Sad of HeartForsakenThe Modest MaidThe RingOmensThe Soldier’s FarewellThe Last Wish (later included in Op. 20), The Maid ImprisonedComfort and The Wild Rose. In August of the following year (1877) Dvořák wrote four duets (as Op. 38) for two unspecified voices: Hoping in VainGreeting from AfarThe Crown and Grief. Commonly included among these duets is another, independent duet, originating in 1881 but bearing no opus number, There on Our Roof, which brings the total number of Moravian Duets to twenty-three. Dvořák also arranged five of his duets for four unaccompanied female voices.

general characteristics

Moravian Duets collectively represent one of the most original expressions of Dvořák’s musical fantasy. They bring together all the unique aspects of the composer’s musical idiom: his choice of melodic intervals, succinct rhythms, unusual imitative treatment, polymelodic composition, and the art of contrast. Dvořák does not use the original folk tunes but applies his own melodic invention supported by the characteristic traits of Moravian folklore: modulation down a major second, or harmonic oscillation between two keys, among others. The vocal lines trace the original texts with maximum spontaneity and perfectly capture their natural simplicity. Using rare imagery, the composer allows both parts to mutually interact and imitate one another, at the same time organically weaving them into the piano part. In accordance with the folk model, the songs are generally strophic or tripartite, yet they still demonstrate considerable formal diversity.

subsequent history

Moravian Duets were a landmark in Dvořák’s career, since their success provided a springboard to international recognition. Jan Neff had thirteen of the duets selected from Opp. 29 and 32 published by Emanuel Starý in Prague at his own cost, and so Dvořák was able in the autumn of 1877 to submit them together with his third application for a state scholarship. One of the committee members who decided on the allocation of the grants was Johannes Brahms, who took a lively interest in the duets. On 12 December of that year he wrote to his publisher Fritz Simrock:

“Dear S., for a few years now I have enjoyed receiving works by Antonín Dvořák (pronounced Dworschak) from Prague, who has sent in applications for a state scholarship. This year he has submitted, among others, a volume of duets for two sopranos and piano which seem to me to be both attractive and practical. It appears that this volume was printed at his own cost. The title and, regrettably, also the text are only in Czech. I recommended that he send you the songs! If you play through them, you will be, as I was, entirely delighted with them and you will particularly appreciate their piquant charm. Dvořák writes all sorts of things, operas (Czech), symphonies, quartets, piano pieces. He is certainly a very talented individual! He is also poor! I ask you to consider this.”

Brahms’s recommendation did not go unheard. Simrock accepted the duets (Dvořák did not receive any fee) and he published them at the beginning of 1878 using the common designation Klänge aus Mähren, Op. 32. The success of the work exceeded all expectations and Simrock immediately commissioned another opus from Dvořák, to be written in the spirit of Slav folk music – and this was his Slavonic Dances which served to establish Dvořák’s permanent position on the international music scene.