There on Our Roof, B118

Opus number

Burghauser catalogue number

118

Date of composition

March/May (?) 1881

First edition

Emanuel Starý, 1882, Prague

Text

Moravian folk-songs

Duration

approx. 30 s.

The music division of the artists’ association Umělecká beseda put together a commemorative album on the occasion of the marriage of Crown Prince Rudolf in 1881, containing short pieces by leading Czech composers of the day. Dvořák contributed with a duet written to the folk text There on Our Roof. Although this is a miniature lasting approximately thirty seconds, it is effective for its original harmonies and atypical sound quality. For its stylistic affinity, this superb miniature is sometimes assigned to the Moravian Duets which predate it.