1878–1880

As Czechs were striving for national emancipation, a number of artists began to show an inclination towards folklore. In Dvořák’s case these tendencies were all the more spontaneous for the fact that he came from a rural environment and folk music was essentially very much a part of him. In line with the Pan-Slavic ideal which was vigorously supported in Czech society at that time, Dvořák also sought inspiration beyond his home environment and looked to the music of other Slav nations. Moreover, he had external motivation to do so: when, having witnessed the success of the Moravian Duets, publisher Fritz Simrock sensed commercial potential in this unknown composer, he asked Dvořák to write a series of “Czech-Slav” dances. The phenomenal success of Slavonic Dances encouraged Dvořák to write other works in a similar spirit. Apart from the two works mentioned above, this period produced the Slavonic Rhapsodies, the “Slavonic” String Quartet, Czech Suite and many other compositions which, while they might not contain the words “Slavonic” or “Czech” in their titles, in character they may be readily assigned to this group: Symphony No. 6 in D major, Concerto for Violin and Orchestra in A minor, etc. Dvořák did not use specific folk melodies but, through his unique invention, he was able to convey their typical traits in his own distinctive works. These include melodic lines in parallel thirds or sixths, the use of “bagpipe fifths” in the bass line, the frequent exposition of thematic material in the clarinet (the instrument featuring prominently in Czech village bands), the so-called Moravian modulation down a major second, harmonic oscillation between same-note major and minor keys, among others. From this period onwards Dvořák moreover began to incorporate movements or independent pieces entitled “furiant” and “dumka” into his works. The furiant is a Czech folk dance in fast tempo with an irregular metre (alternating two-four and three-four bars), while the dumka was originally a Ukrainian song form, whose melancholic character Dvořák generally contrasted with a fast section. The compositions from his Slavic period assured Dvořák his first successes on the international scene and they remain some of his most frequently performed works to this day.