Furiant, Op. 12/2, B137

The Furiant was commissioned by the owner of the London-based publisher J. W. Coates, who requested it for the supplement of his Magazine of Music. This little piece, characteristic for its effective contrast between the outer “furiant” parts and the more tranquil middle section, is one of the composer’s most successful stylisations of a folk dance. Dvořák also wrote Dumka, Op. 12/1, for this magazine, but it ended up in a Paris-based album. Both pieces were also published in Prague by František Augustin Urbánek, featuring a dedication to a young amateur pianist, Marie Rusová, the daughter of one of Dvořák’s friends.