Slavonic Dances, Op. 46

• Dvořák composed his first set of eight Slovanské tancy (Slavonic Dances) in 1878.
• Originally scored for piano four-hands, Dvořák later orchestrated his Slavonic Dances and arranged some as chamber works.
• In 1877, Johannes Brahms wrote to his Berlin music publisher Fritz Simrock to recommend that they publish the music of young, nearly-unknown Dvořák. Simrock commissioned the Slavonic Dances Op. 46 the following year.

“For several years I have enjoyed works sent in by Antonín Dvořák (pronounced Dvorschak) of Prague. This year he has sent works including a volume of 10 duets for two sopranos and piano, which seem to me very pretty, and a practical proposition for publishing. … Play them through and you will like them as much as I do. As a publisher, you will be particularly pleased with their piquancy. … Dvořák has written all manner of things: operas (Czech), symphonies, quartets, piano pieces. In any case, he is a very talented man. Moreover, he is poor! I ask you to think about it! The duets will show you what I mean, and could be a ‘good article’.”

Johannes Brahms, letter to Fritz Simrock, December 1877.

• The Slavonic Dances Op. 46 jumpstarted Dvořák’s career. They received a great review from Berlin critic Louis Ehlert immediately after publication.
  • Ehlert told Dvořák that his review of the Slavonic Dances led to “a positive assault on the sheet music shops,” and made Dvořák famous “in the course of a day.”¹

---

Slavonic Dance No. 1 in C Major

• Dvořák’s score identifies the dance genre: furiant.² [pronunciation] Czech for “a proud, swaggering, conceited man,” or “loudmouth,” the furiant is a syncopated Czech couple-dance.³

“the dancer imitates a proud puffed-up farmer: his arms akimbo, he stamps with his feet, pulls his skirt outwards”

Description of the furiant, from an 1859 book on Czech dances by A. Waldeau⁴

---

Slavonic Dance No. 2 in e minor

• Dvořák’s score identifies the genre of this dance: dumka.⁵ [pronunciation]
  • Dumka is a folk song and poetry genre of Ukrainian origin which was used in Poland and Bohemia in the 19^th century. Musically, it features melismatic sections alternating suddenly with slow, mournful music or fast, lively material.⁶

---

Slavonic Dance No. 3 in D Major*

• Dvořák’s score indicates that this is a polka (a fast dance in 2/4). The polka originated in Dvořák’s homeland of Bohemia in the 1830s.⁷
• *In the original published score by Simrock (piano duo version), this is the correct numbering. However, in the subsequent orchestral version, the editor switched No. 3 and No. 6. ACP has decided to use the original numbering as seen in the piano duo version of the score for consistency, but be aware that some recordings use the reverse.⁸

---

Slavonic Dance No. 4 in F Major

• Dvořák’s score indicates that this dance is a sousedská⁹ [pronunciation], a slow triple-time Bohemian dance.
  • The name derives from the phrase “sousedské zábavy” (neighborly entertainments), which was the name for countryside dance parties. The sousedská first appeared in the 1830s.¹⁰

---

Slavonic Dance No. 5 in A Major

• Dvořák’s score indicates that this dance is a Skocná¹¹ [pronunciation]: a fast Czech dance in 2/4 time. Skocná means “leaping.” When a skocná includes a vocal part, the text is usually a humorous one.¹²

---

Slavonic Dance No. 6 in A-flat Major*

• Dvořák’s score indicates that this dance is a sousedská¹³ [pronunciation], a slow triple-time Bohemian dance.
  • The name derives from the phrase “sousedské zábavy” (neighborly entertainments), the name for countryside dance parties. The sousedská first appeared in the 1830s.¹⁴
• *In the original published score by Simrock (piano duo version), this is the correct numbering. However, in the subsequent orchestral version, the editor switched No. 3 and No. 6. ACP has decided to use the original numbering as seen in the piano duo version of the score for consistency, but be aware that some recordings use the reverse.¹⁵

---

Slavonic Dance No. 7 in c minor

• Dvořák’s score indicates that this dance is a Skocná¹⁶ [pronunciation]: a fast Czech dance in 2/4 time. Skocná means “leaping.” When a skocná includes a vocal part, the text is usually a humorous one.¹⁷
• The main theme of this dance quotes a Czech folk dance-song, “Tetka kam dete?” (“Where are you going, Auntie?”)¹⁸

---

Slavonic Dance No. 8 in g minor

• Dvořák’s score identifies the dance genre: furiant (same as No. 1).

1. Klaus Döge, “Dvořák, Antonín,” Grove Music Online (2001), accessed September 4, 2019, https://www.oxfordmusiconline.com/grovemusic/view/10.1093/gmo/9781561592630.001.0001/omo-9781561592630-e-0000051222.
2. “Slavonic Dances, Op. 46 (Dvořák, Antonín),” IMSLP, accessed September 4, 2019, https://imslp.org/wiki/Slavonic_Dances%2C_Op.46_(Dvo%C5%99%C3%A1k%2C_Anton%C3%ADn).
3. John Tyrrell, “Furiant,” Grove Music Online (2001), accessed September 5, 2019, https://www.oxfordmusiconline.com/grovemusic/view/10.1093/gmo/9781561592630.001.0001/omo-9781561592630-e-0000010395.
4. Quoted in Tyrrell, “Furiant,” Grove Music Online.
5. “Slavonic Dances, Op. 46 (Dvořák, Antonín),” IMSLP, accessed September 4, 2019, https://imslp.org/wiki/Slavonic_Dances%2C_Op.46_(Dvo%C5%99%C3%A1k%2C_Anton%C3%ADn).
6. Harvard Dictionary of Music, 4^th ed., s.v. “Dumka” (Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press, 2003).
7. Harvard Dictionary of Music, 4^th ed., s.v. “Polka” (Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press, 2003).
8. “Slavonic Dances, Op.46 (Dvořák, Antonín),” IMSLP, accessed April 25, 2023, https://imslp.org/wiki/Slavonic_Dances%2C_Op.46_(Dvo%C5%99%C3%A1k%2C_Anton%C3%ADn).
9. “Slavonic Dances, Op. 46 (Dvořák, Antonín),” IMSLP, accessed September 4, 2019, https://imslp.org/wiki/Slavonic_Dances%2C_Op.46_(Dvo%C5%99%C3%A1k%2C_Anton%C3%ADn).
10. John Tyrrell, “Sousedská,” Grove Music Online (2001), accessed September 5, 2019, https://www.oxfordmusiconline.com/grovemusic/view/10.1093/gmo/9781561592630.001.0001/omo-9781561592630-e-0000043853.
11. “Slavonic Dances, Op. 46 (Dvořák, Antonín),” IMSLP, accessed September 4, 2019, https://imslp.org/wiki/Slavonic_Dances%2C_Op.46_(Dvo%C5%99%C3%A1k%2C_Anton%C3%ADn).
12. John Tyrrell, “Skočná,” Grove Music Online (2001), accessed September 5, 2019, https://www.oxfordmusiconline.com/grovemusic/view/10.1093/gmo/9781561592630.001.0001/omo-9781561592630-e-0000043852.
13. “Slavonic Dances, Op. 46 (Dvořák, Antonín),” IMSLP, accessed September 4, 2019, https://imslp.org/wiki/Slavonic_Dances%2C_Op.46_(Dvo%C5%99%C3%A1k%2C_Anton%C3%ADn).
14. John Tyrrell, “Sousedská,” Grove Music Online (2001), accessed September 5, 2019, https://www.oxfordmusiconline.com/grovemusic/view/10.1093/gmo/9781561592630.001.0001/omo-9781561592630-e-0000043853.
15. “Slavonic Dances, Op.46 (Dvořák, Antonín),” IMSLP, accessed April 25, 2023, https://imslp.org/wiki/Slavonic_Dances%2C_Op.46_(Dvo%C5%99%C3%A1k%2C_Anton%C3%ADn).
16. “Slavonic Dances, Op. 46 (Dvořák, Antonín),” IMSLP, accessed September 4, 2019, https://imslp.org/wiki/Slavonic_Dances%2C_Op.46_(Dvo%C5%99%C3%A1k%2C_Anton%C3%ADn).
17. John Tyrrell, “Skočná,” Grove Music Online (2001), accessed September 5, 2019, https://www.oxfordmusiconline.com/grovemusic/view/10.1093/gmo/9781561592630.001.0001/omo-9781561592630-e-0000043852.
18. Döge, “Dvořák, Antonín,” Grove Music Online.