About this Piece

The moment is December 1879 and all eyes are on Bohemian composer Antonín Dvořák—the “newly awakened talent” who has “aroused widespread excitement in Germany with his Slavic Dances.” Dvořák’s first set of Slavonic Dances, premiered a year earlier, put him on the course for international fame after it received the golden stamp of approval from German composer and critic Louis Ehlert. When the committee of Prague’s prestigious Národní beseda ball decided to commission Czech composers to write new music for its 30th annual gala, rising star Antonín Dvořák was a clear choice, and Prague Waltzes were produced for the occasion.

A polka—that lively Bohemian dance in 2/4 time—would have fit neatly into the ball committee’s expectations. One of Antonín Dvořák’s earliest compositions was an orchestrated polka meant to celebrate a county fair in the Bohemian village of Nelahozeves. He also included a polka in the second movement of his Czech Suite, written the same year as Prague Waltzes. But rather than compose another polka, Dvořák turned to the most popular dance form from nearby Vienna, the waltz.

The jubilant Prague Waltzes follow the Viennese example popularized by the Strauss family and Joseph Lanner while subverting expectations with pauses, unusual harmonies, supple orchestration, and ornamented melodies. Over the course of the introduction, five movements, and coda, a succession of dance tunes unfold, with the initial melody returning like a refrain. While all the movements of the Prague Waltzes incorporate the waltz’s particular triple rhythm, with an emphasis on the downbeat, Dvořák occasionally obscures the downbeat, such as in the introduction. In the same section, he plays with the rests before the swoon-worthy melody enters and establishes the 3/4 rhythm, suspending the momentum and excitement.

Dvořák’s Prague Waltzes embrace the ornamentation prevalent in Bohemian folk music. The added turns and flourishes create a lively atmosphere—as if the players are improvising freely. The melodies are most often played by the strings while being doubled in the woodwinds, giving the orchestration a heavier feel; an earthiness associated with Bohemia in contrast to the lightness prioritized by Vienna. Brass instruments ring out at celebratory key moments, adding a roundness and warmth to the sound while percussion chimes into the festivities. The beautifully flourishing themes are framed by unexpected harmonies, often lending an uneasiness to the waltzes.

The two-year period that saw the completion of Dvořák’s first set of Slavonic Dances, Czech Suite, and Prague Waltzes coincided with an era when nationalism appealed to Western European audiences. Dvořák’s stylistic and musical embrace of Bohemian folk melodies was a point of national visibility and pride. In 1892, shortly before his departure to the United States, a Czech concert was held in honor of “the famous Maestro Dr. A. Dvorak.” The concert program pronounced that Dvořák’s “significance reached a point where even foreign countries began to look up to him with respect and admiration.” —Anna Heflin