Grove's dictionary of music and musicians

—
of the earliest and most famous of examples
belonging to the first half of the 15th centuryis
the Hussite Battle-Song, of which the first
line runs thus :
i^g^^i
Kdoiistebo-zibojo .... a zi-ko-na je-lio,
As samples of the secular music of the
15th and 16th centuries the folk-songs preserved
in the Cancionales are of great value.
The Hussite songs are for the most part of a
grave and stern character ; while those of the
Bohemian or Moravian Brothers have a more
tender and sensuous cast. It should be observed
that the Bohemians have long been called
Czechs, and that name has been adopted for
the national language and music. But in their
the Czechs were only one of the many
origin
Slavonic tribes which constitute the nationality
of Bohemia and Moravia. There are some
differences between the Bohemian and Moravian
songs. In the former there is a predominance
of songs in the major scale, while those which
seem ito be in the minor scale more properly
belong to the ecclesiastical modes. In Moravia
the balance is equal ; the tunes are of a bold
decisive character, with a strongly marked
rhythm. In tliis country also, the songs of each
disti-iot are distinct, ^ and hence flows a greater
wealth and variety of song. In Bohemia, on
the other hand, which is homogeneous, all
parts being alike, a, fuller unity exists in the
songs. They are mofe tuneful and tender,
their rhythm is simpler, and the form is more
regular and developed owing to the influence
which German music has exercised in Bohemia.^
Common to both and characteristic of all
Bohemian songs is a vein of natural, unaffected
humour, and a close connection between the
verbal and musical accents. The tunes rarely
begin on the weak beat of the bar, just as in
the speaking language the accent is always on
the first word, or first syllable. The form is
sometimes in three-bar phrases, which in the
longer songs develops into four bars in the
middle, returning again to the three-bar phrase
for the close :
Ex. 2.
Nomnlca. vinka.
Cer-n^ - o - ci jde-te spat, Cer-n4 - o - Ci ]d^-te spat,
Tsak mu-sl -te rd-no TsHt, Tsak mu-si-te rd-no vet&t.
The harmony is always simple, and except in
1 The Slovaks and Slavonic Czechs are the principal inhabitants
of Moravia.
2 It is interesting to note the difference between the two Slavonic
countries. The song may belong to both of them, hut with distinct
variants, though more perhaps in the words than in the music.
The love of nature is a strongly marked characteristic in the
Bohemian folk-songs. For instance moat of their songs refer to a
flower, or a tree, or a bird, or a stream, or a lake, whether it be
employed in a literal or metaphorical sense.
SONG 573
the Gipsy songs, the western scales universally
prevail. Bohemians have an innate passion
for dancing, which imparts marked and exhilarating
rhythms to their dance songs. They are
generally sung in chorus, and the influence of
their national instrument, the Dudy, ' ' or bagpipe,
is often apparent.
Their many and varied dances (such as the
beseda, dudik, furiant, hulan, kozak, polka,
sedldk, trinozka, etc.) take theii- names from
places or from the occasions on which they
have been danced, or even more frequently
from the songs with which they are accompanied.
There is aclose association between the folk-songs
and the folk-dances of Bohemia. The greater
part of the songs met with in modern collections
are of no older date than the 18th century,
but there are several exceptions, such as the
Hussite Battle -Song, or the tune of Proc
'
Kalino,' which was constantly sung in the 15th
and 16th centuries, and Sedlak z Prahy,' which
'
was composed in 1609.
In the 1 7th century there was a widespread
cultivation of music in Bohemia ; both partsinging
and instrumental music were salient
features of domestic life. Wenzel Karl Holan
(Eovensky) published a large song-book called
' Kaplackralovski, ' which reflected the musical
taste of his time, and betrayed deterioration
and the secularisation of sacred songs, which
was, however, in eflect partly due to Italian
influence. Nevertheless, the harmony is bold
and varied, and the accompaniments for lute
and violin or more often wind-instruments, are
skilfully composed.
In the 18th century foreign influences were
still more marked. German, French, and Italian
musicians crowded the principal towns of
Bohemia, while the native musicians, such as
Benda, Dussek, Reioha, Gyrowetz, etc., on the
other hand, sought to win laurels abroad,
where their compositions were more likely to
attract notice and interest. Meanwhile, the
true national music of the countiy was being
kept alive chiefly by the village schoolmasters,
who acted as organists, choir and bandmasters.
Each parish had its own choir, chorus and
band ; and every child was taught the study
of music with as much precision as reading,
writing, and arithmetic. Naturally, therefore,
village music attained to a high level under
such conditions.^
Then early in tlie 19th century attempts
were made by the Czech composers, F. Dionys
Weber, J. Kalliwoda, J. Kittl, and others to
restore the lost prestige of theu' coimtry's music
and language. One of the first composers of
real Bohemian songs was Ryba, who was followed
by Kanka, Dolezalek, and Knlze.* But a more
3 See^Buraey's Pretent State ofMtttic in Oemtany, ii. 12, 14, 41.
^ Knize's popular ballad 'BretisTava Jitka' is to be found in
most collecMons. For other well-known songs, such as Kro^'s
' Husitskii,' Skroup's Kde domov * muj,* Bosenkranz's Chaloupka,'
'
'
Dietrich's Moravo,' see Fr. Zahoi-sky's
'
Cesk^ch nirodnich pisni.'