History of the Music of Bohemia & Moravia
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Music in Bohemia & Moravia traces its roots back to the Middle Ages, to the Cistercian monasteries of the Bohemian Forest, Sumava. In here, Western musical practices such as Gregorian chant and religious music were alive until the arrival of the Reformation. During this time, Bohemia & Moravia fell into the hands of the Austrian Habsburgs and were annexed into their Empire. With the arrival of the Reformation, a number of people of the region abandoned the former musical doctrines of the Catholic church. Along with this, around the same time, secular music began appearing in the Bohemian & Moravian region.
Bohemian composers would not really start to become noticed until around the XVII century. Composer Adam Otradovic was one of the earliest influential Bohemian composers. He composed a number of organ pieces and numerous choral works. Still under the yoke of the Austrians, another notable composer began stepping up to the forefront: the transitional Czech composer Jan Ladislav Dussek began experimenting with his music like Beethoven. His earlier works show fundamentals of Classical era music, while towards the end, a more experimental Dussek was seen, similar to Beethoven's experimentation. He is considered a pivotal player in the development of Czech music.
After the transition into the Romantic era, there was a fanatical love for nationalism all over Europe and the world. From this nationalistic musical movement sprang a great many notable Bohemian & Moravian composers such as Antonín Dvořák, Bedřich Smetana and Leoš Janáček.
Bohemian composers would not really start to become noticed until around the XVII century. Composer Adam Otradovic was one of the earliest influential Bohemian composers. He composed a number of organ pieces and numerous choral works. Still under the yoke of the Austrians, another notable composer began stepping up to the forefront: the transitional Czech composer Jan Ladislav Dussek began experimenting with his music like Beethoven. His earlier works show fundamentals of Classical era music, while towards the end, a more experimental Dussek was seen, similar to Beethoven's experimentation. He is considered a pivotal player in the development of Czech music.
After the transition into the Romantic era, there was a fanatical love for nationalism all over Europe and the world. From this nationalistic musical movement sprang a great many notable Bohemian & Moravian composers such as Antonín Dvořák, Bedřich Smetana and Leoš Janáček.
Traditional Bohemian & Moravian MUSICAL INSTRUMENTS
Steirische HarmonikaThis instrument is similar to the accordion, with the exception that the Steirische Harmonika is slightly lower and heavier in its bass sound. The adoption of this instrument as a folkloric instrument went on to influence other countries such as Mexico, where many Czechs emigrated to.
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BlockThe Block is the traditional Bohemian bagpipe.
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CimbalomThis instrument is a concert hammer dolcimer. It is a trapezoidal box with legs, which has stung on it metal strings which when plucked, are used to make music. This instrument is special to the southern region of Moravia, closer to Slovakia and Hungary.
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Bohemian & Moravian Folk Music
In this region of Bohemia & Moravia, Jiří Plocek, a Czech musicologist, says that the Western and the Eastern European musical traditions meet. From this region is where it is credited that the Polka-like dance styles entered Poland and influenced a number of their folk dances.
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PolkaThe Polka originated in Bohemia around mid-XVIII century. The style's name means "Polish woman" in Czech. The dance is almost always in a duple meter, not to be confused with the Swedish triple meter polska. The dance is characterized by the commonly seen rhythm of two sixteenths and an eighth, two sixteenths and four eighths. Also, they are almost always in a major key.
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Notable Classical Pieces and Composers
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Even though the more notable Czech composers came not until the Romantic era, similarly to Poland, there were a handful of noteworthy Classical composers.
Renaissance Music |
Baroque Music
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Classical Music
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Romantic Music
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Contemporary Music
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Classical Music Examples
Mvt. VI "Blaník" from "Má vlast"
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LeoS JanáCek (Romantic)
"Sinfonietta"
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