Music of The Czech Republic - Traditional and Classical

Traditional and Classical

The traditional music of Bohemia and Moravia has been well documented and influenced the work of composers like Leoš Janáček, Antonín Dvořák, Bedřich Smetana, and Bohuslav Martinů. Janáček made his recordings at an auspicious time. The 1880s saw the decline of traditional music; however, Janáček brought a Moravian string band to the 1895 Ethnographical Exhibition in Prague, which led to increased feelings of national pride and identity, and a resurgence in traditional music.

The most famous classical music pieces from Czech Republic include The New World Symphony from Dvořák, Má vlast from Smetana and Sinfonietta from Janáček. Some pieces of classical music have actually been made more famous than the composer himself, for example Entry of the Gladiators by Julius Fučík, better known just as the circus music. Through the centuries, Czech composers were usually heavily influenced by traditional music from their country, which can be seen especially when listening to Smetana. Although the most popular classical music from Czech Republic comes from the Romantic era, Classical and Baroque composers should not be overlooked. These composers include Adam Michna, Heinrich Biber, Jan Dismas Zelenka, Johann Wenzel Stamitz and Johann Ladislaus Dussek.

Undoubtedly the most internationally famous dance is Bohemian polka. Polka is a dance in duple time that became popular across Europe in the 19th century and spread across the world, influencing music from Mexico to Japan. Perhaps the most famous example is Škoda lásky ("Wasted Love") from 1927, world-known under the name Beer Barrel Polka. Czechs had a highly influential role in the development of Mexican cultural music. In the 1800s immigrants from Moravia were settling in the gulf coast area of Texas; many of them brought along polkas and waltzes which began to become popular with the Mexican people who lived among them. Love for these styles by the Mexican people later developed into Norteño and Tejano.

Bohemian traditional music is most innovative in Chodsko, where bagpipes are common. Moravian traditional music is best known for the cimbalom, which is played in ensembles that also include double bass, clarinet and violins. The traditional music of the regions of Moravia displays foreign influences, especially in Valachia which is tinged by Romanian and Ukrainian legacy and has close cultural relations with Slovakia and Lachia (the borderland of northern Moravia and Czech Silesia) with its Polish aspects.

Prague was well known for its pub songs called Staropražské písničky ("Old Prague Songs"), which are influenced by Viennese schrammelmusik and other forms. These songs are still played by bands like Šlapeto. A more modernized urban music is called tramp music (trampská hudba). Tramp music has been popular since its invention as part of the Czech tramping movement that began when early 20th-century city-dwellers began seeking physical and imaginative respite from the pressures of urban life.