Tanec (Dance) (1943)

Presto - Erwas ruhiger - Tempo primo

Composed shortly before the Passacaglia and Fugue and also formidably well written for string trio, Tanec would have made a brilliant scherzo in a longer work. At the same time, like the Passacaglia and Fugue, it is an entirely self-sufficient item. When the dance-tune main theme, introduced by violin over a primitive cello ostinato in the opening bars, gives way to lullaby-like episode in a slower tempo, it seems that the piece is about to assume a conventional ternary shape with a distinct middle section. In fact, it is not as simple as that. Almost as soon as the lullaby melody makes its first entry, tenderly harmonised by all three instruments, the dance theme - seductively varied but identified by its characteristic repeated notes - is integrated with the new material. Far from recalling the main theme in its original form when the Presto tempo is resumed, Krása approaches it by way of more variants, reserving its definitive reappearance for the viola not long before the end.