The Bartered Bride

Overture

Polka

Furiant

Although it took Smetana more than four years to get The Bartered Bride into shape - the original two-act version was first performed in 1866, the final three-act version in 1870 - the overture was ready from the start, even before the first act itself. It is as though, in writing an overture of such extroardinary vitality, he was setting himself a challenge to create a comic opera that would be no less exciting and at the same time no less true to the spirit of Czech folk music. So the overture begins with an arresting flourish, goes straight into a brilliant fugue, bounces into a syncopated dance, and is deflected into an effective lyrical contrast without even pausing for breath. Sustained by an inexhaustible supply of energy, it all adds up to one of the most inspired works of its kind, comparable in its effortessly sustained non-stop activity to Mozart’s Marriage of Figaro Overture.

One reason why The Bartered Bride almost failed on its first performance in Prague in 1866 is that the original version of the score contained none of the dances which are now among its principal attractions. The first to be added was the Polka which, in the final version of the opera, occurs at the end of the first act - to no dramatic purpose but to considerable musical effect as its graceful melodies accumulate more and more orchestral colour and more and more rhythmic vigour. The Furiant - which, unlike the Polka, is based on an actual Czech folk dance - comes from early on in the next act, where it follows a chorus in praise of beer, its intoxicating rhythms appropriately complemented by extravagantly tipsy harmonies.