"Dance of the Comedians", Act III from the Opera "The Bartered Bride"

With the idea of creating a national opera in mind, his The Bartered Bride (a comic opera in three acts, completed in 1866) was written to a libretto in Czech by Karel Sabina. Its first performance was at the Provisional Theatre in Prague. It enjoyed great success in a large part of Europe, including Vienna. In The Bartered Bride, Smetana used folk elements from various Czech geographical regions in addition to the native language. The village polka at the end of Act I is sung and danced by villagers enjoying the spring festival, gathered outside an inn. At the beginning of Act II, the men sing a table song in the inn, and after the women join them, they all dance a furiant (a fast Czech folk dance). In the third act, on the lawn in front of the inn, the visiting circus performs various numbers accompanied by the 'DANCE OF THE COMEDIANS' with the energetic skočná dance, quoting the folksong Sedlak, Sedlak, etc. Thus the composer distanced himself from traditional Italian and French operas and recreated the Czech identity. Skočná is a fast Slavic folk dance, usually in 2/4 meter. Antonín Dvořák, besides Smetana, used it in his Slavonic Dances Nos. 5, 7 and 11. The approximately 4-5 minute piece, Dance of the Comedians, captivates with its variety in symphonic texture and artistic dance vitality.