Furiant

A Furiant is a rapid and fiery Bohemian dance in alternating 2/4 and 3/4 time, with frequently shifting accents; or, in "art music", in 3/4 time "with strong accents forming pairs of beats".^[1]

The stylised form of the dance was often used by Czech composers such as Antonín Dvořák in the eighth dance from his Slavonic Dances and in his 6th Symphony,^[2] and by Bedřich Smetana in The Bartered Bride and in Czech Dances. The use of the furiant by central European composers closely parallels their use of the Dumka (dumky), a dance which often precedes the furiant.^[3]

Notes

1. Randel, D. M., Ed., The New Harvard Dictionary of Music, Harvard University Press, 1986.
2. Wright, Craig (2007). Listening to Music. Cengage Learning. p. 323. ISBN 978-0-495-18973-2.
3. Keller, James M. (2010). Chamber Music: A Listener's Guide. Oxford University Press US. p. 175. ISBN 978-0-19-538253-2.

References

Vrkočová, Ludmila: Slovníček základních hudebních pojmů. 2005. ISBN 80-901611-3-8