IFF Strážnice 2024 In the program dedicated to this year's Year of Czech Music, the authors want to present two different, yet extremely close forms of the Czech music and dance world side by side - a combination of classical and folk music, lively returns to traditions. Folk song, music and dance have historically been an inspiration for many composers. Bedřich Smetana, Antonín Dvořák, Vítězslav Novák, Leoš Janáček, Bohuslav Martinů are among those greats of Czech and Moravian music who consciously drew on sources originating from folk tradition in their work. Somewhere in the depths of their artistic language, we feel melodies, harmonies and rhythms that resonate within us and emerge in the form of archetypal images of life situations that man has put into his songs, dances, rituals, incantations, prayers – we cleanse ourselves in the clear water of the Rubínka spring, we find ourselves in the flow of music amidst the play of the Horňák musicians and the pulsating passion of the dance figures, we kneel to the sacred sound of the organ in the Javornice church, we are swept away by the tearing, storming power of the natural elements of the Lašice mountains, we merge with the magical atmosphere of the night and in amorous enchantment we call for love... Folkloric motifs merge into one stream of the musicality of our nation. Various forms of the powerful musical element have sprung from man's needs to express himself, to open his inner self. They contain joy and pain, longing, passion, disappointment, hatred, faith, hope and love, but also great humility before the forces of nature, before everything that transcends us. They contain energy that springs from our roots, and we are connected to them through our national music and the legacy of folk culture. They are ancient messages from those who lived here before us. “…what does it matter that their days are irretrievably gone, from hand to hand we pass a heavy key. The key to home.” (Verse by Miloslav Bureš from Bohuslav Martinů’s cantata Opening the Wells) Motto: “…tradition should not be an argument against development, tradition must help us move forward, and that we do not have it just to boast and show off, but so that we can build something new on it according to our strengths and circumstances.” Bohuslav Martinů Scenography: A. Dvořák: Slavonic Dance No. 1 1. Water, pure water B. Smetana: Vltava (from the cycle My Homeland) B. Martinů: Opening of the wells A. Dvořák: Slavonic Dance No. 1 B. Smetana: Vltava (from the My Homeland cycle) 2. Hey, love, love V. Novák: At the music (from the Slovak suite) Horňácké zastavání Šohajku, duša má V. Novák: Zamilovaní (from the Slovak suite) Hey, love, love V. Novák: In the church (from the Slovak suite) B. Smetana: Vltava (from the My Homeland cycle) 3. Hey, fevers were murmuring At the neighbor's place on the roll (ancient) L. Janáček: Dymák (from the Laška dances cycle) Echoes of Laška L. Janáček: Čeladenský (from the Laška dances cycle) 4. Svítaj, svítaj… B. Martinů: Otvrání spudánek V. Novák: V noci (from the Slovak suite) Ancient enchantment for the beloved Czech echoes Peasant, peasant, peasant (furiant) B. Martinů: Obkročák a Dupák (from the suite Three Czech Dances) A. Dvořák: Slavonic Dance No. 8 (Furiant) 5. Praise to You, Eternal God B. Smetana: Vltava (from the cycle My Country) B. Martinů: Opening of the Wells B. Smetana: Vltava (from the cycle My Country) Praise to You, Eternal God