Schönes Prag - MVSR0356 | Musica

The gymnastics organization “Sokol” fostered Czech national ideas in an especial way. The majority of the Czech population then lived in Central Bohemia where Kolin is located. There these new ideas fell on particularly fertile ground. In this context the musical activities of František Kmoch as director of the Kolin Sokol-band proved to be of prime importance. Kmoch had taken over the baton of the band as early as 1871, and after a few years he devoted himself exclusively to his band and to the school of music which he had founded. Although his band boasted a wide-spanned repertory, compositions of his own were most popular and among such works his marches based on folk songs really were his “number one” pieces. Kmoch usually relied on genuine folk songs which he used for his trios, in some cases he changed the rhythm while he composed others in the spirit of Czech folk songs. This also holds true for his march “Near the Mill” (Czech: “Pode mlejnem”) which was written in 1908, for “Music, Music” (Czech: “Muziky, muziky) which was composed before 1891 or for “Andulka March” (Czech: „Andulko šafářová“). His marches also were often played by military bands as the soldiers appreciated his zestful melodies.