Holoubek

Of the four symphonic poems Dvořák adapted from Czech poet/folklorist Karel Jaromír Erben’s Kytice in 1896, The Wild Dove is the most concisely constructed. Like the others, it’s a dark tale, describing a woman who poisons her husband and remarries soon after. A wild dove begins constantly singing atop the dead man’s grave, driving her mad with guilt, and she eventually drowns herself. The piece’s four main sections represent the husband’s funeral, the meeting of the woman and the new man, their wedding and the fatal reckoning. Dvořák composed a “curse motif” that reappears throughout, orchestrated to evoke a different feeling each time. Following the storyline, The Wild Dove seamlessly shifts moods from melancholic to bright and celebratory, desperate and frantic, and back to mournful again. One of the most distinctive characterisations is that of the flutes and oboe joining to represent the sad song of the dove. Unlike Erben’s ballad, the piece suggests a redemptive possibility at the end, by closing serenely in a major key.