Zitne Pole and Vybehla briza belicka

Vítězslav Hálek (1835 – 1874) was a journalist, author, poet, and theatre critic, and a prominent member of theMáj school. Reacting heavily to the Austro-centric cultural policies from the House of Hapsburg, Hálek and hiscolleagues focused on the development of Czech nationalist writings and the codification of the Czech languageas a literary avenue of expression.

Dvořák set poetry by Hálek on three different occassions: Dědicové bilé hory (1872), Večerní písně (1876), andV přírodě (1882)—the source material of this edition—though the composer used many tangential adeptationsand translations of Hálek’s work throughout his active career. The poetry for this set evokes the beauty of theBohemian landscape and complements many of the nationalistic elements seen in Dvořák’s own music.