“To dance is human, to polka is divine” K.D. Lang, Canadian Singer-Songwriter
If you think that the polka is originally a Polish dance, then you are way off! This popular dance is one of the cultural treasures of another small middle European country. If you would like to know more about the origins of this Czech dance, then browse our sheet music & scores, and explore all the marvellous Polkas Stretta has to offer!
It is no longer known exactly where and when the polka came to be, but from the early 19th century the predecessor of the polka, the “Nimra”, was becoming very popular. The next development was the “Maděra”, which was then renamed to the “Půlka”, which was later renamed the Polka.
The polka was already well known around Europe, and by the 1840s, and it had become one of the favourite dances in the courts of Vienna. Johann Strauss I was also fascinated by the polka in Prague, and subsequently composed several polkas himself. The polka was also very popular with the Czech composer Bedřich Smetana, who composed polkas for piano, and also used them in his symphonic and operatic works including Vltava and The Bartered Bride.
Like many other folk dances, the polka found its way into the ballets of the 19th century, in the form of the “Polka Hongroise” or “French Polka”, particularly in works by Léo Delibes. In Vienna the “Polka Schnell” or “Quick Polka” was also popular for a long time, often penned by Johann Strauss II.
One of the most famous polka melodies, which has travelled the world in many different versions, is Jaromír Vejvoda’s “Škoda lásky” known also as “Rosamunde” or “The Beer Barrel Polka”.
for: Concert band
Score
Item no.: 957913
for: Small wind band; voice ad lib.
Conductors part (C)
Item no.: 958428
for: Concert band
Score
Item no.: 958419
for: Concert band
Score
Item no.: 958266
for: Concert band
Score, Parts
Item no.: 958311
for: Concert band
Score, Parts
Item no.: 958068
for: Concert band
Score, Parts
Item no.: 377912
for: Concert band
Single part Baritone horn (C)
Item no.: 771552
for: Concert band
Score, Parts
Item no.: 958076
for: Accordion orchestra
Item no.: 221610
for: Accordion orchestra
Item no.: 222439
for: Voice, piano
Music score
Item no.: 412400
Item no.: 1685899
Item no.: 1685540
for: großes Blasorchester
Item no.: 1673053
for: großes Blasorchester
Item no.: 1673042
for: großes Blasorchester
Item no.: 1673017
Böhmische Polka
for: Small wind band
Score, conductor's part, orchestral parts
Item no.: 1557352
Polka française für Orchester
for: Orchestra
Partitur und Kritischer Bericht Fassungen: AB/C
Item no.: 743097
for: Small wind band
Item no.: 162026
for: Diatonic accordion
Item no.: 180217
for: Accordion
Music score
Item no.: 627473
for: Zither
Item no.: 131172
for: Small wind band
Item no.: 186749
for: Accordion
Item no.: 609057
Polka
for: Small wind band
Single part Tenor horn 2
Item no.: 472641
Polka
for: Small wind band
Clarinet 2 (orchestral part)
Item no.: 472637
Polka
for: Small wind band
Single part Flugelhorn 1
Item no.: 472634
for: 2 euphoniums, 2 tubas (F/B-flat)
Score, Parts
Item no.: 475804
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