Dumka ( ua, думка, ''dúmka'', plural думки, ''dúmky'') is a musical term introduced from the Ukrainian language, with

cognate In historical linguistics, cognates or lexical cognates are sets of words in different languages that have been inherited in direct descent from an etymology, etymological ancestor in a proto-language, common parent language. Because language c ...

s in other Slavic languages. The word ''dumka'' literally means "thought". Originally, it was the

diminutive A diminutive is a root word that has been modified to convey a slighter degree of its root meaning, either to convey the smallness of the object or quality named, or to convey a sense of intimacy or endearment. A (abbreviated ) is a word-formati ...

form of the Ukrainian term '' duma'', pl. ''dumy'', "a Slavic (specifically Ukrainian) epic ballad … generally thoughtful or melancholic in character".Randel: ''Harvard Concise Dictionary of Music'', p. 148. Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 1978 Classical composers drew on the harmonic patterns in the folk music to inform their more formal classical compositions. The composition of dumky became popular after the publication of an ethnological study and analysis and a number of illustrated lectures made by the Ukrainian composer

Mykola Lysenko , native_name_lang = uk , birth_name = Mykola Vitaliyovych Lysenko , birth_date = 22 March 1842 , birth_place = Hrynky, Poltava Governorate, Russian Empire , death_date = 6 November 1912 (aged 70) , death_place ...

in 1873 and 1874 in Kyiv and Saint Petersburg. They were illustrated by live performances by the blind kobzar Ostap Veresai, who performed a number of dumky, singing and accompanying himself on the bandura. Lysenko's study was the first to specifically analyse the melodies and the accompaniment played on the bandura, kobza or

lira Lira is the name of several currency units. It is the current currency of Turkey and also the local name of the currencies of Lebanon and of Syria. It is also the name of several former currencies, including those of Italy, Malta and Israe ...

of the epic dumy. A natural part of the process of transferring the traditional folk form to a formal classical milieu was the appropriation of the Dumka form by Slavic composers, most especially by the Czech composer

Antonín Dvořák Antonín Leopold Dvořák ( ; ; 8 September 1841 – 1 May 1904) was a Czechs, Czech composer. Dvořák frequently employed rhythms and other aspects of the folk music of Moravian traditional music, Moravia and his native Bohemia, following t ...

. Thus, in classical music, ''dumka'' came to mean "a type of instrumental music involving sudden changes from melancholy to exuberance". Though generally characterized by a gently plodding, dreamy duple rhythm, many examples are in triple metre, including Dvořák's Slavonic dance (Op. 72 No. 4). His last and best-known piano trio, No. 4 in E minor, Op. 90, has six movements, each of which is a dumka; the work is referred at times by its subtitle, ''Dumky Trio''.

Examples

Major examples in the classical repertoire include:

Antonín Dvořák Antonín Leopold Dvořák ( ; ; 8 September 1841 – 1 May 1904) was a Czechs, Czech composer. Dvořák frequently employed rhythms and other aspects of the folk music of Moravian traditional music, Moravia and his native Bohemia, following t ...

*''Furiant with Dumka'', Op. 12 (1884) for piano solo *''Dumka'' (Elegy), Op. 35 (1876) for piano solo * Slavonic Dances, Op. 46 and 72, (Three of the sixteen) * Violin Concerto in A minor, Op. 53, mvt. 3 – though based on a

Furiant A furiant is a rapid and fiery Bohemian dance in alternating 2/4 and 3/4 time, with frequently shifting accents; or, in "art music", in 3/4 time "with strong accents forming pairs of beats". The stylised form of the dance was often used by Czech ...

, the middle part is a Dumka *String Sextet in A, Op. 48 (1878), mvt. 2: "Dumka: Poco allegretto" * Piano Quintet No. 2 in A, Op. 81 (1887), mvt. 2: "Dumka: Andante con moto" * Piano Trio No. 4 in E minor, Op. 90 (1891) — the ''Dumky-Trio'' * String Quartet No. 10 in E-Flat Major, Op. 51 – B. 92: II. Dumka. Andante Con Moto

Sofia Mavrogenidou

*Dumka for piano solo *Dumka for flute, cello and piano *Dumka for cello and piano *Dumka for accordion and flute

Leoš Janáček

*''Dumka'' for violin & piano

Bohuslav Martinů Bohuslav Jan Martinů (; December 8, 1890 – August 28, 1959) was a Czech composer of modern classical music. He wrote 6 symphonies, 15 operas, 14 ballet scores and a large body of orchestral, chamber, vocal and instrumental works. He bec ...

*''Dumka'' (unnumbered), H. 4 (1909 – Polička, Czechoslovakia), for solo piano *''Dumka No. 1'', H. 249 (1936 – Paris, France), for solo piano *''Dumka No. 2'', H. 250 (1936 – Paris, France), for solo piano *''Dumka No. 3'', H. 285bis (1941 – Jamaica, NY, USA), for solo piano Katalog skladeb Bohuslava Martinů
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Pyotr Tchaikovsky

*''Dumka'', Op. 59 (Scenes from a Russian village) for solo piano (1886)

Others

Anatoly Kos-Anatolsky Anatoliy Yosypovych Kos-Anatolsky (; 1 December 1909 – 30 November 1983) was a Soviet and Ukrainian composer. People's Artist of the Ukrainian SSR (1969) and winner of Shevchenko National Prize (1980). Deputy of Supreme Soviet of the Soviet Un ...

, Dumka and kolomiyka from the opera ''Sojchyne krylo'' * Mily Balakirev, Dumka in E flat minor (1900) *

Vasyl Barvinsky Vasyl Oleksandrovych Barvinsky ( uk, Василь Олександрович Барвінський) (20 February 1888 – 9 June 1963) was a Ukrainian composer, pianist, conductor, teacher, musicologist, and music related social figure. Barvinsk ...

, Dumka (1925) *

Alexander Borodin Alexander Porfiryevich Borodin ( rus, link=no, Александр Порфирьевич Бородин, Aleksandr Porfir’yevich Borodin , p=ɐlʲɪkˈsandr pɐrˈfʲi rʲjɪvʲɪtɕ bərɐˈdʲin, a=RU-Alexander Porfiryevich Borodin.ogg, ...

, Dumka (from the piano quintet nr.2 in A Major, op. 81) *

Frédéric Chopin Frédéric François Chopin (born Fryderyk Franciszek Chopin; 1 March 181017 October 1849) was a Polish composer and virtuoso pianist of the Romantic period, who wrote primarily for solo piano. He has maintained worldwide renown as a leadin ...

, Dumka, Op. 74 No. 19, KK IVb/9, CT. 147 * Rebecca Clarke, ''Dumka'', Duo Concertante for Violin and Viola, with Piano (1941) *

Franz Liszt Franz Liszt, in modern usage ''Liszt Ferenc'' . Liszt's Hungarian passport spelled his given name as "Ferencz". An orthographic reform of the Hungarian language in 1922 (which was 36 years after Liszt's death) changed the letter "cz" to simpl ...

, Dumka, S 249B *

, 2nd piano rhapsody (1877) *

Stanisław Moniuszko Stanisław Moniuszko (; May 5, 1819 – June 4, 1872) was a Polish composer, conductor and teacher. He wrote many popular art songs and operas, and his music is filled with patriotic folk themes of the peoples of the former Polish–Lithuania ...

, Jontek's aria from the opera ''

Halka ''Halka'' is an opera by Polish composer Stanisław Moniuszko to a libretto written by Włodzimierz Wolski, a young Warsaw poet with radical social views. It is part of the canon of Polish national operas. Performance history The first perf ...

'' * Modest Mussorgsky, Paraska's aria from the opera ''Sorochynsky fair'' * Sergei Prokofiev, Dumka in A minor (published posthumously) *

M. Shneider-Trnavsky ( ; ; pl. ; ; 1512, from Middle French , literally "my lord") is an honorific title that was used to refer to or address the eldest living brother of the king in the French royal court. It has now become the customary French title of respec ...

, Dumka and dance for symphony orchestra (1909) * M. Zawadsky, 12 dumky and 42 shumky *

V. Zaremba ''V.'' is the debut novel of Thomas Pynchon, published in 1963. It describes the exploits of a discharged U.S. Navy sailor named Benny Profane, his reconnection in New York with a group of pseudo-bohemian artists and hangers-on known as the Wh ...

S. Zaremba S is the nineteenth letter of the English alphabet. S may also refer to: History * an Anglo-Saxon charter's number in Peter Sawyer's, catalogue Language and linguistics * Long s (ſ), a form of the lower-case letter s formerly used where "s ...

Nikolai Budashkin Nikolai or Nikolay is an East Slavic variant of the masculine name Nicholas. It may refer to: People Royalty * Nicholas I of Russia (1796–1855), or Nikolay I, Emperor of Russia from 1825 until 1855 * Nicholas II of Russia (1868–1918), or Nik ...

, Dumka (Träumerei) in the Andante from the 'Concerto for Domra and Orchestra' Op.8 (1943).

Notes

References

* S. I. Gritsa (Hrytsa) Dumi vidayushcheyesya dostoyaniye ukrainskoy kulturi (Dumy a remarkable product of Ukrainian culture) Musica anticqua Europae orientalis II Bydgosz, 1969.(In Russian) * M. Antonowych Dumka and Duma in MGG {{Authority control Kobzarstvo Song forms Russian styles of music Ukrainian styles of music Musical terminology