"Sokolský den" ("Sokol Day") also known as "Čtvrtého července" ("4th of July"), is a patriotic march composed by Czech music composer

František Kmoch František Kmoch (1 August 1848 – 30 April 1912) was a Czech composer and conductor. Life and career František Kmoch was born in Zásmuky near Kolín, Bohemia. His father was a tailor and a clarinetist who performed folk music. As a child, Fran ...

. It was composed in the period short after 1871, when he started working in local Sokol union in

Kolín Kolín (; ) is a town in the Central Bohemian Region of the Czech Republic. It has about 33,000 inhabitants. The historic town centre is well preserved and is protected as an Cultural monument (Czech Republic)#Monument reservations, urban monume ...

. Solely instrumental composition were later furnished by lyrics of unknown origin with origin in the United States, within the

Czech American Czech Americans (), known in the 19th and early 20th century as Bohemian Americans, are citizens of the United States whose ancestry is wholly or partly originate from the Czech lands, a term which refers to the majority of the traditional l ...

diaspora. It were later written down by Young Czech politician and writer Karel Tůma. An A-flat major composition later arranged by Czech composer Emil Štolc is written in

ternary form Ternary form, sometimes called song form, is a three-part musical form consisting of an opening section (A), a following section (B) and then a repetition of the first section (A). It is usually schematized as A–B–A. Prominent examples inclu ...

. The first verse of the lyrics mentions the 4th of July, which refers to Sokol gymnastics gatherings on the date of the United States

Independence Day An independence day is an annual event memorialization, commemorating the anniversary of a nation's independence or Sovereign state, statehood, usually after ceasing to be a group or part of another nation or state, or after the end of a milit ...

in Prague, promoted by Sokol organizations among the Czech diaspora in the United States. It promoted American liberal values and ideas of American independence as a role model for Czech society dissatisfied with the oppressive regime in

Austria-Hungary Austria-Hungary, also referred to as the Austro-Hungarian Empire, the Dual Monarchy or the Habsburg Monarchy, was a multi-national constitutional monarchy in Central Europe#Before World War I, Central Europe between 1867 and 1918. A military ...

. The composition is one of the marches of the Czech nationalist gymnastics organization ''Sokol'' and reflects 19th century antagonisms towards the results of the

Battle of White Mountain The Battle of White Mountain (; ) was an important battle in the early stages of the Thirty Years' War. It led to the defeat of the Bohemian Revolt and ensured Habsburg control for the next three hundred years. It was fought on 8 November 16 ...

in 1620. Other versions of the lyrics also refer 6 July, the anniversary of the death of

Jan Hus Jan Hus (; ; 1369 – 6 July 1415), sometimes anglicized as John Hus or John Huss, and referred to in historical texts as ''Iohannes Hus'' or ''Johannes Huss'', was a Czechs, Czech theologian and philosopher who became a Church reformer and t ...

in 1415. Adaptation of lyrics of the march also appeared in 1985 comedy-play '' Dobytí severního pólu'' by

Zdeněk Svěrák Zdeněk Svěrák (born 28 March 1936) is a Czech actor, humorist, playwright and scriptwriter, and one of the most well-known and popular Czech cultural personalities. Since 1968 he has appeared in 32 films. Career In 1958, he graduated in Czec ...

and

Ladislav Smoljak Ladislav Smoljak (9 December 1931 – 6 June 2010) was a Czechs, Czech film and theater director, actor and screenwriter. Biography Smoljak was born in Prague. He tried to study at an art academy but failed the admission process. He went on to ...

Lyrics

References

{{reflist 19th-century songs Czech patriotic songs Sokol in the United States Independence Day (United States)