Czech folk music and brass bands: polka, dechovka and Moravian song

If you have ever tapped your foot to the Beer Barrel Polka at a wedding, you have met Czech music without knowing it. The tune is Škoda lásky, composed by Jaromír Vejvoda in 1927. The title is usually translated as "wasted love". It went round the world in the decades after, collected new words in other languages and came back as a global party song. In Czechia the original is still what a brass band plays when it wants a room on its feet.

This is a guide to the music behind that tune: the brass tradition called dechovka, the folk music of Moravia, and how to hear both live.

What dechovka is

Dechovka comes from dechový, meaning wind or breath. A dechovka band plays polkas, waltzes, marches and folk songs on clarinets, trumpets, flugelhorns and a tuba, usually with a singer or two. The sound is cheerful, rhythmic and built for dancing. It owes a lot to the military bands of the Austro-Hungarian era, when a town's brass band was a point of civic pride.

The polka is a Bohemian dance that spread across Europe in the 19th century, so the roots are local. Another Czech composer, Julius Fučík, wrote Entry of the Gladiators in 1897. The rest of the world knows it as the circus tune. Czech brass music has been quietly supplying other countries' soundtracks for well over a century.

Who listens to it

Dechovka has an older, loyal audience. You will meet it at village fêtes, dance halls, pub evenings and traditional festivals, rather than at a Prague party. Younger musicians are learning the tunes, though, and plenty of people come back to the music for weddings and family events.

It goes well with food. A brass band over roast pork, dumplings and cabbage (see vepřo-knedlo-zelo) makes sense to anyone who has tried the combination. A good pub or beer garden with live music is a better introduction than a recording.

Moravian folk and the cimbalom

Folk music in Moravia, the eastern region of the country, has a different colour from the Bohemian tradition. Listen for the cimbalom, a hammered dulcimer, in a fiddle-led ensemble known as a cimbálová muzika. The songs are often melancholic and the dances energetic. The wine is rarely far away. Slovácko, in the south-east, is the best-known folk region.

UNESCO recognises two Slovácko traditions on its intangible heritage lists. The verbuňk (inscribed in 2005) is a men's dance rooted in the army's recruiting ceremonies. The Ride of the Kings, Jízda králů (2011), is a spring procession on horseback through village streets. Both show how seriously the region treats its heritage.

Inside a brass band

A typical band has a few clarinets, a couple of trumpets or flugelhorns, tenor horns, a tuba for the bass line and a drummer, with one or two singers carrying the tune. Arrangements follow a familiar shape: an introduction, a main tune, a contrasting middle section and a return. Once you hear that shape you can follow almost any polka, even one you have never heard.

Watch the tuba player. The off-beat lift of a polka comes from the bass, and a good tuba player makes a whole room bounce without anyone noticing why.

Festivals

The Czech lands have a bagpipe tradition too, with the dudy at the international bagpipe festival in Strakonice, in South Bohemia. In Strážnice, the International Folklore Festival has gathered dancers and musicians for decades, and a weekend there shows you the whole picture: costume, song and dance in one place. Dates change, so check each festival's own site.

Autumn adds wine-harvest events with live folk ensembles (see burčák, young wine). If you want the classical side of the same national story, read how Smetana and Dvořák used folk rhythms, and for a modern take, the folk-rock band Čechomor appears in the rock and indie guide.

Folk shows in Prague

Prague has folklore evenings aimed at visitors, usually with costume, song and dinner. Quality varies and prices are set by the organisers, so read the description before you book. For the real thing, ask a Czech friend where their family goes on a summer weekend.

At a brass band night

Nobody expects you to know the steps. Watch a couple of rounds and join in at the edges. Tables are often shared, and the best seats are close enough to hear and far enough to talk. A small tip for the band is a friendly gesture, and requests are usually welcome. Beer, wine and something hearty are part of the evening, and it can run late.

Quick answers

Frequently asked questions

Is the Beer Barrel Polka really Czech?

Yes. Jaromír Vejvoda composed it in 1927, and the Czech version is known as Škoda lásky.

What is dechovka?

Czech and Moravian brass band music, mainly polkas, waltzes and marches, played on wind instruments.

Where can I see Moravian folk music?

At regional festivals such as the one in Strážnice, and at autumn wine events, which often have live folk ensembles.

Do I need to dance?

No. Many people just listen, but dancing is welcome and locals tend to help newcomers with the steps.

If a band strikes up a polka in a pub, join in or at least tap along. The tuba player will notice, and his is the only review that counts.