Dwellers By The Sea (Ttbb)

Dwellers By The Sea is the second movement of Czech composer Antonin Dvorak’s cycle ‘Five Choruses For Male Voice’.

The cycle of five choruses is setto Lithuanian folk texts translated by Frantisek Ladislav Celakovsky and is written for unaccompanied male choir (TTBB Voices). The title page of the autograph score bears the note: “Composed on the journey from Prague to Vienna,12th of December 1878”. 

The individual parts of the cycle present a vibrant palette of moods, from the balladic Dwellers by the Sea to the final, light-hearted ‘TheSparrow’s Feast’. The songs’ melodies echo the spirit of folk songs, and the composer used simple but colourful harmonies and chose a strophic form.