Furiant 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 composers such as Antonín Dvořák in the eighth dance from his "Slavonic Dances" and in his 6th Symphony, and by Bedřich Smetana in "The Bartered Bride" and in his second volume for piano of Czech Dances ("České tance 2"), published in 1879 (Op. 21). The use of the furiant by central European composers closely parallels
The Bride of Messina (opera) The Bride of Messina (opera) The Bride of Messina (Czech: "Nevěsta messinská") is a tragic opera in three acts, op. 18, by composer Zdeněk Fibich. The Czech language libretto by Otakar Hostinský is based on Friedrich Schiller's play "Die Braut von Messina". Fibich’s most Wagnerian opera, he composed the work between 1882–1883 for the purposes of submitting it in an opera competition sponsored by the National Theatre in Prague. The opera won first prize in the 1883 competition and it premiered at the National Theatre on 28 March 1884. At its first presentation music critics responded with high praise to