Dumka (Ukrainian:думка,dúmka, plural думки,dúmky) is a musical term introduced from theUkrainian language, withcognates in otherSlavic languages. The worddumka literally means "thought". Originally, it was thediminutive form of the Ukrainian termduma, pl.dumy, "a Slavic (specifically Ukrainian) epic ballad … generally thoughtful or melancholic in character".[1] Classical composers drew on theharmonic patterns in thefolk music to inform their more formal classicalcompositions.[citation needed]
The composition of dumky became popular after the publication of anethnological study and analysis and a number of illustrated lectures made by the Ukrainian composerMykola Lysenko in 1873 and 1874 inKyiv andSaint Petersburg. They were illustrated by live performances by the blindkobzarOstap Veresai, who performed a number of dumky, singing and accompanying himself on thebandura. Lysenko's study was the first to specifically analyse the melodies and the accompaniment played on the bandura,kobza orlira of the epic dumy.[citation needed]
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 composerAntonín Dvořák. Thus, in classical music,dumka came to mean "a type of instrumental music involving sudden changes from melancholy to exuberance".[1] Though dumky are generally characterized by a gently plodding, dreamy duple rhythm, many examples are intriple metre, including Dvořák'sSlavonic dance (Op. 72 No. 4). His last and best-knownpiano trio,No. 4 in E minor, Op. 90, has six movements, each of which is a dumka; the work is often referred to by its subtitle,Dumky Trio.[2]
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)
