In 1896, Antonin Dvořák (1841-1904.) wrote no fewer than four symphonic poems. In 1897 he added a fifth which many felt was a depiction of the composer's own life and career. When Richard Strauss wrote Heldenleben a few years later, many tried to draw a comparison with Dvorák's final symphonic work. Guesses about the work were probably stimulated by Dvorák deciding not to issue any exact programme for the work. This however, is not the case with the 1896 symphonic poems, each of which was based on a ballade by the poet Karel Jaromir Erben (1811-1870). The Wild Dove (Holoubek) tells the tragic tale of a woman who poisons her husband and then marries a younger man. The work begins with a funereal Andante in C minor, recalling the dead husband. After the opening theme is played twice, the music turns into a true funeral march with the introduction of the cymbal and drum – at the beginning of this theme, we hear a seven note rising and then falling scale fragment that Dvorak called the “curse-motif”, that can be found in the background of all the themes in the piece. This music then recedes into the distance. The young lad arrives on horseback and in a very short period of time, ends the widow's period of mourning: within a month they wed. A Molto vivace section suddenly explodes, depicting the merry making, which is only interrupted by the love duet between the two newly weds. The picture unexpectedly darkens. An enormous oak has grown on the grave of the murdered husband and from its branches, a wild dove reminds the woman of the terrible thing she has done. “The unhappy themselves find their graves.” A violin solo portrays the relieved soul of the sinner, then the “curse motif” returns, followed by the funeral march, which is now that of the woman. In the text of Erben's ballade the murderess is not forgiven. Dvorak ends the work in the major, hinting that perhaps there is redemption. The work concludes with precisely the same horn-octave with which it began. The Wild Dove is widely regarded as the most balanced of all Dvorak's works, with its illustrative music contained within an 'absolute' musical form. It was first performed conducted by Leos Janácek in Brünn (March 20th 1898). This was so successful that Gustav Mahler undertook its premiere in Vienna.