“To dance is human, to polka is divine” K.D. Lang, Canadian Singer-Songwriter
If you think that the polka is originally a Polish dance, then you are way off! This popular dance is one of the cultural treasures of another small middle European country. If you would like to know more about the origins of this Czech dance, then browse our sheet music & scores, and explore all the marvellous Polkas Stretta has to offer!
It is no longer known exactly where and when the polka came to be, but from the early 19th century the predecessor of the polka, the “Nimra”, was becoming very popular. The next development was the “Maděra”, which was then renamed to the “Půlka”, which was later renamed the Polka.
The polka was already well known around Europe, and by the 1840s, and it had become one of the favourite dances in the courts of Vienna. Johann Strauss I was also fascinated by the polka in Prague, and subsequently composed several polkas himself. The polka was also very popular with the Czech composer Bedřich Smetana, who composed polkas for piano, and also used them in his symphonic and operatic works including Vltava and The Bartered Bride.
Like many other folk dances, the polka found its way into the ballets of the 19th century, in the form of the “Polka Hongroise” or “French Polka”, particularly in works by Léo Delibes. In Vienna the “Polka Schnell” or “Quick Polka” was also popular for a long time, often penned by Johann Strauss II.
One of the most famous polka melodies, which has travelled the world in many different versions, is Jaromír Vejvoda’s “Škoda lásky” known also as “Rosamunde” or “The Beer Barrel Polka”.
Item no.: 1685899
Item no.: 1685872
Item no.: 1685864
Item no.: 1685675
Item no.: 1685540
Item no.: 1684919
for: großes Blasorchester
Item no.: 1673053
for: großes Blasorchester
Item no.: 1673042
for: großes Blasorchester
Item no.: 1673017
for: Accordion
Music score
Item no.: 273468
for: Schwyzerörgeli
Music score (anthology)
Item no.: 265836
Böhmische Polka
for: Small wind band
Score, conductor's part, orchestral parts
Item no.: 1557352
for: Small wind band
Item no.: 162026
for: Diatonic accordion
Item no.: 180217
for: Accordion
Music score
Item no.: 627473
for: Zither
Item no.: 131172
for: Small wind band
Item no.: 186749
for: Accordion
Item no.: 609057
Polka
for: Small wind band
Single part Tenor horn 2
Item no.: 472641
Polka
for: Small wind band
Clarinet 2 (orchestral part)
Item no.: 472637
Polka
for: Small wind band
Single part Flugelhorn 1
Item no.: 472634
for: 2 euphoniums, 2 tubas (F/B-flat)
Score, Parts
Item no.: 475804
for: Male choir, piano
Piano score
Item no.: 277816
for: Accordion
Music score
Item no.: 127176
for: Diatonic accordion
Item no.: 127088
for: Diatonic accordion
Item no.: 127073
Polka schnell
Choir part Tenor 2
Item no.: 578899
for: Small wind band
Item no.: 275546
for: 5 recorders (quintet)
Item no.: 228709
for: Salon orchestra
Additional parts
Item no.: 145277
Choir part Tenor 2
Item no.: 328175
for: Piano 4 hands
Item no.: 203445
for: Piano [accordion]
Item no.: 343729
Trio
for: 1-3 Klarinetten, Klavier
Set of parts
Item no.: 445379
Collection for young wind band
for: Youth concert band
Flugelhorn 2 in Bb (orchestral part)
Item no.: 158850
Collection for young wind band
for: Youth concert band
Horn 3 in F (orchestral part)
Item no.: 278098
for: FL (OB/VL)
Item no.: 397595
for: Small wind band
Item no.: 433188
Marsch
for: Concert band
Score, Parts
Item no.: 1169905
for: Accordion
Music score
Item no.: 139782
for: Accordion
Music score
Item no.: 127121
for: Diatonic accordion
Item no.: 127084
for: Accordion
Music score
Item no.: 126178
Polka
BOVACO Classic CB
for: Concert band
Score, Parts
Item no.: 1023898
for: Accordion
Item no.: 213467
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