It has been suggested that he was prompted to write them by news of a death (of his father Frantisek, or of the composers Tchaikovsky or Gounod, or of the conductor Hans von Bülow); but there is no good evidence for that, and the most likely explanation is that he felt out of place in the bustle of a big city, and that after two years in America he was homesick for Bohemia.

6 ("Slyš, ó Bože, volání mé") only, and took place at Mladá Boleslav; the performers were O. Schellerova (voice) and an unknown pianist.

The orchestral version of the first five songs was premiered in Prague on 4 January 1896, by the baritone František Šír and the Czech Philharmonic conducted by the composer.

On 19 March 1896, Dvořák conducted a performance of the same songs in Queen’s Hall, London, where the soloist was Katharine Fisk.

Whenever I get the chance to sing them, I feel like I’m in heaven.The texts are from the 16th century Czech-language Bible of Kralice, and are available online with some translations into other languages.