Marche slave

The first section, written in the somber key of B-flat minor, describes the oppression of the Serbs by the Ottoman Turks.

It uses two Serbian folk songs, "Sunce jarko, ne sijaš jednako" (Bright sun, you do not shine equally),[3] by Isidor Ćirić and "Rado ide Srbin u vojnike" (Gladly does the Serb become a soldier)[4] by Josip Runjanin.

This eventually gives way to the second section, written in the relative key of D-flat major, which describes the Russians rallying to help the Serbs.

This is based on a simple melody with the character of a rustic dance that is passed around the orchestra, until finally it gives way to a solemn statement of the Russian imperial anthem "God Save the Tsar".

), which ironically came from the finale of Mikhail Glinka's opéra A Life for the Tsar, a historical drama about a patriotic commoner named Ivan Susanin.