Fibich's sixth and final symphonic poem arose from a personal, rather than literary inspiration. It's a musical reminiscence of the composer's courtship of Anezka Schulzová, depicting gentle evenings the couple spent together, often in the company of her family. The quarter-hour piece begins with murmurings in the bass, with a melody rising (in pitch and loudness) through the rest of the orchestra. The melody recedes well before it reaches a full climax, ebbing and flowing without encountering opposition from any counter theme. Aside from the music's tendency to sound rather foursquare in loud passages, this section has the wandering, harmonically perfumed sound of Ernest Chausson. At length, a contrasting triangle-tinged little scherzo emerges, but this quickly gives way to a quiet, ominous passage wherein the flute imitates birdcalls before the opening theme returns. The symphonic poem's second principle section now arrives, a romantic, even ardent serenade; this is an orchestration of "Reminiscence No. 139" from Fibich's large piano cycle Moods, Impressions & Reminiscences. Violinist Jan Kubelík transcribed this music and played it as an encore under the title Poem, giving the piece international exposure; it sometimes also appears independently in orchestral garb. At any rate, this section's romantic spell is broken only briefly by a short interlude of forest murmurs, and later by a substantial cello solo embellished with more birdcalls from the flute. The final section involves melodic material similar to what has come before, now cast as a very slow waltz. After a brief climax, the music gently descends into a quiet, moonlit coda.

© James Reel, Rovi