Martinů wrote his first film music for Jan A. Palouš's silent film Slovácké tance a obyčeje (Moravian Slovak Dances and Customs), which was intended to capture the folklore of the Moravian Slovak region in 1922. The music is inspired by folk songs and melodies sung at the Slovak Year festival in Uherské Hradiště. The sheet music for the film is missing; a piano reduction was in the possession of Miloš Šafránek, who also provided the titles of the individual parts: Introduction – Part I: Fašank, Part II: Královničky. Jízda králů (Ride of the Kings), Part III: Moderato and so on. A copy of the score, written by someone else, is now stored at the Moravian Museum in Brno.
Jaroslav Mihule, Martinů: Osud skladatele, Prague: Karolinum, 2002, p. 104–105.