1824–1884 · Romantic
Bedřich Smetana
4 works
Smetana was born in Litomyšl in Bohemia. He worked in Gothenburg, Sweden, from 1856 to 1861, then returned to Prague, where he became principal conductor of the Provisional Theatre in 1866. Music by Liszt that he heard in 1857 moved him toward orchestral works that express a literary subject. He resigned his post in 1874, and by the end of that year he was completely deaf. Má vlast and the quartet below were written in the years that followed.
Má vlast (My Fatherland) is a cycle of six symphonic poems written between 1874 and 1879 and first played complete in Prague in 1882. They draw on Czech history, legend and landscape. A four-note motif for Vyšehrad, the old castle of Prague, appears in the first poem and returns near the ends of Vltava and Blaník, tying the cycle together. Vltava follows the river from two springs through a peasant wedding, moonlit mermaids and rapids to Prague. Šárka tells the legend of the Maidens' War, in which a woman lures the knight Ctirad into an ambush. Blaník begins where Tábor ends and quotes the Hussite hymn "Ktož jsú boží bojovníci".
The String Quartet No. 1 in E minor, From My Life (1876), is autobiographical. It opens with a prominent viola solo, has a polka in the second movement, and a tribute to his first wife in the slow movement. In the finale a held high E in the first violin imitates the ringing in his ears. He drew on dance, especially the polka, more than on traditional folk song.
What to listen for
- In Vltava, the flowing river theme in E minor, which returns between the scenes of wedding, moonlight and rapids.
- In Šárka, the hunting horn that gives the signal for the attack, and the music of the ambush that follows.
- In Blaník, a closing march in D major that quotes the Hussite hymn, with the Vyšehrad motif returning to round off the whole cycle.
- In the quartet, the viola's solo entry in the first movement and the polka rhythm of the second.
- The high, held note in the quartet's finale, played over trembling strings.
Sources: Bedřich Smetana (Wikipedia), Má vlast (Wikipedia), String Quartet No. 1 (Smetana) (Wikipedia)
