Bedøich Smetana

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Bedřich Smetana (2 March 1824 - 12 May 1884) was a Czech composer, one of his nation’s most significant. He is best known for his symphonic poem Vltava - Die Moldau, the second in a cycle of six which he entitled Má vlast (“My Country”), and for his opera Prodaná nevěsta (“The Bartered Bride”). Smetana was the son of a brewer in Litomyšl in Bohemia, then part of the Austrian Empire. He studied piano and violin from an early age, and played in an amateur string quartet with other members of his family. He attended a high school in Pilsen from 1840-1843. He studied music in Prague, despite initial resistance from his father. He then secured a post as music master to a noble family, and in 1848 received funds from Franz Liszt to establish his own music school. September 1855 marked the death of his second child, his beloved four-year-old daughter Bedřiška. When his third child died nine months later, he committed himself to composition, producing the Piano Trio in G minor. This piece is full of sadness and despair, making use of phrases that are cut short, possibly in resemblance to his daughter’s own life. Smetana moved in 1856 to Gothenburg, Sweden, where he taught, conducted, and gave chamber music recitals. In 1863, back in Prague, he opened a new school of music dedicated to promoting specifically Czech music. User-contributed text is available under the Creative Commons By-SA License; additional terms may apply.

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