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Artist
Bedřich Smetana
12+ albums
ClassicalromanticCzechcomposeropera
about
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 Homeland"), and for his opera Prodaná nevěsta ("The Bartered Bride"). Smetana was the son of a brewer in Litomyšl in Bohemia. 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. By 1874 he had become almost totally deaf, but he continued to compose; Má vlast was written after his deafness had developed. He also suffered from tinnitus, which caused him to hear a conti
top songs
1
The Moldau
86,89026 Album Leaves, Op. 2, JB 1:51: No. 2 in A Minor, Chanson. Moderato
79,2313Vltava
51,2714Bagatelles et impromptus: VII. Love
49,3875Album Leaf for Kateřina Kolářová in B Major, JB 1:20
32,6996Vltava - Die Moldau
32,05173 Polkas de salon, Op. 7, JB 1:60: No. 3 in E Major, Allegretto ma non troppo
26,5328Charakterstücke, Op. 3, JB 1:65: No. 3, Es siedet und brauset un sicht
23,8589Má vlast (My Country): No. 2, Vltava [Moldau]
22,97510Má Vlast, JB1:112: 2. Vltava
17,859albums
Smetana: Piano Works, Vol. 4
My Fatherland (Czechoslovakian State Philharmony of Prague feat. conductor: Libor Pešek)
Smetana: Ma Vlast (My Country)
Má vlast (Czech Philharmonic Orchestra)
Smetana: Piano Works, Vol. 6
Classica D'Oro, Volume 1 (disc 30: Mein Vaterland) (Sinfonieorchester Baden-Baden feat. conductor Zdenek Macal)
SMETANA / DVORAK : Moldau, Slavonic Dances
SMETANA: Wedding Scenes / Libuse's Judgement
Smetana: Má Vlast
Dalibor
SMETANA: The Bartered Bride (Prague National Opera) (1933)
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A Calendar Of Classics - October