Music #381 - Bedřich Smetana

Bedřich Smetana  
[ˈbɛdr̝ɪx ˈsmɛtana]  (1824 – 1884)

A Czech composer who pioneered the development of a musical style which became closely identified with his country's aspirations to independent statehood. He is thus widely regarded in his homeland as the father of Czech music.

Internationally he is best known
* for his opera The Bartered Bride,
* for the symphonic cycle Má vlast ("My Fatherland")
* for his First String Quartet From My Life.



The Bartered Bride   

- the full opera in English   - with English subtitles

* Dance of the Comedians  

 

(L) * Polka (Come here, girl)

 

(R) * "It's beer, it certainly is a gift from heaven"

Má vlast [maː vlast] / My Fatherland
It is a set of six symphonic poems which portrays the history, legends and landscape of Czechoslovakia. While it is often presented as a single work in six movements, the six pieces were conceived as individual works.

* Mvt.2 - Vltava - describes the course of the Vltava, the longest river in the Czech Republic. 

String Quartet No. 1 [Z mého života] / From My Life
This four-movement Romantic chamber composition is semi-autobiographical and consists of sketches of periods from Smetana's life.
* by the Seoul String Quartet

Source: Wikipedia