The Father of Czech Music: Bedrich Smetana

Father of Czech Music, Bedrich Smetana, circa 1878. Public Domain

Smetana’s status as the founder of Czech music is a label that, as with so many artists, was only recognized after his death. According to musicologist Brian Large, “Only a few years before [his death], he had been spurned, labelled ‘Wagnerian’ and accused of impeding the way of musical progress.”

Into the early 19th century, Czech music was dominated by Italian opera and the influence of Mozart. But as the feudal order collapsed, and a new industrial-based middle class sought to emulate their sophisticated German neighbors, a desire developed to establish a more unique native music register.

There were a few early precursors to, and contemporaries of, Smetana who pursued this goal. Pavel Krizkovsky (1820–85), for example, wove Czech folk music into his compositions. Most attempts at this, however, were weak, and it’s Smetana who is rightly credited with creating a Czech musical idiom. How did he do it?

From Genius to Deafness

Smetana was born in Litomysl, Bohemia. Today, this is part of the independent Czech Republic, though at the time this area was governed by the Austrian empire. His father, Frantisek, was a master brewer, and Bedrich spent his early years living in the town brewery. Frantisek and his wife, Barbora, were also enthusiastic dancers. It is said that on the night before Bedrich was born, his mother danced into the early hours of the morning shortly before giving birth.

Whether a proclivity for rhythm was absorbed in the womb during these long dancing sessions, the child showed an early gift for music. In a diary he kept as a teenager, Bedrich wrote that his father taught him how to keep a musical tempo at age 3, as well as reading notation and handling a violin. He gave his first public performance at age 6. After playing a piano arrangement at his school to celebrate the emperor’s name day, he was lifted into the air and acclaimed a child prodigy.

As an adult, Smetana moved to Sweden for a time to pursue work as a teacher and conductor. When he returned to Prague in the 1860s, he found success as an opera composer. The best remembered of these operas today is “The Bartered Bride.”

Then in his late 40s, he began to have hearing problems. Like Beethoven, the condition caused Smetana great anguish. In 1874, he found himself unable to work, resigned as a conductor, and fell into poverty. However, having completed the opera “Libuse,” celebrating Czech identity and folklore, he submitted it to a competition and won a large cash prize. The unexpected success revived his spirits and spurred him to work on what would become his greatest composition.

‘My Fatherland’

Smetana’s most celebrated work is “Ma Vlast” (“My Country” or “My Fatherland”), a cycle of six symphonic poems composed between 1874 and 1879. He wrote it when he was completely deaf.

"Bedrich Smetana Among His Friends," 1865, by Frantisek Dvorak. Public Domain

Two of the movements are about Czech myth, two about history, and two about nature. The most well-known of these is the second movement “Vltava,” which is usually translated as “The Moldau,” referring to the Vltava river, the country’s longest waterway. Smetana’s work masterfully depicts the river’s movement through the Czech landscape. It begins softly, with “warm” flutes and “cold” clarinets playing rippling notes that imitate the bubbling springs where the river originates in two sources. The flutes then start cascading rapidly, evoking the gentle movement of water. A little over a minute into the piece, the strings take up the main theme, playing a memorable, wave-like melody.

As the river flows through the countryside, various scenes occur. Brass and percussion represent a royal hunt. Strings and woodwinds play a lively tune evoking a peasant wedding, then soften into a more mysterious passage, depicting, in Smetana’s own words,” water- nymphs” dancing “in the silvery moonlight.” Then the brass and percussion return as “water thunders and swirls over St. John’s rapids.” The main theme again returns in majestic force as “the river flows towards Prague, passing by the high citadel” before fading with a gentle diminuendo as the Vltava flows into the Elbe.

“The Moldau” is closely associated with feelings of national pride in the hearts of native Czech people, and they have been known to describe themselves as becoming very emotional when hearing this piece.

A Public Hero

Though not a household name in America, Smetana has a reputation of global importance among composers. This status has been entirely posthumous.

Visiting composers to Prague like Berlioz, Liszt, and Wagner were popular with the public. Smetana was able to take these influences and successfully blend them to form his own native style, but this was frowned upon by factions that viewed foreign composers as a threat to national identity. Smetana’s status suffered and his mental health continued to decline after he completed “Ma Vlast.” In early 1884, he was committed to an insane asylum. He died there in May of that year.

Since his death, his achievements have been recognized above his contemporaries, and he is now regarded as a hero within the Czech Republic. Bicentennial celebrations have been taking place across the country all year, and performances are still ongoing.

Smetana Hall in Prague, located in that city’s Municipal House, was named after him for his lifelong efforts to establish the capital as a national center for opera. His home town of Litomysl prominently features a large statue of its greatest citizen in Smetana Square, located about 100 miles from Prague. Apart from the special bicentennial celebration, Litomysl also hosts the Smetana opera festival every summer, and a Smetana Youth Music Festival every autumn.

Smetana statue in Litomysl. Qasinka/CC0

Smetana not only shaped the sound of Czech music through his vivid compositions and dedication to his homeland, but also ensured that its spirit would flow far beyond the Vltava’s banks.

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