“The Czechs live through music” – Bedřich Smetana (1824-1884)
Bedřich Smetana is a central authority in Czech music. His life story, in the predominantly German culture of Bohemia, aptly reflects this difficult era. Smetana contributed significantly to the emancipation of Czech musical life, and to the development of Czech musical identity. Browse our sheet music and scores, and explore all his magnificent music today!
Bedřich Smetana came from a German-speaking family from Litomyšl, where his father worked as a brewer. The boy was not a good student, but he devoted himself intensively to the study of music and gave concerts with the local string quartet as early as 1830. After 1842 Smetana began to compose more intensively, initially smaller piano pieces such as Polkas, later also first orchestral works.
From 1843 Smetana lived in Prague, where he first studied composition and piano, and later, from 1848 he taught at his own music institute. Over the years, Smetana gained a good reputation in Prague circles as a solo pianist and teacher, but for a long time he was dissatisfied with his position. After the tragic death of three of his four daughters, he decided to accept an offer from Sweden, where he was appointed director of the Gothenburg Philharmonic Society from 1856 to 1861. There he gained valuable experience as a conductor and pianist. On the concert stage, he performed a wide range of classical and romantic compositions.
Smetana’s greatest influence, however, was the encounter with Franz Liszt and his Faust symphony. Smetana was fascinated by the programmatic form, the symphonic poem. He first composed a trio of Swedish symphonic poems, and later a cycle of symphonic poems, “Mein Vaterland”, “Má Vlast”, in six movements, the most famous of which is Vltava, The Moldau.
After his return from Sweden, Smetana took a position as Kapellmeister at the Provisional (later National) Theater in Prague. This is where he began composing operas, there are a total of eight Operas by Smetana, the best known is the comic opera “The Bartered Bride”. Smetana has long been criticized in Czech circles for his ’Wagnerian’ approach to opera, however it is indisputable that he was instrumental in the development of Czech opera, introducing many new musical and theatrical elements. Smetana’s greatest role models were Richard Wagner, Franz Liszt, and Frédéric Chopin.
Towards the end of his life, like Ludwig van Beethoven, he suffered a severe blow, when he completely lost his hearing in 1874. Gradually he had to withdraw from public life, and gave up his work as a conductor and teacher. Paradoxically, however, this was one of the most fruitful periods in Smetana’s composing life. The autobiographical programmatic string quartet From My Life from 1876 is one of Smetana’s greatest works of reflection.
“I still want to give to the nation, that what I still owe, and what I have in my heart, in a work of great scope, for that, I have to keep all my strength in my sad state!”
After 1881, Smetana’s mental health began to deteriorate. In 1883 Smetana witnessed the opening of the National Theater in Prague, which was celebrated with the premiere of his festive opera “Libuše”. A year later he was admitted to a psychiatric hospital, where he died a few months later. His funeral became an unmistakable manifesto for a Czech nation, who, young and old alike, accompanied their Czech-Maestro on his last journey.
Eulenburg Studienpartituren
for: Symphonic orchestra
Study score
Item no.: 391875
Zpevu dar osech srdci
for: Male choir
Choir score
Item no.: 246012
for: 5 flutes (quintet)
Score, Parts
Item no.: 293462
for: Piano
Item no.: 114498
for: Clarinet
Item no.: 114282
Edition Pro Salon
for: 2 violins, cello, double bass, piano (quintet)
Set of parts
Item no.: 137973
Klassik
for: Concert band
Sheet music
Item no.: 592727
Blasorchester
for: Concert band
Sheet music
Item no.: 587921
Beginning String Orchestra
for: String orchestra
Score, Parts
Item no.: 609082
Bärenreiter Urtext
for: Violin, cello, piano (piano trio)
Score, Parts (Urtext edition)
Item no.: 375916
Aus meinem Leben
Eulenburg Studienpartituren
for: 2 violins, viola, cello (string quartet)
Study score
Item no.: 391526
Mein Vaterland Nr. 3 Symphonische Dichtung
Eulenburg Studienpartituren
for: Symphonic orchestra
Study score
Item no.: 391690
Komische Oper in 3 Akten
for: Soloists, mixed choir, orchestra
Lyric book
Item no.: 179624
Meistermelodien
for: Piano
Item no.: 210020
aus der Oper "Die verkaufte Braut", für gem. Chor u. Orchester (Klavier)
for: Mixed choir, piano
Piano reduction
Item no.: 283447
for: Piano
Item no.: 114322
Abenteuer am Fluss mit der berühmten Musik von Bedřich Smetana
Kinder hören und erleben Orchestermusik
Book (Hardcover), CD
Item no.: 659401
for: Symphonic orchestra
Score, Parts
Item no.: 272340
for: Male choir (TTB) a cappella
[russisch]
Item no.: 549232
for: Voice (high), piano
[deutsch, tschechisch]
Item no.: 104118
for: Violin, piano
Item no.: 104062
Ensemble ad libitum 37
for: Flexible ensemble
Score, Parts
Item no.: 618532
Symphonische Dichtung Nr. 2 aus dem Zyklus "Mein Vaterland" (Ma Vlast)
Eulenburg Orchestral Series - Urtextausgabe
for: Symphonic orchestra
Cello (orchestral part)
Item no.: 639027
for: Soloists, mixed choir, orchestra
Score (Hardcover)
Item no.: 224688
Sinfonische Dichtung
Repertoire Explorer
for: Symphonic orchestra
Study score
Item no.: 461223
für Orgel
dem Gedächtnis von Issai Brando
for: Organ
Organ score
Item no.: 380170
Bärenreiter Urtext
for: Piano
Music score (Urtext edition)
Item no.: 489953
for: Piano
Item no.: 378993
Mein Vaterland Nr. 1 Symphonische Dichtung
Eulenburg Studienpartituren
for: Symphonic orchestra
Study score
Item no.: 391688
"Seht am Strauch die Knospen springen" - ("Proč bychom se netěšili")
aus: "Die verkaufte Braut"
for: Mixed choir (SATB), piano
Piano score
Item no.: 154695
Score, Parts
Item no.: 557331
for: Flute, violin, guitar
Score, Parts
Item no.: 647752
for: 2 pianos 8 hands
Score, Parts
Item no.: 366035
for: Symphonic orchestra
Score, Parts
Item no.: 339628
Hazám."Sarka"
EMB Study Scores
for: Symphonic orchestra
Study score
Item no.: 256705
for: Harp
Music score
Item no.: 581722
Ensemble Music 58
for: Flexible ensemble (5 parts), piano (school orchestra)
Score, Parts
Item no.: 289435
Bärenreiter Urtext
for: Symphonic orchestra
Study score (Urtext edition)
Item no.: 634348
Aus meinem Leben
Bärenreiter Urtext-Ausgabe (Urtextausgabe) (Urtext)
for: 2 violins, viola, cello (string quartet)
Set of parts
Item no.: 475737
Philharmonia Taschenpartituren
for: Symphonic orchestra
Study score
Item no.: 186340
Sinfonische Dichtung
für Klavier bearb. von Otto Schulhof
for: Piano
Music score
Item no.: 282858
Score
Item no.: 114459
for: Mixed choir (4 voices), orchestra
Piano reduction
Item no.: 104120
Reprint
Opera Explorer
for: Soloists, mixed choir, orchestra
Study score
Item no.: 367464
Folkloristische Klassik - Klassische Folklore
for: Accordion
Music score
Item no.: 389346
Muzika Ensemble Music
for: Flexible wind band
Score, Parts
Item no.: 348545
2 Duos für Violine und Klavier
for: Violin, piano
Piano score, solo part
Item no.: 360251
Mein Vaterland Nr. 6 Symphonische Dichtung
Eulenburg Studienpartituren
for: Symphonic orchestra
Study score
Item no.: 391693
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