“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.
from The Bartered Bride
for: Mixed choir (SATB), piano
Choir score
Item no.: 898249
Comic opera in three acts
for: Soloists, mixed choir, orchestra
Piano reduction
Item no.: 480257
for: Concert band
Score, Parts
Item no.: 1090313
for: BUEHNENWERKE + SZENISCHE WERKE OPER
Item no.: 1344666
for: Trumpet
Study score
Item no.: 103849
for: Piano
Item no.: 114102
for: Piano
Item no.: 114096
Sinfonische Dichtung
Repertoire Explorer
for: Symphonic orchestra
Study score
Item no.: 461236
aus der Symphonischen Dichtung "Mein Heimatland"
for: Piano
Music score
Item no.: 1652098
The Great Classics
for: Concert band
Score, Parts
Item no.: 1210967
for: Piano
Ensemble score
Item no.: 103921
Muzika Ensemble Music
for: Variable Wind Ensemble and Piano
Score, Parts
Item no.: 329298
Prague Carnival for orchestra
Orchestra
for: Symphonic orchestra
Item no.: 1344209
for: Voice, piano
Item no.: 1659108
for: Concert band
Score
Item no.: 945043
for: Concert band
Score
Item no.: 880061
for: Symphonic orchestra
Cello 2 (orchestral part)
Item no.: 428240
Flex 7 Concert
for: Concert band
Score, Parts
Item no.: 1112666
Overture
for: Concert band
Score, Parts
Item no.: 1555764
Nach Motiven aus „Die Moldau“ von B. Smetana
for: Mixed choir (SATB), piano
Piano score
Item no.: 658548
for: Trumpet
Study score
Item no.: 114256
for: Symphonic orchestra
Set of parts
Item no.: 1201424
Oper in 3 Akten
for: Soloists, mixed choir, orchestra
Piano reduction
Item no.: 1106031
for: Symphonic school orchestra
Score, set of parts (strings)
Item no.: 1351319
for: Accordion orchestra
Score
Item no.: 373705
for: 2 violins, viola, cello (string quartet)
Single part(n)
Item no.: 360252
for: 5 flutes (quintet)
Score, Parts
Item no.: 293462
Zpevu dar osech srdci
for: Male choir
Choir score
Item no.: 246012
for: Piano
Item no.: 114498
for: Clarinet
Item no.: 114282
Three Dances
for: Concert band
Score, Parts
Item no.: 1069835
Overture
for: Concert band
Score, Parts
Item no.: 1064430
aus der Oper "Zwei Witwen"
for: Piano
Ensemble score
Item no.: 1535110
for: Piano
Item no.: 210020
for: Symphonic orchestra
Study score
Item no.: 391690
for: Libretto
Lyrics
Item no.: 257931
for: Piano
Music score
Item no.: 1005871
for: Voice, piano
Music score
Item no.: 821033
Taschenpartitur 161
for: Symphonic orchestra
Study score
Item no.: 1535109
for: Symphonic orchestra
Score, Parts
Item no.: 272340
for: Piano
Music score
Item no.: 1202161
for: Voice (high), piano
[deutsch, tschechisch]
Item no.: 104118
for: Violin, piano
Item no.: 104062
for: Male choir (TTB) a cappella
[russisch]
Item no.: 549232
Harmonia-Mixed Choir
for: Mixed choir (SATB), piano
Einzelstimme
Item no.: 903947
Ensemble ad libitum 37
for: Flexible ensemble
Score, Parts
Item no.: 618532
Má vlast (all six symphonic poems in two volumes in A4 format)
Orchestra
for: Symphonic orchestra
Item no.: 1344506
for: Piano
Ensemble score
Item no.: 347730