“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.
for: Organ
Music score
Item no.: 244947
for: Harp
Music score
Item no.: 581722
for: Flexible ensemble (5 parts), piano (school orchestra)
Score, Parts
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Bärenreiter Urtext
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Music score (Urtext edition)
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Study score
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Study score
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for: Violin, piano
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for: Treble recorder, piano [organ]
Sheet music
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for: Trumpet, piano [organ]
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Item no.: 1248911
for: Trumpet, guitar
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for: Trombone, guitar
Sheet music
Item no.: 1248902
for: Violin, guitar
Sheet music
Item no.: 1248896
for: Viola, guitar
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for: Clarinet, piano [organ]
Sheet music
Item no.: 1305591
for: Bass clarinet, piano [organ]
Sheet music
Item no.: 1305589
for: bass clarinet, guitar
Sheet music
Item no.: 1305588
for: Treble recorder, piano [organ]
Sheet music
Item no.: 1305583
for: Tenor recorder, piano [organ]
Sheet music
Item no.: 1305581
for: Tuba, guitar
Sheet music
Item no.: 1305556
for: Viola, guitar
Sheet music
Item no.: 1305552
for: Tuba (B flat), guitar
Sheet music
Item no.: 1305542
for: Symphonic orchestra
Study score (Urtext edition)
Item no.: 634348
for: Violin, cello, piano (piano trio)
Piano score, parts
Item no.: 1382948
for: Symphonic orchestra
Score, Parts
Item no.: 1385638
Studienpartitur (tschech) und Libretto (en)
in 2 Bänden
for: BUEHNENWERKE + SZENISCHE WERKE OPER
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Folkloristische Klassik - Klassische Folklore
for: Accordion
Music score
Item no.: 389346
Reprint
Opera Explorer
for: Soloists, mixed choir, orchestra
Study score
Item no.: 367464
for: Mixed choir (4 voices), orchestra
Piano reduction
Item no.: 104120
for: Symphonic orchestra
Score, Parts
Item no.: 1213587
for: Women's choir (SSAA), piano
Choir score
Item no.: 1703498
My Fatherland No. 4 Symphonic Poem
for: Orchestra
Study score
Item no.: 749182
from: The Bartered Bride
for: Violin, piano
Music score
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Overture
for: Piano
Music score
Item no.: 754029
for: Male choir (TTBB) a cappella
Choir score
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for: 2 violins, viola, cello (string quartet)
Study score
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for: Symphonic orchestra
Study score
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for: Piano
Ensemble score
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for: Piano
Music score (Urtext edition)
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Students book
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for: Violin, piano
Piano score, solo part
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for: Piccolo, guitar
Sheet music
Item no.: 1248938
for: Treble recorder, guitar
Sheet music
Item no.: 1248924
for: Tenor recorder, guitar
Sheet music
Item no.: 1248922
for: Tenor saxophone, piano [organ]
Sheet music
Item no.: 1248915
for: Tuba (E-flat), piano [organ]
Sheet music
Item no.: 1248887
Illustrated book, CD
Item no.: 684483
for: Symphonic orchestra
Study score (Urtext edition)
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