“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.
Bärenreiter Urtext
for: Violin, cello, piano (piano trio)
Score, Parts (Urtext edition)
Item no.: 375916
for: 2 flutes (duet)
Ensemble score
Item no.: 680598
Bärenreiter Urtext
for: Symphonic orchestra
Score (Urtext edition)
Item no.: 627127
My Fatherland No. 6 Symphonic Poem
for: Orchestra
Study score
Item no.: 749184
My Fatherland No. 3 Symphonic Poem
for: Orchestra
Study score
Item no.: 735967
Aus meinem Leben
Bärenreiter Urtext (Urtextausgabe) (Urtext)
for: 2 violins, viola, cello (string quartet)
Study score
Item no.: 475753
Aus meinem Leben
Bärenreiter Urtext-Ausgabe (Urtextausgabe) (Urtext)
for: 2 violins, viola, cello (string quartet)
Set of parts
Item no.: 475737
Zwei Melodien aus dem berühmten Orchesterwerk
for: Accordion
Music score
Item no.: 389341
Bärenreiter Urtext
for: Symphonic orchestra
Study score (Urtext edition)
Item no.: 618003
Arrangement for great organ (1985)
for: Organ
Music score
Item no.: 283540
for: Piano
Music score
Item no.: 551964
for: Symphonic orchestra
Study score
Item no.: 261270
for: Symphonic school orchestra
Score, Parts
Item no.: 668979
Frühkompositionen, Bagatellen und Impromptus
for: Piano
Music score
Item no.: 304054
(Urtext)
for: Violin, piano
Piano score, solo part
Item no.: 551962
Streichquartett Nr. 1
for: 2 violins, viola, cello (string quartet)
Set of parts
Item no.: 577006
Bärenreiter Urtext
for: Piano 4 hands
Ensemble score (Urtext edition)
Item no.: 620948
from Má Vlast
for: Flute, piano
Music score
Item no.: 722356
for: Soloists, mixed choir, orchestra
Score (Hardcover)
Item no.: 224688
from Má Vlast
for: Cello, piano
Music score
Item no.: 743260
from Má Vlast
for: Piano
Music score
Item no.: 737139
English only
for: Soloists, mixed choir, orchestra
Lyric book
Item no.: 318335
from Má Vlast
for: Violin, piano
Music score
Item no.: 722308
A comic opera in three acts
for: Soloists, mixed choir, orchestra
Piano reduction
Item no.: 318163
"Vltava"
EMB Study Scores
for: Symphonic orchestra
Study score
Item no.: 149583
Harmonia-Men's Choir
for: Male choir (TTBB) a cappella
Choir score
Item no.: 931863
for: Piccolo, piano [organ]
Sheet music
Item no.: 1305597
My Fatherland No. 1 Symphonic Poem
for: Orchestra
Study score
Item no.: 749181
from: The Bartered Bride
for: Violin, piano
Music score
Item no.: 779886
from: “My Fatherland”
for: Violin-Ensemble (3-4 Violinen)
Music score
Item no.: 761160
for piano
Bärenreiter Urtext
for: Piano
Music score (Urtext edition)
Item no.: 680592
for: Brass band
Sheet music
Item no.: 1581134
for: Tuba (E-flat), piano [organ]
Sheet music
Item no.: 1305545
Landliedenkoor
Harmonia-Womens Choir
for: Women's choir (SSAA), piano
Choir score
Item no.: 908869
for: Euphonium, guitar
Sheet music
Item no.: 1305546
Abenteuer am Fluss mit der berühmten Musik von Bedřich Smetana
Kinder hören und erleben Orchestermusik
Book (Hardcover), CD
Item no.: 659401
from: My Fatherland
for: Piano
Music score
Item no.: 750996
for: Piano
Music score
Item no.: 730210
for: Euphonium, piano [organ]
Sheet music
Item no.: 1305547
for: String orchestra
Score
Item no.: 944385
Klassik
for: Symphonic orchestra
Score, Parts
Item no.: 1213764
Klassik
for: Concert band
Score, Parts
Item no.: 861241
Klassik
for: Concert band
Score
Item no.: 1185244
Mein Vaterland Nr. 1 Symphonische Dichtung
Eulenburg Studienpartituren
for: Symphonic orchestra
Study score
Item no.: 391688
für Orgel
dem Gedächtnis von Issai Brando
for: Organ
Organ score
Item no.: 380170
Leuckart-Chorblatt
for: Women's choir (SSA) a cappella
Choir score
Item no.: 339561
BÄRENREITER URTEXT
for: 2 violins, viola, cello
Stimmensatz, Urtextausgabe
Item no.: 338929
for: Concert band
Sheet music
Item no.: 1288739
for: Trumpet, guitar
Sheet music
Item no.: 1305568
for: Violin, guitar
Sheet music
Item no.: 1305554
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