“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: Symphonic orchestra
Score (Urtext edition)
Item no.: 627127
Bärenreiter Urtext
for: Piano 4 hands
Ensemble score (Urtext edition)
Item no.: 620948
Frühkompositionen, Bagatellen und Impromptus
for: Piano
Music score
Item no.: 304054
for: Symphonic orchestra
Study score
Item no.: 261270
Komische Oper in drei Akten
Bärenreiter Urtext
for: Soloists, mixed choir, orchestra
Piano reduction (Urtext edition)
Item no.: 564546
Zwei Melodien aus dem berühmten Orchesterwerk
for: Accordion
Music score
Item no.: 389341
Bärenreiter Urtext
for: Violin, cello, piano (piano trio)
Score, Parts (Urtext edition)
Item no.: 375916
Bärenreiter Urtext
for: Piano
Music score (Urtext edition)
Item no.: 489953
Sinfonische Dichtung
für Klavier bearb. von Otto Schulhof
for: Piano
Music score
Item no.: 282858
Bärenreiter Urtext
for: Symphonic orchestra
Harmony parts (complete winds)
Item no.: 691986
Streichquartett Nr. 1
for: 2 violins, viola, cello (string quartet)
Set of parts
Item no.: 577006
for: Symphonic school orchestra
Score, Parts
Item no.: 668979
(Urtext)
for: Violin, piano
Piano score, solo part
Item no.: 551962
My Fatherland No. 6 Symphonic Poem
for: Orchestra
Study score
Item no.: 749184
for: Piano
Music score
Item no.: 551964
for: Oboe, piano [organ]
Sheet music
Item no.: 1248935
Flute
for: 4 flutes (quartet)
Score, Parts
Item no.: 760346
Arrangement for great organ (1985)
for: Organ
Music score
Item no.: 283540
My Fatherland No. 3 Symphonic Poem
for: Orchestra
Study score
Item no.: 735967
Symphonische Dichtung Nr. 2 aus dem Zyklus "Mein Vaterland" (Ma Vlast)
Eulenburg Orchestral Series - Urtextausgabe
for: Symphonic orchestra
Score
Item no.: 189734
Aus meinem Leben
Bärenreiter Urtext (Urtextausgabe) (Urtext)
for: 2 violins, viola, cello (string quartet)
Study score
Item no.: 475753
für 2 Klaviere zu 8 Händen
Originalkomposition
for: 2 pianos 8 hands
2 Performance scores
Item no.: 379022
English only
for: Soloists, mixed choir, orchestra
Lyric book
Item no.: 318335
for: Soloists, mixed choir, orchestra
Score (Hardcover)
Item no.: 224688
from Má Vlast
for: Flute, piano
Music score
Item no.: 722356
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
Klassische Meisterwerke zum Kennenlernen
Für Klavier leicht bearbeitet
for: Piano
Music score
Item no.: 1215439
from Má Vlast
for: Cello, piano
Music score
Item no.: 743260
from Má Vlast
for: Piano
Music score
Item no.: 737139
for: Trumpet, piano
Sheet music
Item no.: 1636964
for: Concert band
Score, Parts
Item no.: 1560298
for: Women's choir [male choir] (3 voices)
Choir score
Item no.: 850502
for: String orchestra
Score
Item no.: 944385
Studienpartitur
for: Symphonic orchestra
Study score
Item no.: 1345218
Urtext
for: Violin, cello, piano (piano trio)
Piano score, parts (Urtext edition)
Item no.: 1671490
In a simple arrangement for piano
for: Piano
Music score
Item no.: 1340994
for: Concert band
Score, Parts
Item no.: 664885
for: String Orchestra and opt.Violin or Viola and Piano
Score, Parts
Item no.: 648916
aus der Oper "Die verkaufte Braut", für gem. Chor u. Orchester (Klavier)
for: Mixed choir a cappella
Choir score
Item no.: 276852
Leuckart-Chorblatt
for: Male choir (TTBB) a cappella
Choir score
Item no.: 478848
Oper-Querschnitt
for: Piano
Score
Item no.: 419604
Easy Piano
for: Piano
Music score
Item no.: 280067
Nr. 5 Duett Kezal und Hans
for: 2 GES (TB) KLAV
Item no.: 425451
leichte und gekürzte Fassung
for: Piano
Music score
Item no.: 689361
Leuckart-Chorblatt
for: Women's choir (SSA) a cappella
Choir score
Item no.: 339561
for: Electric organ
Music score
Item no.: 349410
Solemn Prelude
for: Concert band
Sheet music
Item no.: 1288740
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