Smetana, Bedřich (bĕ`dərzhĭkh smĕ`tänä), 1824–84, Czech composer, creator of a national style in Czech music. He studied in Pilsen and in Prague, where in 1848, with the encouragement of Liszt, he opened a music school. From 1856 to 1860 he was a conductor at Göteborg, Sweden. In 1861 he returned to Prague and took an active role in founding a national opera house. His first patriotic opera, The Brandenburgers in Bohemia, was produced there in 1866. In the same season his most famous work, The Bartered Bride, was staged. It presented a genial picture of village life in Bohemia and reflected the spirit of Czech folk music and dance. The opera was immensely successful, and Smetana was appointed chief conductor of the National Theater. He retained that post until 1874, when he became deaf. Afflicted by nervous disorder for many years, he died in an insane asylum. Smetana's other operas include Dalibor (1868), The Kiss (1876), The Secret (1878), and Libuše (1881). His symphonic poem My Fatherland (1879) contains the well-known section Vltava (The Moldau). Almost all his music is programmatic, even two string quartets, From My Life (1876, 1882), the earlier of which is one of his finest works.

Bibliography

See biographies by B. Large (1970) and J. Clapham (1972).

Smetana, Bedrich

(born March 2, 1824, Leitomischl, Bohemia, Austrian Empire—died May 12, 1884, Prague) Czech (Bohemian) composer. He was determined to become a pianist, but his first concert (1847) ended his hopes, and he thereafter taught music, opening two schools of music. In the 1860s he turned to opera, becoming conductor of the national theatre in 1866. His second opera was The Bartered Bride (1866), which gained lasting success after many revisions. Dalibor (1868) followed and also became popular; he would complete five more operas. Though rendered deaf by syphilis in 1874, in his last decade he wrote some of his most beloved music, including the cycle My Country (1874–79), which included the famous symphonic poem The Moldau, and the quartet From My Life (1876). He became insane in 1883 and died in an asylum. The strongly Czech character of his music made Smetana the preeminent Czech nationalist composer.