Biography
Bedřich Smetana was born in 1824 in the Bohemian town of Litomyšl and is considered the founder of Czech national music. His comic opera The Bartered Bride is the most performed work of Czech music theatre and enthrals through its sparkling joie de vivre and refined orchestral treatment. The symphonic cycle Má vlast with the famous Vltava tone poem became a musical figure of identification for the Czech nation. Smetana passionately advocated for the cultural autonomy of Bohemia within the Habsburg monarchy and led the Prague National Theatre. Tragically, he became completely deaf in 1874 but continued composing with admirable willpower. His string quartet From My Life movingly portrays this fate. Smetana died in 1884 in a Prague mental hospital.
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