Bedřich Smetana (1824–1884) was a Czech composer, conductor, and pianist regarded as the father of Czech national music. In the era of the national revival he was the first to raise Czech melody and themes to the level of great symphonic and operatic art.
His most famous work is the cycle of symphonic poems “Má vlast” (My Homeland), which includes the celebrated “Vltava,” a musical portrait of the river flowing through the whole of Bohemia. The comic opera “The Bartered Bride” became a symbol of Czech musical theatre. Like Beethoven, Smetana lost his hearing entirely in his final years but went on composing. His example inspired composers of other nations, Ukrainians among them, in their striving to create a national musical language of their own.
