Canon
Where to start with Smetana
Essential works to know this composer by — spread across their styles-
OrchestralMá vlast, JB 1:112
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StageThe Bartered Bride, JB 1:100 — Opera
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Keyboard10 Czech Dances, Book 2, JB 1:114
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ChamberString Quartet no. 1 in E minor,, JB 1:105, "From My Life"
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Keyboard4 Czech Dances, Book 1, JB 1:107
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OrchestralHakon Jarl, symphonic poem, op. 16
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OrchestralRichard III, symphonic poem, op. 11
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KeyboardSonata movement for 2 pianos, 8 hands in E minor, JB 1:47
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Keyboard3 Hochzeitsszenen, JB 1:44
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Keyboard3 Polkas de salon, op. 7
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Keyboard3 Polkas poetiques, op. 8
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Keyboard6 Preludes, JB 1:30
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KeyboardBagatelles et impromptus, for piano
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OrchestralBayadere Galop in C major, JB 1:11
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OrchestralBeseda Polka
Listening guide
Hand-curated paths into Smetana's catalogueMost Popular
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Má vlast — Vltava (The Moldau)
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The Bartered Bride (opera)
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String Quartet No. 1 ”From My Life”
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Má vlast — Vyšehrad
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Polka from The Bartered Bride
Most Acclaimed
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Má vlast (complete — all 6 tone poems)
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String Quartet No. 1
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Dalibor (opera)
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From Bohemia\’s Woods and Fields (from Má vlast)
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Piano Trio in G minor
Most Weird
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String Quartet No. 1 ”From My Life”the finale includes a sustained high E on the violin — this is the tinnitus pitch that struck him deaf; he’s depicting his own deafness inside the music
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String Quartet No. 2 in D minorwritten while deaf and mentally ill; dense, fragmentary, almost incoherent — and one of the most original quartets of the century
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Má vlast — Blaníkthe last of the six — sleeping Czech knights will awake when the nation needs them; written after he went deaf
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Piano Trio in G minorwritten after his daughter died of typhus — the most personal thing he wrote
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Libuše (opera)ceremonial — only performed at state occasions; the founding of Prague
Similar composers
Same era, overlapping styles — by genre & period affinityWorks 46
- Orchestral
- ● Má vlast, JB 1:112
- Hakon Jarl, symphonic poem, op. 16
- Richard III, symphonic poem, op. 11
- Bayadere Galop in C major, JB 1:11
- Beseda Polka
- Der Fischer, for harmonium, harp and strings, JB 1:97
- Doktor Faust, prelude for small orchestra, JB 1:85
- Fanfares for Richard III, for brass and timpani, JB 1:92
- Festival Overture in D, JB 1:39, "Revolutionary"
- Libusin soud, JB 1:98
- Minuet for Orchestra in B flat major, JB 1:10
- Nasim devám, polka in D major, JB 1:86
- Oldřich a Božena
- Pochod k slavnosti Shakespearove
- Prazský karneval, introduction and polonaise, JB 1:126
- Slavnostní predehra in C major, JB 1:95
- Symphony in E
- Venkovanka, polka in G major, JB 1:115
- Stage
- ● The Bartered Bride, JB 1:100 — Opera
- Branibori v Cecháach JB 1:87 — Opera
- Certova stena JB 1:122 — Opera
- Dalibor, JB 1:101 — Opera
- Dve vdovy JB 1:108 — Opera
- Hubicka, JB 1:104
- Libuse ; JB 1:102
- Tajemství JB 1:110 — Opera
- Keyboard
- 10 Czech Dances, Book 2, JB 1:114
- 4 Czech Dances, Book 1, JB 1:107
- Sonata movement for 2 pianos, 8 hands in E minor, JB 1:47
- 3 Hochzeitsszenen, JB 1:44
- 3 Polkas de salon, op. 7
- 3 Polkas poetiques, op. 8
- 6 Preludes, JB 1:30
- Bagatelles et impromptus, for piano
- By the Seashore, concert etude in G sharp minor, op. 17
- Concert Etude in C major, JB 1:73
- Fantasy on Czech National Songs in B major, JB 1:83
- Louisen-Polka in E flat major, JB 1:1
- Rêves, 6 characteristic pieces, JB 1:103
- Souvenir de Bohême en forme de polkas, Book 1, JB 1:76, op. 12
- Souvenir de Bohême en forme de polkas, Book 2, JB 1:77, op. 13
- The Curious One
- Chamber
- String Quartet no. 1 in E minor,, JB 1:105, "From My Life"
- Piano Trio in G minor, op. 15
- String Quartet no. 2 in D minor, JB 1:124
- Z domoviny, 2 pieces for violin and piano, JB 1:118