Smetana

Smetana is known outside Czechoslovakia, the land of his birth, mainly as composer of The Bartered Bride, the symphonic cycle My Country and a popular piano trio and string quartet. The son of a small-town brewer, he derived his music from the songs and dances of Bohemia and his life span coincided with a period of resurgent Czech nationalism, in which his eight operas themselves played a pioneer part. He can rightly be called the founder of modern Czech music. After initial struggles, he was overshadowed by his more brilliant junior, Dvorak, dogged by deafness and disease, matrimonial differences and other personal quarrels, and never in his lifetime had the recognition to which his talents and industry entitled him. This definitive biography, the first to appear in English, includes long extracts from Smetana's diaries and letters, a list of works, and detailed analyses of all his operatic and orchestral works. It seeks to redress the balance and establish his music as more important than it has hitherto been regarded.