Bedřich Smetana occupies a position in Czech music and culture analogous to that of Stanisław Moniuszko in Poland, and his 1866 opera The Bartered Bride is considered the Czech national opera. It is surprising that its composer, who combined European music with Czech folk tradition, was raised in a Germanic cultural environment and only developed nationalist sentiments after many years. Smetana’s opera, based on a comic libretto, is a work full of charming humour, captivating folk dance rhythms, lively tempo and brilliant instrumentation.
The second, most recognisable, of Camille Saint-Saëns’s five piano concertos was composed in 1868. It is in reference to this composition that the saying ‘it begins with Bach and ends with Offenbach’ became popular. It is worth quoting to highlight the astonishing variety of style and mood in this intriguing work. The composer himself, although undoubtedly rooted in the Romantic tradition, described his language as eclectic and neostylistic, which reveals the aesthetic dilemmas of a composer at the turn of an era.
Bohuslav Martinů is considered the most outstanding Czech composer of the last century. His rich oeuvre, comprising some 400 compositions, reflects the history of stylistic changes in music in the first half of the twentieth century. He was most active between the wars and is associated with the neoclassical movement.
His Symphony No. 4 was completed in 1945 in New York, where Martinů settled after the war. It displays his individual style at its best: it is a work with a strong structure, intense sound, dense texture and distinct layout with regard to expression.
Robert Losiak
