November: Bedřich Smetana's Má Vlast

[Claus]

Great post! Very educational and interesting for me (with particular interest in religion and this historic era). :)

[Seán]

Great post! Very educational and interesting for me (with particular interest in religion and this historic era). :)

It is great to get feedback, thanks Claus.

[Seán]

After Jan Hus was burnt at the stake early in the 15th century the Hussites, led by Jan Žižka, rose in revolt against the powerful, corrupt Church of Rome and the Germanic domination of their land. They carried all before them until 1436, when they were finally crushed by their rivals. Tábor, sixty kilometres south of Prague, was the stronghold of Žižka’s army



In the nineteenth century these wars were primarily viewed as an assertion of Czech national rights, and their religious aspect was minimised. They were regarded as the most momentous and decisive of the struggles against outside forces, on the outcome of which ultimate supremacy and freedom of the Czech peoples hung in the balance. Consequently after due consideration – an interval of three years separates Bohemia's Meadows and Forests and Tábor – Smetana was fully conscious of the need to present the Hussite period in a truer perspective, and so he completed Má vlast with two large works devoted to this subject.

Smetana gave the following description of Blánik to his publisher, Urbánek, at the end of May 1879:

This is a continuation of the preceding work, Tábor. After their defeat the Hussites took refuge in Blánik mountain and waited in deep slumber for the time when their country had need of them. So in Blánik, just as in Tábor, those same motifs from ‘Ye who are God’s warriors!’ form the foundation of the structure. On the basis of this melody (of this Hussite principle) will develop the resurrection and the future happiness and glory of the Czech nation! In the form of a march this victorious hymn brings the composition to an end, and thus it also concludes the whole cycle of symphonic poems, ‘The Fatherland’. There is in addition a short idyll in this work, like a little intermezzo, a sketch of the situation of Blánik: a young shepherd boy shouts and plays (a shawn) and he is answered by an echo.

Smetana composed Blánik directly after Tábor and completed the full score on 9 March 1879. Tábor and Blánik were both given their first performances under Adolf Cech’s direction on 4 January 1880, at a concert in Prague commemorating the 50th anniversary of the composer’s first appearance as a solo pianist at the age of six.


Sixth Movement – Blánik (Valhalla of the Hussite heroes: a mountain in S. Bohemia)

Mount Blanik


It is reasonable to assume that Smetana’s last symphonic poem falls into the following five sections:

1. The defeated Hussite warriors retreat into their mountain refuge Blánik
2. A pastoral interlude
3. The distress and suffering of the people
4. The Hussites emerge and restore peace to their land.
5. Glory returns to Bohemia

Kubelik and the CPO:




This post concludes my notes on Smetana’s Má Vlast.

[Seán]

If one is considering a second Má Vlast to accompany the Kubleik/CPO recording then this is an essential work:


And having secured the Talich/CPO recording one might consider a very good and very cheap 3 cd set of Smetana's symphonic works on the Brilliant Classics label:



Enjoy.

[fergus]

Very well done Seán. You are to be commended for your efforts and presentation! That was most educational and enjoyable.

[Seán]

Very well done Seán. You are to be commended for your efforts and presentation! That was most educational and enjoyable.

Thanks Fergus.

[Jared]

yes, thanks Sean... an excellent set of notes to have read through; your efforts have been greatly appreciated.

[Ciaran]

A very hard act for me to follow. I recently listened to the 1939 Talich Radio broadcast:



having found an excerpt very moving when I heard it on Radio 3. Having listened to the whole thing I feel that while the sound is amazing for 1939, it is a bit hard to listen to for an extended period, especially the louder parts which can be quite distorted. Some people have higher tolerance for these things than me I know. On the other hand, you are very conscious of the enthusiasm of the audience, which is quite infectious and when the audience burst into their national anthem at the end, quite overwhelming!

Maybe in future I'll restrict it to one movement at a time.

[fergus]

That was an interesting post Ciaran. I have read of that broadcast but not heard it. Your description confirms what I have read and you make a compelling case for it; one for the future perhaps.

[Seán]

A very hard act for me to follow. I recently listened to the 1939 Talich Radio broadcast:



having found an excerpt very moving when I heard it on Radio 3. Having listened to the whole thing I feel that while the sound is amazing for 1939, it is a bit hard to listen to for an extended period, especially the louder parts which can be quite distorted. Some people have higher tolerance for these things than me I know. On the other hand, you are very conscious of the enthusiasm of the audience, which is quite infectious and when the audience burst into their national anthem at the end, quite overwhelming!

Maybe in future I'll restrict it to one movement at a time.

Thanks Ciaran & Jared too.

Fergus, there is a review of this recording on Page 2, it is high up my most wanted list. The sound would not put me off as I have plenty of Ellington recordings from the forties so my ears are accustomed to poor sound quality.

When you think of it this Talich recording marks the start of a dreadful period of tyranny in Czech History whilst the Kubelik 1990 recordng heralds the end of it and the arrival of Czech freedom and independence, wonderful stuff.