Smetana: Vltava (The Moldau)
Composer: Bedřich Smetana (1824-1884) Format: Facsimile Instrumentation: Orchestra Work: Vltava from Má vlast (My Country), JB 1:112 Binding: Hardcover ISBN: 9788086385457 Size: 11.4 x 15.4 inches Pages: None Description "Vltava" (The Moldau), the second part of the cycle of symphonic poems "Má vlast" (My Country), is considered an icon of Czech music worldwide. At 50 years of age Smetana, who was in a state of complete deafness, composed it in just 19 days and completed it on 8 December 1874; he was never able to hear this or any other part of the "My Country" cycle. "My highly esteemed friend, even in the tribulations of your physical suffering, may you retain that noble, inner sense of satisfaction from having performed great artistic work to the honour of the Czech lands. The name of Bedrich Smetana will remain forever written in your homeland. Your works have ensured it irreversibly." (Franz Liszt in a letter dated 5 May 1880 to Bedrich Smetana) The autograph of