Bedřich Smetana – Má Vlast (My Fatherland): Vltava (The Moldau River)
Má vlast, meaning "My
homeland" in the Czech language, is a set of six symphonic poems composed
between 1874 and 1879 by the Czech composer Bedřich Smetana. While it is often
presented as a single work in six movements and – with the exception of Vltava
– is almost always recorded that way, the six pieces were conceived as
individual works. In these works Smetana combined the symphonic poem form
pioneered by Franz Liszt with the ideals of nationalistic music which were
current in the late nineteenth century. Each poem depicts some aspect of the
countryside, history, or legends of Bohemia.