Bedřich Smetana - various works part one of two while I wait for the locksmith.
Smetana's output was quite widespread but it was opera where his true ambitions lay and which comprises the largest part of his output - and typically I haven't got any by him!
For anyone who enjoys the
Má Vlast cycle I'd recommend Smetana's three other tone poems if they haven't already heard them - although two of the subjects aren't Czech like
Má Vlast they are still rich and vivid like their later, more famous siblings.
Smetana's piano music is usually overlooked - admittedly most of the pieces on the two discs I have are salon polkas but there are savoury pickles dotted amongst the sweeter bonbons. There are some agreeable changes of pace and mood with the choral works, too, despite most of them being patriotic and/or folk-based.
The early-ish piano trio was one of Smetana's few forays into chamber music - although not lacking in accomplishment it is nevertheless overshadowed by the two masterly string quartets from the later period of his life.
Bagately a impromptus [
Bagatelles and Impromptus] - eight pieces for piano op.6 (1844):
Polka in F-minor for piano (c. 1853):
Polka in A for piano (c. 1853 - comp. 1883):
Polka in E for piano (c. 1853):
Polka in G-minor for piano (c. 1853):
Tři salonní polky [
Three Salon Polkas] for piano op.7 (1848-54):
Tři poetické polky [
Three Poetic Polkas] for piano op.8 (1854):
Vzpomínky na Čechy ve formě polek [
Souvenir of Bohemia in the Form of Polkas] - two pieces for piano op.12 (1859-60):
Vzpomínky na Čechy ve formě polek [
Souvenir of Bohemia in the Form of Polkas] - two pieces for piano op.13 (1859-60):
Piano Trio in G-minor op.15 (1855 - rev. 1857):
Richard III - tone poem after William Shakespeare for orchestra op.11 (1857-58):
Wallenstein's Camp - tone poem after Friedrich Schiller for orchestra op.14 (1858-59):
Hakon Jarl - tone poem after Adam Oehlenschläger for orchestra op.16 (1860-61):
Píseň svobody [
Song of Liberty] for mixed choir and piano [Text: Jiří Kolář] (1848):
Píseň česká [
Czech Song] for unaccompanied male choir [Text: Jan Jindřich Marek a.k.a. Jan z Hvězdy] (1860):
Tři jezdci [
The Three Riders] for unaccompanied male choir [Text: Jiljí Vratislav Jahn] (1862):
Česká píseň [
Czech Song] for mixed choir and orchestra [Text: Jan Jindřich Marek a.k.a. Jan z Hvězdy] (1868 - rev. 1878):
Odrodilec [
The Renegade] for unaccompanied male choir [Text: Ambrož Metlíňský] (1863-64):
Odrodilec (II) [
The Renegade (II)] for unaccompanied male choir - second version [Text: Ambrož Metlíňský] (1864):