Active Years: 1845-1884 (born 1824)

Position: Czech Composer.

Career Highlights: Ma Vlast, The Bartered Bride, the “From My Life” string quartet

Career Totals: Nine operas, nineteen orchestral works, two string quartets, one piano trio, over twenty-five choral works, many piano works.

Scouting Report: Smetana was the first of the great Czech nationalist composers. His six part tone poem, Ma Vlast (My Country) is a moving portrait of the history and landscape of his native country. In Prague, it is played at the beginning of every music season. In the rest of the world, Ma Vlast is mostly known for the section that depicts the Moldau River. The annotations on Smetana’s “From My Life” string quartet sum up his biography: his youthful “romantic tendencies,” the “bliss” of his first love for his wife, and his “discovery of how to treat the National material in music.” The lively Czech music in the fourth movement is suddenly interrupted by a piercing high note. In 1874, a ringing in Smetana’s ears announced the onslaught of deafness. He went insane in the last weeks of his life and died in the Prague asylum — a sad end for a composer who was basically cheerful.

Teammates and Contemporaries: Smetana was a friend of Liszt and the founder of a national team that included Dvorak and Janacek.

Fun Fact: When he was a teenager, Smetana neglected his schoolwork for the usual reasons — he wanted to attend concerts and write string quartets for his friends.