Online Encyclopedia

Search over 40,000 articles from the original, classic Encyclopedia Britannica, 11th Edition.

SMETANA, FRIEDRICH (1824-1884)

Online Encyclopedia
Originally appearing in Volume V25, Page 253 of the 1911 Encyclopedia Britannica.
» Make a correction to this article.
» Add information or comments to this article.
Spread the word: del.icio.us del.icio.us it!

See also:

SMETANA, See also:FRIEDRICH (1824-1884) , Bohemian composer and pianist, was See also:born at Leitomischl in Bohemia on the and of See also:March 1824. He made such rapid progress in his studies under Ikavec, at Neuhaus, that at the See also:age of six he appeared in public as pianist so successfully that his See also:father's opposition to a musician's career was overcome. He then went to Proksch, at See also:Prague, until he See also:left for See also:Leipzig to make the acquaintance of See also:Schumann and Mendelssohn. Limited means prevented him from studying with the latter, and he returned to Prague, where he at once became Konzert-meister to the See also:Emperor See also:Ferdinand. In 1848 he married Katharina See also:Kolar, pianist, and with her founded a See also:music school at Prague. At the same See also:time he met See also:Liszt, who subsequently influenced him greatly, and with whom he afterwards stayed at See also:Weimar. In r856 Smetana accepted See also:Alexander Dreyschock's See also:suggestion to go as conductor of the Philharmonic Society at See also:Gothenburg. There he remained five years, when, owing to his wife's See also:ill-See also:health, he returned to Prague after a successful See also:concert tour. The See also:death of his wife at See also:Dresden on their return caused Smetana to See also:change his mind, and he went back to See also:Sweden. But the opening of the Interims Theater in 1866, and the offer of its conductorship, induced his return. In Sweden he had already written Hakon Jarl, See also:Richard III., and See also:Wallenstein's Lager, and had completed his See also:opera See also:Die Brandenburger in BOhmen (5th See also:January 1866). Five months later it was followed by his best-known opera, Die verkaufte Braut, and in 1868 Dalibor was given.

Between 1874 and 1882 he produced Zwei Witwen, Hubicka (Der Kuss), Tajewstvi (Das Geheimnis), Certova See also:

Siena, and Die Teufelsmauer, as well as the " See also:grand See also:prize " opera Libuse, written for the opening of the See also:National See also:Theatre at Prague, rith See also:June 1881. In Die Teufelsmauer were clear signs of decay in Smetana's See also:powers, he having already in 1874 lost his sense of See also:hearing. To celebrate his sixtieth birthday a fete was arranged by the combined Bohemian musical See also:societies; but on that See also:day Smetana lost his See also:reason and was removed to a lunatic See also:asylum, where he died on the r 2th of May 1884. A See also:great See also:deal of his See also:pianoforte music is interesting, the Stammbuchbldtter, for example; while his See also:series of symphonic poems, entitled Mein Vaterland (Vlast), and his beautiful See also:string-quartet, Aus meinem Leben, have made the tour of the civilized See also:world.

End of Article: SMETANA, FRIEDRICH (1824-1884)

Additional information and Comments

There are no comments yet for this article.
» Add information or comments to this article.
Please link directly to this article:
Highlight the code below, right click, and select "copy." Then paste it into your website, email, or other HTML.
Site content, images, and layout Copyright © 2006 - Net Industries, worldwide.
Do not copy, download, transfer, or otherwise replicate the site content in whole or in part.

Links to articles and home page are always encouraged.

[back]
SMERDIS (Pers. Bardiya; by Ctesias, Pers. 8, called... 		[next]
SMETHWICK

Site © 2006 - Net Industries