RomanticBedřich Smetana
Bedřich Smetana was born in Bohemia, today’s Czech Republic.
Bedřich Smetana’s life
The big moments of this life, and what was happening in the world at the same time.
A life at a glance
- 1824👶 Birth
Born in Litomyšl on 2 March, son of a brewer
- 1830🎩 Careerage 6
First piano concert at 6
- 1839🌍 Meanwhile
Photography is invented (daguerreotype)
- 1840🌍 Meanwhile
Adolphe Sax invents the saxophone (c. 1840)
- 1848🎩 Careerage 24
Opens a music school in Prague with Liszt’s help
- 1849❤️ Private lifeage 25
Marries Kateřina Kolářová
- 1856🧳 Journeyage 32
Conductor in Gothenburg, Sweden, for five years
- 1866🎼 Workage 42
The Bartered Bride, the Czech national opera
- 1874🎼 Workage 50
Begins Má vlast with Vltava (The Moldau)
- 1874🌍 Meanwhile
First exhibition of the Impressionist painters
- 1875🌍 Meanwhile
The Palais Garnier opera house opens in Paris
- 1876🎼 Workage 52
Quartet ‘From My Life’, in which a high note depicts his deafness
- 1884🕯️ Deathage 60
Dies in Prague on 12 May
Listen to the music
Press the big button to listen. Close your eyes: how does it make you feel?
How does this music feel to you?
Excerpts of up to 90 seconds, freely licensed recordings from Wikimedia Commons.
Once upon a time…
Bedřich Smetana was born in Bohemia, today’s Czech Republic. His dad made beer and played the violin. At six Bedřich gave his first piano concert!
At that time his country belonged to the Austrian Empire, and people mostly spoke German. Smetana wanted to create music about the Czech people. He wrote The Bartered Bride, a cheerful opera full of village dances like the polka.
One day he became completely deaf. Yet he kept composing! In The Moldau he tells the journey of a river in music: two little springs, the forest, a village wedding, nymphs in the moonlight, rapids… all the way to Prague.
He is called “the father of Czech music”.
Bedřich Smetana’s instruments
Tap an instrument to hear it!
Cards to flip
Are you an expert on Bedřich Smetana?
Answer the questions and win stars!
Same era · Romantic
1813 – 1901RomanticGiuseppe Verdi
Giuseppe Verdi was born in a little village in Italy.
1818 – 1893RomanticCharles Gounod
Charles Gounod was born in Paris.
1819 – 1896RomanticClara Schumann
Clara Wieck was born in Leipzig, Germany.
1822 – 1890RomanticCésar Franck
César Franck was born in Liège, Belgium.
1833 – 1887RomanticAlexandre Borodine
Alexander Borodin was born in St Petersburg, Russia.
1833 – 1897RomanticJohannes Brahms
Johannes Brahms was born in Hamburg, a big port in Germany.