Proceso de conformación de la solicitud y autorización del subsidio

CHAMBER WORKS 1840 Louisa Polka (JB 1.1) Georgina Polka (JB 1.2)

1842 From A Student’s Life

(JB 1.9)

1843 Memories o f Plzen (JB

1.17)

13For details o f performances at the Provisional Theatre during the 1860s, see Tyrrell (1988), p.39. 14Yeomans (2006), p.63.

1844 Bagatelles and Impromptus (JB 1.19)

Studies in harmony, counterpoint, and melody - song forms, marches, fugues, and canons (JB 3.1-17) (1844-5)

1846 Two Studies (JB 3.18)

Studies in variation, rondo, and sonata form (JB 3.20-3) Sonata in G minor (JB 3.24) 1847 Six Characteristic Pieces op.l (JB 1.35) (1847-8)

1848 March fo r the Prague

Student Legion (JB 136) March fo r the National Guard (JB 1.37) Albumleaves op.3 (JB 1.65) (1848-56)

Three Salon Polkas,

op.7 (JB 1.60) (1848-54)

Three Poetic Polkas

(JB 1.61) (1848-54) Sketches opp.4-5 (JB 1.66-7) (1848-57) Son2 o f Freedom (JB 1.38) Ceremonial Overture, op.4 (JB 1.39) 1849 Albumleaves op.2 (JB 1.51) (1849-50) 1850 Polkas in £ major, G minor, A major (JB 1:55-7) (1850-3) 1853 Triumphal Symphony (JB 1.59) (1853-4) 1857 Richard I lf op. 11 (JB 1.70) (1857-8) 1858 Concert Study in C (JB 1.73) Wallenstein's Camp, op. 14 (JB 1.72) (1858-9;

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1859 Sketch to the Scene o f

Macbeth and the Witches (JB 1.75) Souvenir o f Bohemia in the form ofpolkas

opp.12-13 (JB 1.76-7)

(1859-60)

1860 Czech Sons (JB 1.78)

Hakon Jarl, op. 16 (JB 1.79) (1860-1)

1861 Concert study *On the

Seashore9 (JB 1.80) 1862 Fantasy on Czech Folksongs (JB 1.83) The Brandenburgers in Bohemia (JB 1.87) (1862-3)

The Three Riders (JB

1.84)

1863 The Bartered Bride (JB

1.100)(1863-70) 1865 Dalibor (JB 1.101) (1865-70) 1868 Czech Sons (JB 1.96) 1869 LibuSe (JB 1.102) (1869-72) 1870 Ceremonial Chorus (JB 1.99) 1872 My Fatherland (JB 1.112/i-iv) (1872-9)

1873 The Two Widows (JB

1.108) (1873-7)

1875 Dreams (JB 1.103) The Kiss (JB 1.104)

(1875-6)

1876 String Quartet no. 1

From My Life (JB 1.105)

1877 Czech Dances - 1st

series (JB 1.107)

The Secret (JB 1.110)

(1877-8)

1878 Three-part choruses for

women’s voices (JB 1.109)

Czech Sons (JB 1.111)

1879 Czech Dances - 2nd

series (JB 114)

The Devil's Wall (JB

1.122) (1879-82)

Evening Songs (JB

1.116)

1880 The Dowrv (JB 1.119)

1882 Motto (JB 1.123)

String Quartet no. 2 (JB 1.124) (1882-3)

1883 Our Sons (JB 1.125)

During the two decades between 1840 and 1860 there are two clear directions that can be observed in Smetana’s piano music. The first is his experience of local music-making in Bohemia, resulting in the composition of polkas, and the second is his connection with European Romanticism, leading to the creation of small-scale character pieces (such as the

albumleaf and sketch) during the 1840s and 50s but, rather than being distinct, these two

directions were clearly connected. The concentration upon writing for the piano during these decades can be partly explained by the fact that Smetana was proficient upon the instrument and, until his time in Sweden, he worked towards a career as a touring virtuoso. This

accounts for the importance of the instrument to him and, through his performance of

Romantic repertoire,15 he would have gained a knowledge of major figures of the period such as Chopin and Liszt, something which was reinforced in his compositional training during

1843-6.

Smetana’s works from the 1840s and 50s demonstrate his appreciation of foreign models such as Chopin and Schumann, and show him writing for the piano primarily as a salon instrument. Alongside these works is the composition of polkas and, although this could be interpreted as a vein of nationalism running through the composer’s output right from the start, it has to be appreciated that, during these decades, the polka was transformed from its functional origins to a genre that reinforced his connection with European

Romanticism as opposed to being an assertion of national sentiments. Smetana’s

development of the polka parallels that of the mazurka in the work of Chopin, and the ways in which these two composers develop dance forms to the level of abstract, stylised pieces

15The composers Smetana performed as a pianist in the period before and during his apprenticeship were Bertini, Schubert, Liszt, and Chopin. Details can be found in Large (1970), pp.9-10.

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independent of their original functions have many similarities. During the early part of Smetana’s career, the polka was not invested with the political and nationalistic significance with which it became associated at a later stage, but this is not to suggest that Smetana was unaware of the rising nationalistic feeling in the Czech lands or the political climate in which he was working, and the Pisen svobody [Song of Freedom] (JB 1:38, 1848), the Slavostni

owertura [Ceremonial overture] (JB 1:39, 1848-9), and the Triumfdlni symphonie

[Triumphal Symphony] (JB 1:59,1853-4) all demonstrate his reaction to the significant political events of 1848. However, in terms of his musical development through the piano works, the connection with wider Romanticism and foreign models is the most significant during the 1840s and 50s.

In 1840 Smetana heard Liszt perform in Prague and, through the Hungarian, Smetana became aware of a great deal of Romantic piano repertoire, particularly that of Chopin. This event will be given full consideration subsequently, suffice to say here that the experience of hearing Liszt play affected the young Smetana deeply. Although the works produced between

1840 and 1856 do not show the effect o f this, Liszt became central to Smetana’s development following their intensive contact during the period 1856-1861. From 1857, Smetana

responded to Liszt’s symphonic poems with his own experiments in the genre {RichardHI,

Wallenstein's Camp, and HakonJarl (JB 1:79, 1860-1)) and the increase in scale and timbral

possibilities offered by working with an orchestral palette had a significant effect on his piano writing. The continued importance of the piano is demonstrated through the concert studies (JB 1:73 and 1:80 from 1858 and 1861) and the piano tone poem Macbeth a

darodijnice [Macbeth and the Witches] (JB 1:75, 1859), works which demonstrate increased

scale, textural variety, and virtuosic elements common in the piano works of Liszt, but which had no precedent in Czech piano repertoire. The contact with Liszt during this period

reinforced Smetana’s connection with the most innovative and modem musical

developments of the nineteenth century, something that was to become more significant in the subsequent decade.

The 1860s were fundamental in redefining Smetana’s position within Czech culture. Prior to this, he had not established himself as a major figure in Prague musical society, and the lack of success he had experienced in his aims to become a major touring virtuoso almost certainly played a part in his relocation to Sweden in 1856.16 However, upon the composer’s return to Prague in 1861 the piano became less significant, and only three significant solo works exist from this time, namely the Fantasie na deske narodnipisne [Fantasia on Czech Folksongs] (JB 1:83, 1862), Reves [Dreams] (JB 1:103, 1875), and the two series of Ceske

tance [Czech Dances] (JB 1:107 and 114, 1877 and 1879). Although the piano plays a less

important role in Smetana’s compositional output from 1860 onwards, the composer’s new role at the centre of the creation of a national school affected his output for the instrument, and both the Fantasia on Czech Folksongs and the second series of Czech Dances focus upon creating compositions from original Czech folk sources.17 There is no one unifying direction in Smetana’s writing for the piano from 1860 and, although the Fantasia and Czech Dances reinforce the composer’s involvement with nationalist debate, the remaining work for solo piano, Dreams, recalls the style of earlier ‘salon’ compositions for the instrument in the 1840s and 50s.

The dominant perception of Smetana as the founding father of Czech nationalism is derived fundamentally from the operas and symphonic poems produced in the final two decades of his life and, as a result of this, the early part of his development is often neglected. Through an examination of his works for solo piano other facets of Smetana’s musical

personality are revealed, and an understanding of how the composer’s musical language developed before the key decade of the 1860s enables both a more thorough understanding of Smetana’s musical personality and of how Czech nationalism developed during the second half of the nineteenth century.

l6Smetana wrote in a letter to his parents (dated 23 December 1856) ‘Prague did not wish to acknowledge me, so I left it’ (see Ottlova, PospiSil, and Tyrrell (2001), p. 539 for further details).

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Dvorak and the piano: a comparison with Smetana

The piano never occupied a central position in Dvofak’s development, as table 2

demonstrates. Whereas Smetana was an accomplished pianist who had ambitions for a career as a soloist, Dvofak was competent on the instrument but, in terms of his role as a performer, his focus was the viola. During his studies at the Prague Organ School (1857-9) he played viola in the concerts of the Cecilia Society taking part in programmes of Mendelssohn, Schumann, and Wagner, as well as hearing Liszt conduct his own works (March 1858) and Clara Schumann performing (March 1859). After graduating in 1859, he was principally an orchestral musician (playing in the Provisional Theatre orchestra), an activity fundamentally important in this formative period of his development as, through his orchestral playing, he would have been fully submerged in the contemporary musical environment of Prague. Dvofak participated in concerts on the 2ofin Island conducted by Wagner in November 1863 (where works included the Faust overture, the Prelude to Tristan and Isolde, and extracts from Siegfried and Die Walkiire\ and was also involved in performances of all of Smetana’s ‘Swedish’ symphonic poems (in 1862) and works by Berlioz in 1864.18 During the late 1850s and 1860s the composer was exposed to a whole range o f contemporary foreign influences, all o f which had an effect on his own compositional development, and his experiences with contemporary music at this time can be seen as parallel to Smetana’s with Liszt during the latter part of the 1850s.

Through playing in the Provisional Theatre orchestra, Dvofak would have become aware of the role Smetana had in developing Czech music through his operas. The younger composer’s recognition of the importance of composing in this genre in order to gain a foothold in Prague society can be seen in the fact that the first work through which he

announced his activities as a composer was the opera Krai a uhl'if [King and Charcoal Burner] (B 21,1871).19

Table 2: Dvofak’s piano works in the context of his output as a whole

YEAR PIANO WORKS STAGE WORKS VOCAL/CHORAL

AND ORCHESTRAL/