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String Quartet No. 2 (Smetana)
Bedřich Smetana's String Quartet No. 2 in D minor is a chamber composition for string quartet. It is Smetana's last quartet, written between 1882 and 1883. Background In June 1882, after composing the monumental cycle ''Má vlast'', the operas '' Tajemství'' (''The Secret''), '' Čertova stěna'' (''The Devil's Wall'') and other works, Smetana began thinking about the creation of his second string quartet. A month later, he finished the first movement. In a letter to his friend Josef Srba, the deaf and dejected composer presents the difficulties with the work, his misgivings and fears. He continued work very slowly, and the whole composition was not finished until 12 March 1883. Several minor changes were made after the work was completed. Smetana attended the first non-public performance in the spring (April?) of 1883. The first public performance took place on 3 January 1884, at the Konvikt Hall in Prague, performed by Ferdinand Lachner, Julius Raušer, Josef Krehan and Alois ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Bedřich Smetana
Bedřich Smetana ( , ; 2 March 1824 – 12 May 1884) was a Czech composer who pioneered the development of a musical style that became closely identified with his people's aspirations to a cultural and political "revival." He has been regarded in his homeland as the father of Czech music. Internationally he is best known for his 1866 opera ''The Bartered Bride'' and for the symphonic cycle ''Má vlast'' ("My Fatherland"), which portrays the history, legends and landscape of the composer's native Bohemia. It contains the famous symphonic poem "Vltava", also popularly known by its German name "Die Moldau" (in English, "The Moldau"). Smetana was naturally gifted as a composer, and gave his first public performance at the age of 6. After conventional schooling, he studied music under Josef Proksch in Prague. His first nationalistic music was written during the 1848 Prague uprising, in which he briefly participated. After failing to establish his career in Prague, he left for Sweden ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
D Minor
D minor is a minor scale based on D, consisting of the pitches D, E, F, G, A, B, and C. Its key signature has one flat. Its relative major is F major and its parallel major is D major. The D natural minor scale is: Changes needed for the melodic and harmonic versions of the scale are written in with accidentals as necessary. The D harmonic minor and melodic minor scales are: Music in D minor Of Domenico Scarlatti's 555 keyboard sonatas, 151 are in minor keys, and with 32 sonatas, D minor is the most often chosen minor key. ''The Art of Fugue'' by Johann Sebastian Bach is in D minor. Michael Haydn's only minor-key symphony, No. 29, is in D minor. According to Alfred Einstein, the history of tuning has led D minor to be associated with counterpoint and chromaticism (for example, the chromatic fourth), and cites Bach's ''Chromatic Fantasia and Fugue'' in D minor. Mozart's Requiem is written primarily in D minor, as are the famous Queen of the Night Aria, "Der ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
String Quartet
The term string quartet can refer to either a type of musical composition or a group of four people who play them. Many composers from the mid-18th century onwards wrote string quartets. The associated musical ensemble consists of two violinists, a violist, and a cellist. The string quartet was developed into its present form by composers such as Franz Xaver Richter, and Joseph Haydn, whose works in the 1750s established the ensemble as a group of four more-or-less equal partners. Since Haydn the string quartet has been considered a prestigious form; writing for four instruments with broadly similar characteristics both constrains and tests a composer. String quartet composition flourished in the Classical era, and Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Ludwig van Beethoven and Franz Schubert each wrote a number of them. Many Romantic and early-twentieth-century composers composed string quartets, including Felix Mendelssohn, Robert Schumann, Johannes Brahms, Antonín Dvořák, Leoš Jan ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Má Vlast
''Má vlast'' (), also known as ''My Fatherland'', is a set of six symphonic poems composed between 1874 and 1879 by the Czech composer Bedřich Smetana. The six pieces, conceived as individual works, are often presented and recorded as a single work in six movements. They premiered separately between 1875 and 1880. The complete set premiered on 5 November 1882 in Žofín Palace, Prague,Žofín Palace Official site of Žofín Palace, accessed 7 December 2016. under Adolf Čech. ''Má vlast'' combines the symphonic poem form, pioneered by , with the ideals of nationalistic music of the late nineteenth century. Each poem depicts an aspe ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Tajemství
''The Secret'' ( cz, Tajemství) is a comic opera in three acts by Bedřich Smetana. The libretto was written by Eliška Krásnohorská. The premiere took place on 18 September 1878 at the Nové České Divadlo (New Czech Theatre) in Prague. Background Krásnohorská proposed the idea for a new opera to Smetana two weeks after the opening of ''The Kiss'', but kept details of the plot a secret from the composer until July 1877, when a draft outline, drawing on several sources, including ''Les femmes et le secret'' by La Fontaine, was sent to him.Large B. Smetana's 'The Secret'. ''Musical Times'', May 1972, 452-4. The librettist had set the action in the small town of Bĕlá in the Bezdĕz mountains, visible from Smetana's home in the country. Fighting his increasing deafness and resultant depression, Smetana made a few small changes to Krásnohorská's original draft and delivered a full score to the New Czech Theatre on 4 August 1877, for the premiere in September. The through c ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Čertova Stěna
''The Devil's Wall'' ( cs, Čertova stěna) is a comic-romantic opera in three acts, with music by Bedřich Smetana and libretto by Eliška Krásnohorská, in their third operatic collaboration. The subtext of the plot is a Czech legend of a sheer rockface that overlooks the Vltava river, near the old monastery of Vyšši Brod, where the Devil was said to have halted the building of the monastery by damming the Vltava, which then rose and flooded the site. Krásnohorská had originally intended her scenario to be serious in nature, a symbolic representation of the conflict between the Church and the Devil. By contrast, Smetana had wanted a less serious treatment. She acceded to his demands and provided such a scenario, but then Smetana changed his thinking on the story. He reworked the plot such that he turned the young girl, Hedvika, into a surrogate for Lord Vok's late first wife, and the story became more serious in that aspect. As a result of these changes, Krásnohorská ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Prague
Prague ( ; cs, Praha ; german: Prag, ; la, Praga) is the capital and largest city in the Czech Republic, and the historical capital of Bohemia. On the Vltava river, Prague is home to about 1.3 million people. The city has a temperate oceanic climate, with relatively warm summers and chilly winters. Prague is a political, cultural, and economic hub of central Europe, with a rich history and Romanesque, Gothic, Renaissance and Baroque architectures. It was the capital of the Kingdom of Bohemia and residence of several Holy Roman Emperors, most notably Charles IV (r. 1346–1378). It was an important city to the Habsburg monarchy and Austro-Hungarian Empire. The city played major roles in the Bohemian and the Protestant Reformations, the Thirty Years' War and in 20th-century history as the capital of Czechoslovakia between the World Wars and the post-war Communist era. Prague is home to a number of well-known cultural attractions, many of which survived the ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Tempo
In musical terminology, tempo (Italian, 'time'; plural ''tempos'', or ''tempi'' from the Italian plural) is the speed or pace of a given piece. In classical music, tempo is typically indicated with an instruction at the start of a piece (often using conventional Italian terms) and is usually measured in beats per minute (or bpm). In modern classical compositions, a "metronome mark" in beats per minute may supplement or replace the normal tempo marking, while in modern genres like electronic dance music, tempo will typically simply be stated in BPM. Tempo may be separated from articulation and meter, or these aspects may be indicated along with tempo, all contributing to the overall texture. While the ability to hold a steady tempo is a vital skill for a musical performer, tempo is changeable. Depending on the genre of a piece of music and the performers' interpretation, a piece may be played with slight tempo rubato or drastic variances. In ensembles, the tempo is often ind ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Czech Quartet
The Bohemian Quartet ( cs, 'České kvarteto'; known as the Czech Quartet after 1918) was a Czech string quartet of international repute that was founded in 1891 and disbanded in 1933. Origins The Quartet was founded in Prague by three pupils of Antonín Bennewitz (Karel Hoffmann, Josef Suk and Oskar Nedbal) and a pupil of Hanuš Wihan ( Otakar Berger); Bennewitz and Wihan were both teachers at the Prague Conservatory. Wihan had himself studied at Prague, and was cellist of the chamber quartet of Ludwig II in Munich, becoming Professor at Prague in 1888. He replaced his student Otakar Berger as cellist in the quartet when Berger died prematurely. Wihan then directed the Quartet until 1913 when the strain of touring obliged him to retire from it and resume his teaching. His place was then taken by Ladislav Zelenka (b. 1881), who since 1911 had been playing with the Ševčík-Lhotský Quartet. In 1906, the violist Nedbal had run off with Hoffmann's wife;John White: ''Lionel Ter ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Smetana Quartet
The Smetana Quartet ( cs, Smetanovo kvarteto) was a Czech string quartet that was in existence from 1945 to 1989. Personnel 1st violin * Václav Neumann (1920-1995), from 1943 to 1945 * Jaroslav Rybenský, from 1945 to 1947 * Jiří Novák (1924-2010), since 1947 2nd violin * Lubomír Kostecký (1922-2003) Viola * Jiří Neumann, from 1943 to 1945 * Václav Neumann, from 1945 to 1947 * Jaroslav Rybenský, from 1947 to 1956 * Milan Škampa (1928-2018), since 1956 Cello * Antonín Kohout (1919-2013) Origins and activities The Smetana Quartet arose from the Quartet of the Czech Conservatory, which was founded in 1943 (during the Nazi occupation) in Prague by Antonín Kohout, the cellist. With Jaroslav Rybenský and Lubomír Kostecký as first and second violins, and Václav Neumann as violist, the group gave its first performance as the Smetana Quartet on 6 November 1945, at the Municipal Library in Prague. Neumann left to pursue conducting in 1947, at which point Rybenský ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Janáček Quartet
The Janáček Quartet ( cs, Janáčkovo kvarteto) is a Czech string quartet musical ensemble founded in 1947 which is still currently active. Origins and activities The Janáček Quartet was formed in 1947 by students of Váša Černý at the Conservatory of Brno, originally under the name ''JAMU Quartet''. The quartet initially concentrated mainly on Janáček's chamber works. In 1949, the ensemble changed its name to Janáček Quartet, after the Moravian composer Leoš Janáček. Trávníček had some musical ties with him (he was a student of František Kudláček, a member of ''Moravian Quartet'' that premiered Janáček’s String Quartet No. 2., "Intimate Letters" and edited the work in cooperation with the composer). The substitution of Adolf Sýkora for Miroslav Matyáš in 1952 was the only personnel change during the first twenty-five years, until the death of Jiří Trávníček in 1973. Winning a competition in the former West Berlin in 1955 opened the door to great ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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