Bedřich Smetana

Bedřich Smetana was a Czech composer, born in Litomyšl in Bohemia, whose music became closely identified with his people's aspirations to a cultural and political revival; in his homeland he is regarded as the father of Czech music. After taking part briefly in the 1848 Prague uprising and working as a teacher and choirmaster in Gothenburg, he returned to Prague in the early 1860s to champion Czech opera, and The Bartered Bride (1866) achieved great popularity. Completely deaf by the end of 1874, he went on composing, notably the cycle of six symphonic poems Má vlast, which includes Vltava. A mental collapse early in 1884 led to his confinement in an asylum and his death.