Happy Halloween classical fur-fans!

I thought I would share a composer and work which is still relatively new to me; Bedřich Smetana, and his most famous work, Má vlast (My Homeland). Má vlast was written as sort of an auditory journey of the history, legends and landscape of Smetana's homeland, Bohemia, now the Czech Republic.

To learn more about Bedřich Smetana Click Here - Wikipedia

Unfortunately, Má vlast was composed at a time when Smetana's health began to seriously decline. He managed to finish the first two movements before leaving Prague, and the last four he composed after his move to Jabkenice. Má vlast was performed for the first time on the 5th of November, 1882, roughly 6-7 years after he first began composing it. Smetana passed away just two years later at the Kateřinky Lunatic Asylum in Prague. His mind had all but completely deteriorated, and he was "periodically violent". The hospital's registered cause of death was listed as senile dementia, however, an autopsy report concluded that syphilis was likely the true cause. It makes one wonder whether the changes in his brain were responsible for what ultimately became his most famous composition. Madness and genius always seem to go hand in hand!

Usually I post a Grooveshark link to the reviewed works, but there are a number of different performances of Má vlast on Grooveshark which all sound a little different, so I'll let you all judge which one is best!

http://grooveshark.com/#!/search?q=smetana+ma+vlast

The piece I used for reference doesn't seem to be available for streaming, but is available HERE

A "budget version" by Naxos, which also sounds quite nice, is available HERE

Have a safe and happy Halloween weekend, gang!

- svelto