Tag: Má Vlast

Thursday, October 20, 2011:My Country

My Country “These compositions I want to dedicate to the famous city of Prague…as here I gained education in music, here long years I performed publicly, and here I was stricken by a disease that is for a musician most frightful.” – Bedřich Smetana, from a letter to the Council of the Royal Capital City Prague This is the dedication of the pinnacle work of Czech composer Bedřich Smetana, completed…

October 20, 2011 | Posted in Main Feature, Vol I Issue 5 | Also tagged , , , | Comments (0)

Monday, May 16,2011:The Score

Red, white, and blue triangles painted on teenagers’ faces; on car side mirrors. The colors stitched on fabric, stretched across restaurant courtyard fences; draped around the shoulders of a chubby guy parading proudly down the sidewalk. These ebullient displays of the Czech Republic’s flag show once again that national pride tends to bubble up quickly and fervently in Bohemia, even two decades after its Velvet Revolution for political independence. Bedřich…

May 16, 2011 | Posted in Main Feature, Vol I Issue 5 | Also tagged , , | Comments (0)

Monday, May 9, 2011: Rehearsing the Dream

Picture this: You’re 18 years old and into music. And on Thursday you’re in an orchestra that’s going to play one of the most iconic — and demanding — pieces in your entire country’s repertoire of music. Under the baton of an internationally-known conductor. In your country’s most famous music festival. And the performance is going to be broadcast live on television. Sounds like one of those I-forgot-my-pants dreams, doesn’t…

May 9, 2011 | Posted in Issue, Main Feature, Vol I Issue 5 | Also tagged , , , , , , | Comments (0)