Composer: Bedrich Smetana (born 1824)
Title: Vltava (aka The Moldau)
I posted this video in a previous posting, but I'll post it again because it is such a beautiful piece. Also, I have more information on what is going on in this piece. As I mentioned before, Vltava is a symphonic poem: it "draws" a picture with music about the river Moldau in the Czech Republic.
The first thing you will hear is the Source of the River Theme. Two smaller rivers are flowing into one river.
1:02: This is the River Theme. It will show up several times in this piece.
2:58: This is the Hunting Scene. You can hear the trumpets from the hunting party along the river.
3:48: This is the Peasant Wedding. Smetana uses melodies that sound like folk songs to "show" a wedding on the banks of the river.
5:43: This is the Nocturnal Scene. You can actually hear moonbeams dancing off the river water!
8:09: We're back to the River Theme!
8:57: We're now at the St. John Rapids. Smetana uses clashing sounds in the orchestra to help us imagine the rapids.
10:15: Back to the River Theme!
10:52: This is the Ancient Castle Theme. Smetana actually borrowed this from another of his pieces.
11:18: We are getting towards the end of the piece. You can hear the river disappearing in the distance.
Showing posts with label Smetana. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Smetana. Show all posts
Sunday, March 11, 2012
Monday, July 18, 2011
Post-VSO Thoughts - The Moldau by Smetana
Last night the Vancouver Symphony Orchestra (VSO) held their 23rd free concert in beautiful Deer Lake Park. Despite the rain, we took our chairs and picnic dinner and enjoyed a fantastic (if a little damp) performance. The VSO played a wide range of music, and finished off with their traditional finale for this concert, the 1812 Overture by Tchaikovsky. You can find a recording of this piece earlier in our blog by clicking here.
There was one piece that I particularly liked, though I was not incredibly familiar with it. The VSO played Bedrich Smetana's Die Moldau (or, in Czech, Vltava). This piece is part of his symphonic poem entitled Ma Vlast in which Smetana uses music to describe his homeland. Die Moldau describes the route that the Moldau river takes; it starts when the river is formed by two smaller streams, and continues to describe the river flowing through meadows, past the wedding of a farmer, past mermaids dancing at night, past palaces and castles, and finally as it flows off into the distance.
This is a great example of a composer creating a piece of music to try and paint a picture for his audience. I've included a recording of Die Moldau in this post. Enjoy!
There was one piece that I particularly liked, though I was not incredibly familiar with it. The VSO played Bedrich Smetana's Die Moldau (or, in Czech, Vltava). This piece is part of his symphonic poem entitled Ma Vlast in which Smetana uses music to describe his homeland. Die Moldau describes the route that the Moldau river takes; it starts when the river is formed by two smaller streams, and continues to describe the river flowing through meadows, past the wedding of a farmer, past mermaids dancing at night, past palaces and castles, and finally as it flows off into the distance.
This is a great example of a composer creating a piece of music to try and paint a picture for his audience. I've included a recording of Die Moldau in this post. Enjoy!
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