Selected and reviewed by ANDREW EALES
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In March 2024, we celebrated the 200th anniversary of the birth of Bedřich Smetana (1824-1884), esteemed Czech composer and pivotal figure in the development of the national style during the Romantic Era.
Smetana’s compositions, including his epic tone poem cycle “Má vlast”, not only captured the essence of Bohemian landscapes and folklore but also encapsulated the national spirit during a period of intense political and cultural awakening in the region.
Smetana’s remarkable talent persisted despite hardships. By late 1874, he became completely deaf, but he continued composing until a mental breakdown in early 1884 led to his confinement in an asylum and subsequent decline.
Today, Smetana’s works remain cherished emblems of Czech cultural identity. But what of his piano music? Like many, I have remained largely unfamiliar with the significant body of solo repertoire Smetana composed, the bicentenary year thus providing an opportunity for discovery.
I am most grateful to publishers Bärenreiter for helping me evaluate Smetana’s legacy, kindly supplying me with their editions of his piano works, which presently appear in the seven volumes reviewed below…
Overview
Bärenreiter presently offer the following urtext critical performing editions. The order shown is that in which they first appeared, and as such gives some indication of their recognised importance to the catalogue:
- Polkas (BA 9506)
- Czech Dances (BA 9507)
- Virtuoso Pieces (BA 9519)
- Album Leaves (BA 9525)
- Early Piano Works (BA 9527)
- Rêves (Dreams) (BA 9529)
- Macbeth (BA 11537)
All this music is written for advanced players; most pieces are UK Grade 8 and above. For those in search of the easier pieces, Bärenreiter are bringing out a collection in their Easy Pieces and Dances series later this year.
That album will include two concert pieces (“Souvenir” from the cycle “Sketches” op. 4 and the Polka in G minor from the cycle “Three Poetic Polkas” op. 8), alongside several of the “Album Leaves”. It will be reviewed here separately when available in the UK.
The present books are in Bärenreiter’s luxury house style, with soft covers, superb and malleable binding, quality cream paper, and spaciously presented music engraving. All begin with detailed introductions by their editors, and where appropriate also include a critical commentary at the rear.
The editors across the series are Jan Novotný and Jarmila Gabrielová. Fingering is included in all these publications, a mixture of the composer’s own and the editors, with additional input from Henri de Kàan in the edition of Rêves.
In More Detail…
If you would like to listen to this music, there are some excellent recordings by Garrick Ohlsson (the Czech Dances) and András Schiff (Polkas) among others, but Czech pianist Jitka Čechová’s complete survey (a seven album set) is especially worth exploring, and available on streaming platforms.
For a more in-depth consideration of Smetana’s piano oeuvre, let’s take a quick look at each of these volumes in turn.
Polkas (BA 9506)
The first volume I will consider offers a collection of 14 Polkas, composed between 1852-1860:
- Three Drawing-Room Polkas Op.7
- Three Poetic Polkas Op.8
- Souvenir of Bohemia in the Form of Polkas Op.12/13
- Polkas from the 1850s
The Polka is a dance with two beats per bar, which emerged in Bohemia sometime around the year 1830. Its popularity quickly spread, and by the mid 1840s it had become a favourite in all the European capitals.
Smetana experimented with the form from as early in his career as the 1840s, and in the following decade he became the first composer to use the dance as the basis for sophisticated solo piano concert works, elevating it just as Chopin had recently done for the Mazurka and Polonaise.
In common with the latter, these are virtuosic pieces suitable for a diploma recital, but exude considerable charm. And though challenging for the player, most are just three or four pages long, making them ideal as programme fillers or encores.
Czech Dances (BA 9507)
The two series of Czech Dances are later works, dating from 1877 and 1879 respectively, by which time Smetana was well-established as the nation’s composer, but had completely lost any hearing. These pieces are nevertheless widely considered to be the pinnacle of his piano output.
The first series comprises a set of four new Polkas. These are larger and more virtuosic concert pieces; they will tax the most advanced performers. Smetana proves himself the consummate pianist-composer with these pieces, and it is interesting to note that he includes his own detailed fingerings and pedalling marks throughout.
For the second series, Smetana was still more ambitious, delivering a set of ten dances in a range of idioms, and drawing from the imagination of Czech folklore and song. These impressive, stylised pieces found their way quickly into the international piano repertoire.
Virtuoso Pieces (BA 9519)
Similarly virtuosic, but composed at an earlier time in his career, while Smetana was presenting himself to the public primarily as a pianist-composer in the mould of Liszt, this collection brings together:
- Allegro capriccioso
- On the Seashore
- Concert Etude in C major
- Fantasia on Czech Folksongs
- Etude in A minor
The Concert Etude in C major is an impressive, and inventive, showcase, with a lyrical middle section that reminds us of Smetana’s melodic genius. Meanwhile in the Fantasia on Czech Folksongs Smetana looks to elicit an immediate response from his audience with an audacious mix of well-known folk melody and dazzling pianism.
The best known of these pieces, however, is On the Seashore, a reminiscence on the composer’s visit to Sweden in 1861; he included this piece in his own concertising, as have many subsequent virtuosi.
Despite the strengths of all these pieces, I found them rather less distinctive than the Polkas and Czech Dances. Nevertheless they will be welcomed by those looking for fresh encore material, and have plenty of immediacy and charm.
Album Leaves (BA 9525)
This collection offers a delicious contrast, bringing together some of Smetana’s more accessible and intimate piano music, all composed fairly early in his career:
- Album Leaves Op.2 and Op.3
- Sketches Op.4 and Op.5
- Posthumous Compositions
If Smetana’s more virtuosic music shows the influence of Chopin and Liszt, these miniatures look to Schumann with their deft use of piano texture and in their consummate craftsmanship in miniature form.
Early Piano Works (BA 9527)
Digging deeper, this collection can be seen as a companion to the Album Leaves volume, rounding up some of Smetana’s earliest work:
- Bagatelles and Impromptus
- Six Characteristic Pieces Op.1
- Wedding Scenes
- First Polkas
The Bagatelles and Impromptus are special indeed, a collection of eight marvellous character pieces with emotive titles that include Depression, Joy and Love alongside more picturesque fancies, Fairy Tale and Idyll.
The Six Characteristic Pieces Op.1 are in a similar vein, through more challenging for the player, and a little darker in tone. Dating from 1848, the titles here include Rising Passion, In the Forest and Despair. As a collection, they speak to Smetana’s growing desire to establish himself as a concert artist.
This volume also includes five of the composer’s earliest Polkas, and his Wedding Scenes, a set of three occasional pieces without opus number.
Rêves (Dreams) (BA 9529)
In common with the Czech Dances, Smetana composed his Rêves (1875) after his deafness had become acute. They are stunning, consummate concert works, among his most difficult to play, recalling the virtuosic writing of the middle-period concert études.
Here is a cycle to cherish, and I am surprised these pieces are not better known. How apt, as well, to find them given their own volume in Bärenreiter’s series, a focus that is well deserved, and will appeal to recitalists.
Macbeth (BA 11537)
Finally we come to the most recent arrival in the published pile. Macbeth was left unfinished by the composer in 1859, and was only completed and published in 1912. This edition seeks to present a score which is as close as possible to Smetana’s sketch.
Macbeth is another virtuosic concert work, a fantasy based on Shakespeare’s play of the same name.
Closing Thoughts
When I set out to explore and discover the piano music of Bedřich Smetana, I had uncertain expectations. What I have begun to scratch the surface of is, truly, a treasury of under-appreciated gems.
These works fall clearly into two camps: the virtuosic works composed for recital performances and the more intimate character pieces written for gifted amateur players.
For me, the Polkas provide a perfect sweet spot where these two camps meet: these are delightful pieces within the gift of an advanced player looking for engaging and distinctive music to play, but equally appropriate for the concert artist wanting a few bonbons to include in their repertoire. I have been enjoying trying to perfect one for my own active repertoire.
Bärenreiter’s editions are, of course, exemplary. I highly recommend advanced pianists have a listen, take a look, and explore this wonderful music!
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