This website comes to you as project fulfillment for the Graduate Seminar in Music History as part of an in depth study of Bedřich Smetana and his work Ma Vlast.
Děkuji!
Thank you! (in Czech)
Dear Scholar,
This project has meant a great deal to me since I first began it's study in the fall of 2013. When I first listened to the work I was instantly taken back by the beauty and immense use of musical imagery used by the composer. In each movement you can see the people dancing, the streams turn into grand rushing rivers, and the towering castles overlooking the Moldeau. As I learned more about each movement specifically all those elements came out even more so. I tried to imagine what it must have been like to be a person so passionate about their homeland that they can't help but write about it. I thought about things in America that have inspired me, places I have seen, the history we have as a nation. The nationalism I feel for my own homeland when I listen to Smetana describe his, in music is awe inspiring and beautiful.
My hope is that those who learn more about this through this website may also feel that sense of pride and awe at the wonder of our very own homeland.
Thank you,
Mariah Campbell
California Baptist University
Masters of Music
This project has meant a great deal to me since I first began it's study in the fall of 2013. When I first listened to the work I was instantly taken back by the beauty and immense use of musical imagery used by the composer. In each movement you can see the people dancing, the streams turn into grand rushing rivers, and the towering castles overlooking the Moldeau. As I learned more about each movement specifically all those elements came out even more so. I tried to imagine what it must have been like to be a person so passionate about their homeland that they can't help but write about it. I thought about things in America that have inspired me, places I have seen, the history we have as a nation. The nationalism I feel for my own homeland when I listen to Smetana describe his, in music is awe inspiring and beautiful.
My hope is that those who learn more about this through this website may also feel that sense of pride and awe at the wonder of our very own homeland.
Thank you,
Mariah Campbell
California Baptist University
Masters of Music