Bedřich Smetana may not enjoy the international renown of his better-known contemporary Antonín Dvořák, but in his homeland he is the unquestioned figurehead and father of Czech music. Smetana’s creation of a distinctive national style in the 1860s and ’70s, which reached its apotheosis in the cycle of symphonic poems Má vlast, gave an emerging nation its own musical identity.
Yet Smetana’s personal life was marked by tragedy. He lost his first wife, Kateřina, to tuberculosis, and three of their four daughters to fatal illnesses. He struggled for acceptance by the musical establishment in Prague for nearly 20 years before a revised version of The Bartered Bride brought his first unqualified success in 1870. That led to his appointment as principal conductor and then artistic director of the Provisional Theater, a tenure cut short in 1874 when health problems, in particular growing deafness, forced him to resign.
Smetana retreated to the countryside for the last nine years of his life, returning to an area of youthful hope and promise where wealthy patrons embraced and supported him. Away from the clamor and pressures of the city, it turned out to be a productive period for composing (including the last four movements of Má vlast), with time for socializing and long walks in the woods. In a region rightly proud of the legacy that Smetana left, the places where he lived, worked and played music offer visitors an opportunity to relive those waning years firsthand.
Benátky nad Jizerou
In Benátky nad Jizerou, 45 kilometers northeast of Prague, a Renaissance castle overlooking the town marks the time Smetana spent there with a prominent plaque commemorating his four-year residency as a music teacher (1844–47), along with a monument in the surrounding park. The castle was owned by Count Leopold Thun-Hohenstein, who hired Smetana to give music lessons to his children, providing the composer with an important financial lifeline. Smetana grew close to the family, but he had another reason for being in Benátky nad Jizerou. Kateřina Kolářová, a talented pianist whom he had met and fallen in love with several years earlier, lived in nearby Mladá Boleslav. After an extended courtship, they were married in Prague in 1849.
The room where Smetana stayed in the castle is now part of a regional museum. Rather drab, it offers some of the original furnishings, assorted music memorabilia and a plaster bust of the composer, though not much insight into his life and work there. However, the remainder of the museum provides a very good overview of the history, geography and flora and fauna of the region, with an emphasis on interactive exhibits for children. They can dress up, dig for archaeological items or play for hours in a room devoted entirely to the iconic Merkur toys, created by Benátky nad Jizerou native Jaroslav Vancl. Another room is dedicated to the discoveries of astronomer Tycho Brahe, who worked at the castle for a year in the late 1500s in the service of Emperor Rudolf II.
Jabkenice
A short drive east brings you to Jabkenice, where it’s easy to miss Smetana’s country home – or more accurately, the home of Žofie, the only surviving daughter from his first marriage, and her husband Josef Schwarz. After Schwarz was appointed head forester of the area in 1875, they moved into what was then the gamekeeper’s residence and invited Smetana to live with them. Renovated and converted into a museum, the house still blends seamlessly into the neighborhood, a quiet redoubt that offers easy access to woodland trails.
The museum lays out Smetana’s life in great detail, in particular two rooms upstairs where he spent much of his time. A combination bedroom and study with period furnishings is not unlike a modern work-at-home space – bed, washstand, armoire, and a large desk with plenty of room for correspondence and music manuscripts. The dimensions of the furniture show Smetana to have been relatively short (about 1.6 meters). But the most revealing items in the room are a pair of framed photographs of Franz Liszt, one when he was a young man and the other as a mature adult, the latter autographed.
Liszt was a consistent and significant supporter of Smetana and his music, which was not always the case with other contemporaries. Smetana faced constant criticism in Prague, and when he showed Robert and Clara Schuman his Piano Concerto in G minor, they were unimpressed, telling him it looked like something by Berlioz. Well aware of Smetana’s struggles late in life, Liszt sent him a prescient letter in 1880: “My highly esteemed friend, even in the tribulations of your physical suffering, may you retain that noble, inner sense of satisfaction from having performed great artistic work to the honor of the Czech lands. The name of Bedřich Smetana will remain forever written in your homeland.”
Next to the bedroom and study is a spacious salon filled with well-kept period furniture, family portraits and paintings on the walls, exhibits of manuscripts along with other paper memorabilia and, still in good condition, a piano that Smetana played. On a sunny afternoon, the room is bright and cheerful and it’s easy to imagine the composer as he appears in a famous posthumous painting by František Dvořák (a copy of which is on the ground floor), seated calmly at the piano, surrounded by a fashionably dressed group of friends and supporters.
Showcases throughout the remainder of the upper floor are filled with historical ephemera – music manuscripts and sketches, librettos, correspondence, photographs, award certificates, posters for performances of Libuše, Tajemství and Prodaná Nevěsta (The Bartered Bride) as well as concert programs, including one for the first complete performance of Má vlast, at Palac Žofin in Prague in November 1882. Of perhaps greater interest are many personal items that elucidate Smetana’s day-to-day life: a notebook, small pistol, pocket knife, coin purse, bow tie, walking stick, even a lock of his hair. These fill out a complete portrait of an artist determined to live a full and productive life even as his health and creative powers were fading.
On the ground floor, timelines and an expansive family tree set Smetana’s life in a broader context, and a small performance space hosts occasional concerts. Out the door and through the front gate, a short walk leads to a trailhead that marks the beginning of what is now an “educational trail” with occasional postings of questions and answers about Smetana and his family. The composer hiked this trail regularly five kilometers to Loučeň Castle, where he had a friend and musical understudy, young Prince Alexander Thurn-Taxis. Visitors to the castle can see the room where the two played together, Smetana at the keyboard and Thurn-Taxis honing his skills as a violinist. They would also occasionally rendezvous at a small shelter in the forest, sharing their love of nature.
Loučeň Castle
Prince Alexander and his family were patrons of Smetana who were popular with their subjects, aristocrats who had a common touch. This stemmed partly from the family background. Rather than inheriting wealth, the forerunners of the family made their money by creating a postal delivery service in the late 13th century – the first-ever in Europe, which grew to become the imperial delivery service of the Habsburg Empire and the foundation of the modern postal system. The horn that couriers once used to announce themselves at city gates is now the ubiquitous symbol of post offices throughout Europe.
A colorful sleigh on display in the castle gives a life-size idea of how packages were delivered. The full tour takes visitors through rooms furnished as they were in the 1920s, when Prince Alexander and Princess Maria occupied the castle – bedrooms, servants’ quarters, a lavish dining room, small classroom, children’s playroom, a secluded room overlooking the castle chapel. The most impressive room in the castle may be a handsome library with shelves that hold 9,000 books. Among those on display are volumes of poetry by Rainer Maria Rilke, a friend of Princess Maria, who was herself an author. A talented painter, she wrote and illustrated charming children’s books that she created in a studio space in the attic. Her books are also on display in the library, and her paintings hang on walls throughout the castle. As is often the case, the tour ends at a gift shop, though Loučeň Castle’s is distinctive, offering unique handicrafts by local artisans rather than the usual trinkets.
Hotel Maximilian and Chateau Mcely
If that puts you in a mood to splurge, it’s possible to stay at the castle, where two richly appointed apartments have been updated with modern conveniences. Booking is made through the Hotel Maxmilian next door, a comfortable place to stay that offers access to an English-style landscape park surrounding the castle. Easy walking paths meander through well-tended greenery and shade trees, taking strollers past a dozen labyrinths and mazes that children cannot resist. If fine dining would cap a perfect visit, take the short drive to Chateau Mcely, an oasis of “eco-chic” in a wooded setting where you can sample refined cuisine in an atmosphere of relaxed elegance.
Not all modern developments are quite as inviting. Rather than retracing Smetana’s footsteps from Jabkenice to Loučeň Castle, a local resident suggested making the trek in reverse, as a pavilion and pond the composer favored are closer to Loučeň. But after a pleasant forest walk of about a kilometer, the path emerged into a clearing and then disappeared under large piles of gravel and monster construction machinery. Over the brow of a nearby hill, the rooftops of an encroaching housing development were visible.
That’s progress, of a sort. And for devotees of Smetana’s life and music, a wistful reminder of a time when an idyllic forest preserve fostered music that inspired a nation.
Web links:
Benátky nad Jizerou: Museum of Benátky Region
Open Tues–Sun, 9am to 4pm, April to November, later afternoon opening in summer (closure at 3pm in November). Ticketed admission.
Jabkenice: Bedřich Smetana Memorial
Open Tues–Sun, 10am to 5pm, April to September, tours on request from October to March. Ticketed admission (free for children).
Loučeň Castle
Open Mon–Fri 10am to 5pm, Sat 9am to 9.30pm, Sun 9am to 6pm, year-round. Basic ticketed admission 285CZK.
Hotel Maximilian
Open year-round.
Chateau Mcely
Open year-round.
See more at visitcentralbohemia.com
This article was sponsored by the Central Bohemia Tourist Board
