Musicologica Olomucensia vol. 37(2), (2025):9-21 | DOI: 10.5507/mo.2025.004
Smetana and the Hussites: In Memoriam Lenka Hlávková
- UCLA Herb Alpert School of Music, USA
This essay, in honor of Lenka Hlávková focuses on the structure of the Hussite song, Ktož jsú boží bojovníci, noting that its three phrases are always presented in a "loud-soft-loud" manner, where the outer parts are easily coded male, and associated the warriors, and the middle section, coded female, suggests those things the warriors are protecting. The study further asks whether rather than viewing the warrior as the focal point of our interest, as is borne out by the literature, we need to enshrine that soft middle, the warriors are protecting.
Keywords: Hussite song; Ktož jsú boží bojovníci; analysis
This essay, in honor of Lenka Hlávková focuses on the structure of the Hussite song, Ktož jsú boží bojovníci, noting that its three phrases are always presented in a "loud-soft-loud" manner, where the outer parts are easily coded male, and associated the warriors, and the middle section, coded female, suggests those things the warriors are protecting. The study further asks whether rather than viewing the warrior as the focal point of our interest, as is borne out by the literature, we need to enshrine that soft middle, the warriors are protecting.
Keywords: Hussite song; Ktož jsú boží bojovníci; analysis
Accepted: January 10, 2026; Published: March 1, 2026 Show citation
Selected references
- Mojžíšová, Olga, Milan Pospíšil, Jana Vojtěšková, and Jiří K. Kroupa, eds. Bedřich Smetana: Korespondence / Correspondence III (1875-1879). Praha: Národní muzeum & KLP, 2023.
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