Musicologica Olomucensia, 2025, vol. 37(2)

Editorial

Jiří Kopecký

Musicologica Olomucensia vol. 37(2), (2025)

Studies

Smetana and the Hussites: In Memoriam Lenka Hlávková

Michael Beckerman

Musicologica Olomucensia vol. 37(2), (2025):9-21 | DOI: 10.5507/mo.2025.004

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.

Escape from the Cell: Smetana's Opera Dalibor

Judith Fiehler

Musicologica Olomucensia vol. 37(2), (2025):22-52 | DOI: 10.5507/mo.2025.005

When he was asked to write the inaugural opera for the 1868 opening of the Czech National Theater, Smetana was an established leader in the Czech community of Prague. His opera Bartered Bride had achieved remarkable success. As opera conductor of the Provisional Theater, he produced contemporary operas, including French grand opera in a theater so small that it once fit within the architectural space now occupied by the stage of the National Theater. For his opera Dalibor, he drew on his intensive experience as a composer, conductor, and performer of a wide repertory of the music of his time. Through his friendship with Liszt, he was...

"…dieser genaue Kenner und wärmste Verehrer der Smetana'schen Werke…" Ludwig Hartmann (1836-1910), Smetana-Textautor und Opernübersetzer

…this expert connoisseur and warmest admirer of Smetana's works…" Ludwig Hartmann (1836-1910), author of texts about Smetana and opera translator

Matthias Herrmann

Musicologica Olomucensia vol. 37(2), (2025):53-105 | DOI: 10.5507/mo.2025.009

According to current knowledge, the music writer Ludwig Hartmann (1836-1910), who came from the Rhineland, was Smetana's most important promoter in Germany before and after the composer's death. Trained at the Leipzig Conservatory, he lived in Dresden from 1859 onwards. From there, he worked as a music critic throughout Europe and championed contemporary music. He paid particular attention to Smetana's operas and instrumental works, not only making the composer known in Germany through his writings, but also lobbying the relevant institutions for performances and sheet music publications. He contacted Smetana and his pupil Ludevít Procházka, who was...

Smetana's Libuše in Vienna: The History That Never Came About

Jiří Kopecký, Michal Fránek

Musicologica Olomucensia vol. 37(2), (2025):106-123 | DOI: 10.5507/mo.2025.007

The choice of the theme of Princess Libuše for the opera shows how problematic mythology is in relation to operatic conventions. The decision of Josef Wenzig (or also Ervín Špindler) and Bedřich Smetana represents, in a sense, a risky artistic experiment as well as a quite exceptional solution. Smetana's Libuše was to retain its position as a representative work within Czech social life, and it still fulfils this purpose today. The history of the reception of Smetana's Libuše is closely linked to the history of the independent Czechoslovak (Czech) state; on the other hand, it is impossible not to see how poor the statistics on the performance...

Vrchlický's Smetana

Martin Hrdina

Musicologica Olomucensia vol. 37(2), (2025):124-138 | DOI: 10.5507/mo.2025.006

This paper deals with poetic texts in which Jaroslav Vrchlický reflected on the work of Bedřich Smetana between 1876 and 1903. It traces the content and form of his celebratory texts and the circumstances surrounding their dissemination in order to show to what extent Vrchlický's treatment of the Smetana theme highlighted the issue of the nationality of art, and to what extent it raised general questions surrounding the essence of artistic creation. The paper shows how an evaluation of Smetana's work is inseparable from Vrchlický's reflection on his own position in Czech culture and society. In the conclusion, attention is also paid to Vrchlický's...

Scénografická tvorba Karla Svolinského ke Smetanovým operám ve sbírkách Národního muzea

Karel Svolinský's Stage Design Work for Smetana's Operas in the Collections of the National Museum

Kateřina Viktorová

Musicologica Olomucensia vol. 37(2), (2025):139-163 | DOI: 10.5507/mo.2025.003

The article focuses on the stage design work of Karel Svolinský for the operas of Bedřich Smetana, preserved in the collections of the National Museum - in the Bedřich Smetana Museum and the Theatre Department. The collection items comprise scenic and costume designs, sketches, costumes, and stage models. Through selected examples, the article documents the evolution of Svolinský's artistic style - from the realistic, decorative compositions of the 1940s to the gradually simplified, stylized forms based on the harmony of colour and space characteristic of the 1960s to 1980s. Particular attention is devoted to his stage designs for The Bartered Bride,...

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