A Note on Smetana's Macbeth
The orchestral version of “Macbeth and the Witches’ is, according to Brian Large, made by somebody named Otakar Jeremias. David’s research is correct, unsurprisingly! The orchestration is brilliant in the extreme. Nevertheless, the novelty of the piece is not primarily due to the orchestration. The quirky form of the piece and the exceedingly daring harmonic and textural idiom is attested to in Large’s book, and his musical illustrations are illuminating in this regard. Oddly, Liszt’s First Mephisto Waltz comes from 1859 as well, although Smetana almost certainly didn’t know it! The original title is simply “Macbeth”.
Is it patronizing of me to be surprised as the ferocity of this piece when Liszt had already done things even more experimental and daring well prior to Smetana’s effort? I don’t believe so, for a couple of reasons. Firstly, the era of Liszt’s (and Berlioz’s and Chopin’s) heyday was marked by extraordinary radicalism, a radicalism that was essentially foreign to the age of Brahms, on the whole. Also, the status of Czech music itself in Smetana’s time was only just being established, and I know of no Czech predessessors doing anything like it. And Smetana was a conscious Nationalist, whose music frequently reflects a certain national pride occasionally bordering on jingoism. Smetana himself supposedly argued with a friend who tried to assert the international character of music, disagreeing vehemently.
Smetana set this poem, as “The Song of Freedom” in 1848:
“War! War! does the flag fly?
Rise up ye Czechs, for God is with us!
Stand firmly for your rights.
Guard your country and the glory of the Czechs!
The clamour that fills the air is
The sound of Zizka and of Tabor!
Whosoever is Czech must wield a sword!
Let there be blood and slaughter.
Let there be anger and terror.
Let there be cruel Hussite deeds!
Awake, take up your weapons you Czech lions!
God commands you to the Holy War!”
Given the conflicts of today’s world, this makes uncomfortable reading…
Comments
2 comment(s) on this page. Add your own comment below.
Smetana's sentiments in 1848 are, indeed,uncomfortably bloodthirsty. But not that long afterward,in 1853, he wrote his only symphony, in E Major Op 6, titled "Triumphal" for its 1855 premiere, and retitled by Smetana in 1881 as "Festive Symphony". Ironically, the "triumph" refers to the finale's ending with a full-scale quotation of the hymn to the Austrian Emperor Franz Joseph originally composed by Haydn for his String Quartet Op 76, No 3, and later given the words "Deutschland uber Alles." Was this an early example of Aesopian "double-speak", in the way some believe Shostakovich composed, or just an attempt by Smetana to push his career?
Note: I checked Arkivmusic and three are three CD's of the Festive Symphony listed. One is part of a new Brilliant Classics 3 CD set titled Complete Orchestral Music of Smetana. This set does not include Macbeth and the Witches, so your CD is worth even more!
Heh,heh. I got a cd of the Festive Symphony, and actually got around to hearing it! the second movement is wonderful, the rest, perhaps less so...a worthwhile bit of esoterica...and an ironic one. No time for it in class. I don't plan on doing "Macbeth" either. I myself have to decide what I'd like to borrow from you...one thing for sure, I need nothing but Dalibor for April 3rd. It's weird for me this week, because in addition to Smetana I'm preparing a class on Heinrich Schutz, whose music seems beautiful, exceedingly so...not so complex as Bach, but it retains so much of the intricacies of Renaissance polyphony. And how different from the early, Lisztian, Smetana! I'm getting whiplash! I'm happy about my accidental rarity. Aside from anything else, the committment of conductor and players is evident...those guys care about this fine music!
Add a Comment
Jump right in! Please be civil.