Bedřich Smetana was born on 2 March, 1824 in Litomyšl into a wealthy family of a brewmaster. Already at the age of six, he publicly appeared as a child prodigy.
After graduating from the grammar school in Pilsen, Smetana moved to Prague to earn a living as a home tutor and to study composition privately. Smetana plays for the Emperor himself and meets, among others, Franz Liszt, whom he deeply admires.
Around the age of 30, he is offered the position of director of the Gothenburg Philharmonic Society. He works there from 1856-1861 as a respected composer, music teacher, pianist, and choirmaster.
On his return to Bohemia, he struggles for recognition. It is only after the successful performance of his first two operas that he takes up the prestigious post of Kapellmeister of the Provisional Theatre Orchestra. In 1868, his opera Dalibor is performed at the laying of the foundation stone of the National Theatre. At the grand opening of the theatre in 1881, the famous tunes of Libuše are heard for the first time.
At his creative peak, the composer is stricken with deafness and a developing mental illness. However, he does not stop composing. He exchanges public life for the seclusion of the grove in Jabkenice, the home of his daughter Žofie. It is here that many of his greatest works are written, including the cycle of symphonic poems My Country, inspired by the beauty of the Czech landscape and the high points of Czech history. Smetana died on 12 May, 1884 at the age of 60.
