Conductor
B. WALTON O'DONNEL
ARNOLD MATTERS (baritone) (Soloist, ARNOLD MATTERS> )
Frederick Smetana was, like all natives of Bohemia, an intense patriot and lover of the natural beauties of his country. He wrote a series of six symphonic poems in praise of Bohemia, entitled ' My Country The one now to be performed is the first, and its title refers to the River Vltava (or Moldau), Bohemia's most important waterway. The music pictures the course of the river from its rise in a forest spring, and its course through the meadows, past the towns, towards the sea. It is obviously the simplest kind of programme music, made up of folk-tunes and lilting melodies, but surely all the more fascinating for its entire freedom from literary complications.