Bedřich Smetana (1824–1884) was a Czech composer who pioneered the development of a musical style which became closely identified with his country's aspirations to independent statehood. Internationally he is known for his opera The Bartered Bride, and for the symphonic cycle Má vlast ("My Fatherland") which portrays the history, legends and landscape of the composer's native land. A gifted pianist, Smetana studied music under Josef Proksch in Prague. In 1866 his first two operas, The Brandenburgers in Bohemia and The Bartered Bride, were premiered at Prague's Provisional Theatre, the latter achieving great popularity. Factions within the city's musical establishment interfered with his creative work, and may have hastened his health breakdown. By 1874, Smetana had become completely deaf but, freed from his theatre duties and the related controversies, he began a period of sustained composition. His contributions to Czech music were increasingly recognised and honoured, but a mental collapse in 1884 led to his incarceration in an asylum, and his subsequent death. Smetana's reputation as the father of Czech music has endured in his homeland, where advocates have raised his status above that of his contemporaries and successors.
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_______________________________ Today's selected anniversaries:
1411:
Forces of Donald of Islay, Lord of the Isles, fought an army commanded by Alexander Stewart, Earl of Mar, at the Battle of Harlaw near Inverurie in Aberdeenshire, Scotland. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Harlaw
1701:
French explorer Antoine de La Mothe Cadillac established Fort Pontchartrain du Détroit in New France, which later grew and became the city of Detroit. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Detroit
1927:
The Menin Gate war memorial in Ypres, Belgium, marking the starting point for one of the main roads out of the town that led Allied soldiers to the front line during World War I, was unveiled. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Menin_Gate
1977:
The Libyan–Egyptian War, a short border war between Libya and Egypt over political conflicts, ended after the combatants agreed to a ceasefire organized by Algeria. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Libyan%E2%80%93Egyptian_War
2007:
The Libyan government extradited six foreign medical workers that were charged with conspiring to deliberately infect over 400 children with HIV in 1998. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HIV_trial_in_Libya
_____________________________ Wiktionary's word of the day:
obrogate (v): (law, rare) To annul a law by enacting a new law, as opposed to repealing the former law http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/obrogate
___________________________ Wikiquote quote of the day:
The art of victory is learned in defeat. --Simón Bolívar http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Sim%C3%B3n_Bol%C3%ADvar