Introduction
Smetana Advocacy and Czech Nation-Building
Smetana, Czechness, and the New German School
Smetana, Czechness, and Wagner
Smetana as a Proven Genius
Writing the Smetana Myth: Historiography and Czechness
Conclusion
Notes
Bibliography
Index
An important book [that] investigates the creation of a collection
of 'Smetana myths,' and the manner in which the composer's career
and its reception were molded by a complex set of forces. Some of
the most fascinating aspects of St. Pierre's book involve the
sections dealing with the attempt on the part of various
interlocutors to ascribe 'meaning' to specific moments of
instrumental music.
*SLAVIC REVIEW*
St. Pierre brings together a wide range of published sources, such
as articles and edited correspondence in translation (mostly her
own). Particularly intriguing is [her] perspective on music history
(and its making) as media history. The monograph's structure and
appearance are impeccable, and its name index will serve as an
essential companion for every future study on Smetana.
*MUSIC LIBRARY ASSOCIATION NOTES*
St. Pierre's book will need to be consulted by anyone interested in
the subject. It is lucidly constructed and well written, and has
been well served by Rochester Press [sic] in its editing of her
prose . . . [and] is especially valuable in the lively details it
gives of the Umelecká beseda and its members.
*SLAVONIC AND EAST EUROPEAN REVIEW*
A sorely needed and welcome foray not only into scholarship on the
Czech composer Bedrich Smetana, but also into questions of composer
biography and the role of propaganda in Central European
nationalist movements...a valuable resource for scholars of
European history and Czech music.
*EUROPEAN HISTORY QUARTERLY*
Kelly St. Pierre's concentrated and highly researched new study . .
. closely examines the complex and politically controversial
genesis of [Czech composer Smetana's] music, and its huge eventual
significance in establishing a strong and clear national identity
for that small if fiercely patriotic country contained within the
19th-century Austro-Hungarian Empire. St. Pierre has done well to
cut a path through the forests of obscurantism generated by these
ever-changing political perspectives, leading to a clearer picture
of Smetana and his actual achievements. MUSICAL TIMES
*MUSICAL TIMES*
A significant work of scholarship, Kelly St. Pierre's Bedrich
Smetana: Myth, Music, and Propaganda fills an obvious and important
gap in the literature of musical politics in Prague from the last
quarter of the nineteenth century to the end of the First Republic.
With an excellent and thorough consideration of both Czech and
English sources, including the most recent publications, this book
will be indispensable for scholars and enthusiasts of Czech music,
as well as scholars, students, and devotees of late
nineteenth-century European cultural and intellectual history.
--
*Derek Katz, author of Janácek beyond the Borders*
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