Smetana: Vltava

Vltava depicts the Vltava River (called The Moldau in German), the longest river in the Czech Republic. The music traces the river from its two small mountain springs through the Bohemian countryside—passing scenes of hunting parties, peasant weddings, and legendary water nymphs—before reaching the city of Prague.

Vltava is the second of six symphonic poems that form Bedřich Smetana's cycle Má vlast (My Fatherland), composed in 1874. It sits between the opening poem 'Vyšehrad' and the third poem 'Šárka,' with each movement depicting a different site, legend, or aspect of the Bohemian landscape.

The piece opens with two intertwining flute lines representing the warm and cold springs that form the river's source, played over gentle string accompaniment suggesting rippling water. As more instruments join and the two melodies merge, the music symbolizes the streams uniting into a single flowing river, building to the famous broad main theme.

Near the conclusion, the main river theme returns in a grand, stately transformation representing the Vltava flowing past Prague's landmarks, including a brief recurrence of the Vyšehrad motif from the first poem in the cycle. The music then gradually diminishes, suggesting the river continuing past the city and fading into the distance.