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Internationalism and Nationalism in Smetana’s Brandenburgers and Libuše

St. Pierre, Kelly M.

Abstract Details

2009, Master of Arts, Case Western Reserve University, Music History.
From his first opera, Braniboři v Čechách (Brandenburgers in Bohemia, 1866), composer Bedřich Smetana (1824-1884) dedicated himself to the development of a Czech operatic repertoire. Czech society in turn from the mid 1870s gradually adopted the composer as the “creator” of Czech nationalistic music. Despite Smetana’s intent to establish an autonomous Czech musical identity, examination of both Brandenburgers and his fourth opera, Libuše (1881), reveals that he ultimately came to rely on international musical styles to create a Czech national aesthetic in his works. This paper will examine this larger artistic problem in which a Czech musical identity is contingent upon non-Czech sources by providing close readings of Brandenburgers and Libuše. Considering the ways in which Smetana borrowed and subverted international musical idioms as well as his audience’s reception of his techniques illuminates an exceptionally complicated relationship between Czech political nationalism and musical identity during the mid-nineteenth century.
Francesca Brittan, PhD (Committee Chair)
Mary Davis, PhD (Committee Member)
Daniel Goldmark, PhD (Committee Member)
73 p.

Recommended Citations

Citations

  • St. Pierre, K. M. (2009). Internationalism and Nationalism in Smetana’s Brandenburgers and Libuše [Master's thesis, Case Western Reserve University]. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=case1238696818

    APA Style (7th edition)

  • St. Pierre, Kelly. Internationalism and Nationalism in Smetana’s Brandenburgers and Libuše. 2009. Case Western Reserve University, Master's thesis. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center, http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=case1238696818.

    MLA Style (8th edition)

  • St. Pierre, Kelly. "Internationalism and Nationalism in Smetana’s Brandenburgers and Libuše." Master's thesis, Case Western Reserve University, 2009. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=case1238696818

    Chicago Manual of Style (17th edition)