Má vlast (suite)

Má vlast is a cycle of six symphonic poems written between 1874 and 1879, begun in the months when Smetana was losing his hearing and finished in total deafness. The subjects are Bohemian: the castle rock above Prague, a river, the legendary warrior woman Šárka, a landscape of fields and groves, and the Hussite stronghold of Tábor with the mountain of Blaník, the last two built on the same chorale. The complete cycle was first performed in Prague on 5 November 1882, and since 1946 it has opened the Prague Spring festival on the anniversary of Smetana's death.