Vltava (The Moldau) from Má vlast

Vltava (The Moldau, 1874), the second and most celebrated of Smetana's six-movement symphonic cycle Má vlast (My Homeland), traces the course of Bohemia's great river from its twin springs in the Šumava forest to Prague and beyond. The work is a marvel of pictorial orchestration: two flutes represent the cold and warm sources merging into a stream, then the full orchestra launches the famous river melody — one of the most immediately recognizable tunes in all orchestral music. The river passes a peasant wedding, moonlit water nymphs, the St. John's Rapids (fierce brass and woodwind cascades), before arriving at the broad Bohemian landscape of Prague. Composed after Smetana had become completely deaf, Vltava stands as one of the supreme examples of musical patriotism and the power of programmatic orchestral writing.