Bedrich Smetana

An insightful and engaging biography of Czech composer Bedrich Smetana, originally written in the 1940s and meticulously reconstructed and updated for twenty-first-century readers.

Czech-Jewish lawyer and music historian Jan Löwenbach (1880–1972) wrote this biography of nineteenth-century Czech composer Bedrich Smetana (1824–1884) while living in New York in the 1940s, after fleeing the Nazi occupation of his homeland. Intended to highlight Czech cultural achievements and promote national independence, the book remained unpublished following the 1948 Communist coup in Czechoslovakia. Unlike later English-language biographies of Smetana, Löwenbach's work explicitly engages major early twentieth-century Czech scholarship on the composer and offers a uniquely informed perspective. As a "native informant," Löwenbach dispels long-standing nationalistic myths, while providing insightful commentary on Smetana's complete oeuvre, an engaging narrative of his life, and a thoughtful account of the broader social and cultural context. This edition, based on several Czech and English typescripts preserved at San Diego State University, presents a meticulous reconstruction and new translation of Löwenbach's text. With added references to recent scholarship, it stands as both an essential primary document and a rich resource for anyone interested in Czech music—scholars and general readers alike.