Smetana and Propaganda in the Umělecká Beseda
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REVOLUTIONIZING CZECHNESS: SMETANA AND PROPAGANDA IN THE UMĚLECKÁ BESEDA by KELLY ST. PIERRE Submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor in Philosophy Dissertation Adviser: Francesca Brittan Department of Music CASE WESTERN RESERVE UNIVERSITY May, 2012 CASE WESTERN RESERVE UNIVERSITY SCHOOL OF GRADUATE STUDIES We hereby approve the thesis/dissertation of Kelly St. Pierre candidate for the Doctor of Philosophy degree *. (signed)_______________________________________________ (chair of the committee) ________________________________________________ ________________________________________________ ________________________________________________ ________________________________________________ ________________________________________________ (date) __________ *We also certify that written approval has been obtained for any proprietary material contained therein. CONTENTS LIST OF FIGURES .............................................................................................................2 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS .................................................................................................3 ABSTRACT .........................................................................................................................5 INTRODUCTION ...............................................................................................................7 Chapter 1. BUILDING A CZECH NATION: SMETANA ADVOCATES AND THE REBIRTH ......................................................................................18 2. A CZECH SYMPHONIC POEM: THE UMĚLECKÁ BESEDA, THE NEW GERMAN SCHOOL, AND SMETANA’S MÁ VLAST ...............53 3. A CZECH MUSIC DRAMA: SMETANA, WAGNER, AND THE UB’S PROPAGANDA WAR .................................................................91 4. ANALYZING CZECHNESS: VLAST, LIBUŠE, AND THEIR MYTHS IN SCHOLARSHIP ........................................................................146 5. CONCLUSION ..............................................................................................177 BIBLIOGRAPHY ............................................................................................................184 1 LIST OF FIGURES Figure Page 1. Bedřich Smetana’s “Vyšehrad” theme and Zdeněk Fibich’s “Záboj” theme ..............53 2. Zdeněk Fibich, Zàboj, Slavoj, and Luděk, mm. 1-4 .....................................................80 3. Zdeněk Fibich, Zàboj, Slavoj, and Luděk, mm. 61-66 .................................................80 4. Bedřich Smetana, “Vyšehrad,” mm. 191-209 ..............................................................82 5. Bedřich Smetana, “Vyšehrad,” mm. 76-84 ..................................................................83 6. Vladimír Helfert’s Summary of Themes 1 and 2 in Bedřich Smetana’s “Vyšehrad” .......................................................................................................................159 7. Theme 1 in Bedřich Smetana’s “Vyšehrad” Juxtaposed with Vladimír Helfert’s Summaries of Theme 1 in Smetana’s Libuše .............................................................160 8. Vladimír Helfert’s Summaries of Theme 2 in Bedřich Smetana’s “Vyšehrad” and Libuše ..................................................................................................................162 9. Vladimír Helfert’s Derivation of Motive A from Theme 2 of Bedřich Smetana’s “Vyšehrad” and Its Extension ....................................................................................163 10. Vladimír Helfert’s Summaries of Motive A in Bedřich Smetana’s Libuše ...............164 11. Vladimír Helfert’s Motive A Juxtaposed with Statements of the Motive in Bedřich Smetana’s “Vltava” ......................................................................................165 12. Vladimír Helfert’s Summaries of Motive A in Bedřich Smetana’s Libuše Juxtaposed with Appearances of the motive in His “Vltava” ....................................166 13. Motive A in Bedřich Smetana’s “Vyšehrad” Juxtaposed with Richard Wagner’s “Rhine” Leitmotive from His Prologue to Götterdämmerung ..................................167 14. Motive A in the Melody of “Vltava” Juxtaposed with Richard Wagner’s “Erda” Leitmotive from His Prologue to Götterdämmerung.................................................168 15. Václav Novotný’s Summary of “Libuše’s Prayer” ....................................................170 2 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I would like to extend my warm thanks to a number of individuals who were indispensable in producing this dissertation. Foremost among them is Professor Francesca Britten who gave generously of her knowledge, expertise, and insight throughout the various stages of this project. Francesca’s scholarly model is an inspiration, and I remain grateful for her guidance and support. I also owe a great debt to Professors Daniel Golmark and Mary Davis who provided valuable assistance and discussion from the earliest versions of this thesis. Daniel’s dedication and encouragement were instrumental to the completion of this project, and Mary’s thoughtful comments and suggestions contributed substantially to its final form. Additionally, Professors Martha Woodmansee and Derek Katz both gave generously of their time and counseling at different points throughout this research. I benefited greatly from Martha’s critical direction and Derek’s eye-opening feedback. I am also grateful to Professors Brian Locke and Michael Beckerman for facilitating introductions with several librarians and archivists in Prague. Among them, Kateřina Maýrová, Olga Mojžíšová, and Markéta Kabelková were exceptionally helpful in organizing this research. The warmth and hospitality of Šárka Handlová, and Zuzana Petrášková warrant special thanks here. Additionally, the American Council of Learned Societies and the Case Western Reserve University College of Arts and Sciences Dissertation Seminar made research for this dissertation possible. I am deeply indebted to numerous friends and family members for their assistance and encouragement, especially Dr. Dagmar Leary whose countless hours of patient instruction helped grant me the language skills necessary to complete this project. Dr. Jan 3 Daněk’s tutoring and conversation similarly expanded my understandings of the Czech language and nation. My gratitude for the intellectual and personal support all of my colleagues at Case Western, particularly of Devin Burke, Erin Smith, Matt Smith, and members of the dissertation seminar, cannot be understated. Additionally, I owe a special debt of gratitude to those who believed in me even at times when it was difficult to believe in myself: Sarah Tomasewski, Patty McSpadden, Tom and Tammy St. Pierre, Earl Brinker, and, chiefly among them, Mike St. Pierre. Mike, this dissertation is dedicated to you. 4 Revolutionizing Czechness: Smetana and Propaganda in the Umělecká Beseda Abstract by KELLY ST. PIERRE This dissertation focuses on Czech national hero Bedřich Smetana whose life and works have long been associated with Czech nation-building and notions of idealistically Czech sounds. The purpose of my project is to examine how Smetana came to occupy this position: Who was responsible for this construction? Who gained from it? And what role did Smetana himself play? Answering these questions requires the examination of not just the composer, but the powerful organization he helped found in 1863 called the Umělecká beseda (“Artistic Society,” or UB). The UB was at the center of Czech artistic and political life during the nineteenth century and still exists today. Its members used the organization’s influence throughout its history to publish writings on Smetana that have profoundly shaped modern understandings of the composer. Beginning in the 1870s, UB members produced carefully curated collections of materials related to Smetana (criticism, editions of the composer’s letters and diaries, and even scores), which they harnessed as tools in a series of political campaigns. During the twentieth century, UB critics selectively published Smetana studies to suit the ideologies of the Communist administration. Today, UB scholarship and the political circumstances surrounding its 5 production make understandings of the composer inseparable from political advocacy. Here, I use UB publications along with those of the organization’s critics to reveal Smetana as a figure whose biography has been appropriated for deliberately political ends since the organization’s founding. Doing so opens a window onto the wider complexities of Eastern European nationhood and reveals how music, scholarship, and Smetana have shaped political ideologies through the twentieth century. 6 INTRODUCTION Bedřich Smetana recorded in his diary that he began work on “Vyšehrad,” the first symphonic poem of his cycle Má vlast (My Homeland), in September of 1874. Scholars, however, have challenged the composer’s chronology for over a century. Václav Zelený argued in his 1894 memoir that Smetana actually first conceived of “Vyšehrad’s” main motive—“a persistent four-note germ cell”—on October 20, 1874.1 Vladimír Helfert combined sketch studies and reports from contemporary newspapers to argue that Smetana began work on the movement in November, 1872.2 Mirko Očadlík echoed (without directly acknowledging) Helfert’s study, also claiming that Smetana began “Vyšehrad” in 1872.3 Most recently, Brian Large presented his own sketch study of “Vyšehrad” that further supported Smetana’s start in 1872.4 These authors’ investment in correcting