I’ve always loved music that tells a story, because it captures the human experience in all its raw beauty and complexity. Music can paint vivid pictures with melody and rhythm, with each note a thread in the tapestry of a tale.
Bedřich Smetana
Some composers actually guide the listening experience, like Bedřich Smetana (1824–1884) in his String Quartet No. 1 in E Minor. In fact, he titled this wonderful work “From My Life.” To me, it is one of the most striking reflections of the composer’s personal journey.
Bedřich Smetana: String Quartet No. 1 in E minor “From my Life” – I. Allegro vivo appassionato (Wihan String Quartet)
Deafness
Smetana composed the work in 1876 when he was struggling with the onset of deafness. As such, it’s not just a piece of music but a window into the mind of a composer grappling with his past and present.
It’s a highly personal journey channeled into a vivid musical narrative. Each movement traces a distinct phase of his life, ranging from youthful energy to the stark reality of his later years.
It is a bold, unfiltered statement, blending his signature Bohemian flair with an introspective edge that resonates through the quartet’s four voices.
Bedřich Smetana: String Quartet No. 1 in E minor “From my Life” – II. Allegro moderato a la polka (Wihan String Quartet)
Personal Description
Bedřich Smetana and his first wife
We are very fortunate that Smetana actually wrote personal notes for all movements of the work. As he writes, “The first movement depicts my youthful leanings towards art, a Romantic atmosphere, the inexpressible yearning for something I could neither express nor define, and also a kind of warning of my future misfortune.”
“The long persistent note in the final owes its origin to this. It is the fateful ringing of the high-pitched tones in my ears, which, in 1874, announced the beginning of my deafness. I allow myself this small joke, though it was ultimately disastrous.”
Smetana suffered sudden hearing loss with severe tinnitus at the age of fifty. Within a few months, his hearing deteriorated so much that soon he was deaf. The cause of his deafness has been subject to speculations, but the most likely cause has been identified as a syphilis infection.
Bedřich Smetana: String Quartet No. 1 in E minor “From my Life” – III. Largo sostenuto (Wihan String Quartet)
Love and Dance
Smetana, like Beethoven, continued to compose, but he would never be able to hear many of his best-known works, including the “From My Life” quartet.
However, he still had some beautiful musical memories in his head. The second movement is a polka, and it “recalls the joyful days of my youth when I composed dance tunes and was widely known as a passionate lover of dancing.”
“The third movement reminds me of the happiness of my first love, the girl who later became my first wife.”
Bedřich Smetana: String Quartet No. 1 in E minor “From my Life” – IV. Vivace (Wihan String Quartet)
Sad Future
Bedřich Smetana’s Quartet “From My Life”
Smetana writes, “The fourth movement describes my discovery that I could incorporate national elements in my music, and my joy in following this path until it was terminated by the onset of my deafness, the outlook into a sad future, the tiny rays of hope of recovery; but remembering the promise of my early career, a feeling of painful regret.”
“From My Life” is like a personal letter written in sound, tracing the jagged edges of his existence.
The way the violins soar with youthful hope before that piercing high E mimics Smetana’s tinnitus, feels like a moment of joy crashing into unshakable doubts. From early ambitions to his later struggles, it is a wonderful musical story rooted in personal history and Czech musical identity.
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