Smetana: Vltava (The Moldau)

Description

"Vltava" (The Moldau) is Smetana's most famous and frequently performed tone poem. It was written between 20 November and 8 December 1874, but only in 1879-1880, with the completion of the entire cycle "Má vlast", did it appear in print, when Urbánek issued it in full score and a version for piano duet.

Owing to the large number of misprints in the Urbánek first edition, Hugh Macdonald has based his edition on the autograph score, with cross-references to the first edition and the composer's own version for piano duet. Conflicting readings in the sources are listed in the Critical Commentary along with a discussion of all editorial decisions.