Bedřich Smetana

Bedřich Smetana (Czech pronunciation: [ˈbɛdr̝ɪx ˈsmɛtana]; 2 March 1824 – 12 May 1884) was a Czech composer who pioneered the development of a musical style which became closely identified with his country's aspirations to independent statehood. He is thus widely regarded in his homeland as the father of Czech music. Internationally he is best known for his opera The Bartered Bride and for the symphonic cycle Má vlast ("My Homeland"), which portrays the history, legends and landscape of the composer's native land.

Smetana was naturally gifted as a pianist, and gave his first public performance at the age of six. After his conventional schooling, he studied music under Josef Proksch in Prague. His first nationalistic music was written during the 1848 Prague uprising, in which he briefly participated. After failing to establish his career in Prague, he left for Sweden, where he set up as a teacher and choirmaster in Gothenburg, and began to write large-scale orchestral works. During this period of his life Smetana was twice married; of six daughters, three died in infancy.

My Country

"My Country" is an iconic patriotic poem about Australia, written by Dorothea Mackellar (1885–1968) at the age of 19 while homesick in the United Kingdom. After travelling through Europe extensively with her father during her teenage years, she started writing the poem in London in 1904 and re-wrote it several times before her return to Sydney. The poem was first published in The Spectator in London on 5 September 1908 under the title "Core of My Heart". It was reprinted in many Australian newspapers, quickly becoming well known and establishing Mackellar as a poet.

Mackellar's family owned substantial properties in the Gunnedah district of New South Wales and a property (Torryburn) in the Paterson district of the Hunter Region. The inspiration for her poems undoubtedly came from the time she spent on the rural properties as a child. The poem is believed to have been directly inspired by witnessing the breaking of a drought when she was at Torryburn; "My Country" uses imagery to describe the land after the breaking of a long drought. Of ragged mountain ranges possibly refers to the Mount Royal Ranges, and the Barrington Tops.

My Country (album)

My Country is a double album by George Jones. It was released on the Musicor label in 1968.

Background

One criticism of Jones's time at Musicor, which lasted from 1965 to 1971, was the lack of quality control. Jones recorded an enormous amount of material during this time and almost all of it got issued on LPs. The label had released a double album called The George Jones Story in 1968, which featured a mix of old and new songs, and My Country repeats the process. These packages, combined with LPs still being released by his earlier labels Mercury and United Artists, resulted in the market being flooded with releases by "the Possum." In the 1989 documentary Same Ole Me, Starday president Don Pierce recalls producer Pappy Daily's stewardship of Jones's career: "Well, we took him to Mercury, and he became the artist for their country division, and then he took him to United Artists, and he was the country music division at United Artists. The he took him to Musicor and he was the country division at Musicor, and so a lot of people have been ridin' on ol' George." The cavalier approach taken by Musicor to his recordings would make Jones increasingly unhappy as time went on.

My Country (film)

My Country is a 1986 Australian film about the discovery of Australia.

The film was partly shot at Monash University.

The director died of pancreatic cancer in London in 2003.

References

Vyšehrad

Vyšehrad (Czech for "upper castle") is a historical fort located in the city of Prague, Czech Republic. It was built, probably in the 10th century, on a hill over the Vltava River. Situated within the castle is the Basilica of St Peter and St Paul, as well as the Vyšehrad Cemetery, containing the remains of many famous people from Czech history, among them Antonín Dvořák, Bedřich Smetana, Karel Čapek, and Alphonse Mucha. It also contains Prague's oldest surviving building, the Rotunda of St Martin from the 11th century.

Local legend holds that Vyšehrad was the location of the first settlement which later became Prague, though thus far this claim remains unsubstantiated.

History

When the Přemyslid dynasty settled on the current site of Prague Castle, the two castles maintained opposing spheres of influence for approximately two centuries. Like this the second seat of the Czech sovereigns was established on a steep rock directly above the right bank of the Vltava river, in the 10th century. The zenith of Vyšehrad was during the second half of the 11th century, when Vratislav transferred his seat from Prague Castle, and the original fort was remodelled as a complex comprising a sovereign's palatial residence, church and seat of the chapter. The period of growth ended around 1140 when Prince Soběslav moved his seat back to Prague Castle.

Vyšehrad (steamboat)

Vyšehrad is one of the last two remaining operating steamboats on the Vltava River in Prague, Czech Republic and belongs to the Prague Steamboat Company.

Vyšehrad was built in 1938 during the company's modernization in the 1930s when new boats were being bought and old ones modernized. Her original name was Antonín Švehla (a famous politician of the First Republic). Type-wise the Vyšehrad was similar to then a decade old steamers Dresden and Leipzig that belonged to SBDA Company (situated in Dresden).

It has been renamed at several points in history - Karlstein in 1942, T.G. Masaryk after World War II and Děvín in 1952. In 1992 it was completely renovated and renamed Vyšehrad. The most recent reconstruction took place in winter 2006/2007 in Laubegast shipyard in Dresden.

Technical details

Vyšehrad is 62m long and 6,2 m wide, 10,5 over the paddleboxes. It has a 165 kW (220 k) engine. Originally it could carry 885 passengers, nowadays it is 300 and 199 of them can be seated. Its maximum speed is approximately 17 km/h.

Vyšehrad (Prague Metro)

Vyšehrad (Czech pronunciation: [ˈvɪʃɛɦrat]) is a Prague Metro station on Line C.

The station was opened on 9 May 1974. The station serves Vyšehrad and was formerly known as Gottwaldova.