The Moldau

Smetana's 'Vlatava' can be regarded as a prime example of programme music. The composition is a hymn to Smetana's home country of Bohemia, describing the course of the river Vltava from the source to its junction with the river Elbe. The work describes the course of the river Vltava starting from the two small sources of the warm Vltava and the cold Vltava until the two streams merge. The course ...