HATIKVAH and Smetena's MOLDAU related?
berkenbi@gmuvax
respects. Does any one know if either Hatikvah was based on The Moldau, or
if The Moldau was based on Hatikvah, or perhaps the tune is actually a
Czech folk melody. I have not been able to find any information on this
subject.
I will look for a reply on this newsgroup or you can send me e-mail to
berk...@gmuvax.gmu.edu or, preferably, berk...@mason1.gmu.edu
Todah rabah
David Berkenbilt
Steven Cohn
I don't know when Hatikvah was written, but The Moldau was composed between
1874-1879. According to line notes I have on a recording (yes it DOES
sound a lot like Hatikvah):
"Smetana's cycle of six symphonic poems "Ma Vlast" (My Homeland) dates from
1874-79, and is a most imnportant product of strongly nationalistic
Romantic program music in orchestral the field. The six works in the cycle
are "Vysehrad", "The Moldau", ....."
..."Vltava" (The Moldau) the second piece in the cycle, is a splendidly
flowing picture of nature, and a hymn in praise of the principal river of
Bohemia."...
--
** My words - not theirs ! **
Steven Cohn
Motorola LMPS Data Design Center
CPL...@email.mot.com
em...@news.delphi.com
>In article <1993Nov24.172727.56431@gmuvax>, berkenbi@gmuvax wrote:
>> The main theme of Smetena's The Moldau is the same tune as Hatikvah in most
>> respects. Does any one know if either Hatikvah was based on The Moldau, or
>> if The Moldau was based on Hatikvah, or perhaps the tune is actually a
>> Czech folk melody. I have not been able to find any information on this
>> subject.
>>
>> I will look for a reply on this newsgroup or you can send me e-mail to
>> berk...@gmuvax.gmu.edu or, preferably, berk...@mason1.gmu.edu
>>
>> Todah rabah
>>
>> David Berkenbilt
I don't know the definitive answer to your question, but I relay this:
When I was growing up, I recall my father listening to the Moldau in the
living room and telling me about how the piece represented two different
rivers merging (one cold and one warm) into one beautiful broad river --
the Moldau. The two different musical themes which are combined in the
piece are written to conjure up these ideas and feeling s of opposites
blending with harmony. I remember getting relally caught up in this
discussion with him -- one of my few childhood memories of him talking
about classical music (he passed away not long after this). He added,
almost incidentally, that the Iraeli national anthem was based upon this
same musical theme (actually the one representing the warmer stream of the
two) as contained in the Moldau (which pre-dates the State of Israel by
MANY years.)
I don't know that any of this is authoritative enough for your interests,
but I thought this might be of some interest/help to you in your question.
Shalom - Eric Marx em...@delphi.com
Arthur G. Yaffe
for his "Moldav". Perhaps Hatikva is based on the same old folk tune.
Maybe an "old folk" remembered it from his youth :-).
---
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~| Beat the unbeatable!
Arthur G. Yaffe | Surmount the insurmountable!
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Igor L. Berlin
Cheers,
Da GarMeister.