Popelka & Smetana

Smetana's great tone poem My Fatherland a musical introduction to Czech culture and history. It begins at Vyšehrad Castle, the old seat of the Bohemian kings, and continues along the great Vltava River that flows below the old castle. In the last movement, the magical mountain Blanik is depicted, which contains a sleeping army. When the need is greatest, the sleeping knights will wake up and save the Czech Republic from the enemy.