imitation of folk-poetry and folk-melodies was approved as the real national art. It is astonishing how long this principle, violating the natural law of progress, could endure. All works of this feverish would-be-national period belong to history. They live no more, being but imitations. There is no room in this brief article for mention of their names or works.[1]
Into the artificial edifice, without solid foundations, erected by this group of artists, struck a thunderbolt of genius, who tore down their flimsy structure and exposed their false theories. This genius was—Bedřich Smetana, the founder of modern Czech musical art.
- ↑ One of the composers belonging to this class was Jan Škroup, whose song Where is my home? was adopted by the Czechs as the national anthem, more for the words appealing to their sentiment than for the tune.
people saw national American music under the guise of Indian music. Nothing is easier for a composer than to imitate the melodies of different nations, preserving their rhythmical or melodic mannerisms. Following this method, the American or Czechoslovak national music would be accessible to the composer of any nation; notice the great number of so called "oriental" compositions of our day. Are they national music of Egypt, East India, or China?
