The Moldau by Smetana: a listening guide for kids

The Moldau is a piece for orchestra that follows a river from its first trickle to a great city and beyond. Bedřich Smetana, a Czech composer, wrote it in 1874. It lasts about 12 minutes, and it has one of the best-loved tunes in classical music.

Quick facts

• Composer: Bedřich Smetana, who lived from 1824 to 1884
• Written: 1874
• Length: about 12 minutes
• Played by: a full orchestra
• Part of: My Homeland, a set of six pieces about the Czech lands
• The two names: “Moldau” is the German name of the river. The Czech name is Vltava.

The river’s journey

Smetana wrote down what the music shows. Follow it like a map.

Scene	What happens	What to listen for
1. The two springs	Two small streams start in the hills, one cold and one warm.	Two flutes ripple. Then two clarinets join them.
2. The river	The streams meet and become the Moldau.	The violins sing the big tune over a rolling wave in the low strings.
3. The forest hunt	The river passes hunters in the woods.	Horns call back and forth.
4. The village wedding	People dance on the bank.	A bouncy country dance called a polka.
5. Moonlight	Night falls, and water spirits dance on the surface.	Soft, high strings, a harp, and the flutes again.
6. The rapids	The river crashes over rocks.	Brass, cymbals, and drums at full power.
7. Prague	The river, now wide, flows past an old castle on a rock.	The big tune comes back, brighter than before. A grand hymn rises in the brass.
8. Out of sight	The river rolls away into the distance.	The music fades to almost nothing. Then come two loud chords.

The big tune

The river tune rises step by step and then falls back, like a wave. It is sad the first time. Near the end it turns bright and proud, as the river reaches the capital.

Smetana did not make the tune up from nothing. It is close to an old song that traveled across Europe for hundreds of years. The national anthem of Israel grew from the same old tune, so the two sound like cousins.

He could not hear it

Smetana went deaf in 1874. He wrote The Moldau in the weeks after he lost his hearing. He never heard an orchestra play it. Beethoven is the most famous deaf composer, and Smetana is another. Read deaf and blind composers.

Why it mattered at home

In Smetana’s time, the Czech lands were ruled from Vienna, and German was the language of power. A piece about the Czech river, its forests, its village dances, and its old castle told people that their own country was worth a great work of music. It is still one of the best-loved pieces of music in the Czech Republic. Read Smetana for kids.

Things to do together

• Draw the map. Draw a long river across a sheet of paper. Add the springs, the hunters, the wedding, the moon, the rapids, and the castle as you hear each one.
• Raise a card. Write the eight scenes on cards. Hold up the right one when the music changes.
• Be the river. Start with fingers for the springs. Use arms for the river, and the whole body for the rapids.
• Find it on a real map. Look up Prague, and trace the river north to where it joins the Elbe.
• Hum the tune. Sing the river tune on “la.” Notice how it rises and falls.

Questions to ask

• How does Smetana make a small stream sound small?
• Which scene is your favorite, and which instruments play it?
• How do you know when the river reaches the city?

Words to know

• Tone poem: a piece for orchestra that paints a picture or tells a story with no words
• Polka: a quick dance in two beats, from the Czech lands
• Theme: the main tune of a piece

Print and play

Draw the journey on a listening journal page. For more pieces of this kind, read classical music about water, rivers, and the sea and classical music that tells a story. More guides are listed in classical music listening guides for kids.