“Vltava” (The Moldau) is Smetana’s most famous and frequently performed tone poem. It was written between 20 November and 8 December 1874, but only in 1879-1880, with the completion of the entire cycle “Má vlast” did it appear in print, when Urbánek issued it in full score and a version for piano duet.<br>
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Owing to the large number of misprints in the Urbánek first edition, Hugh Macdonald has based his new edition on the autograph score, with cross-references to the first edition and the composer’s own version for piano duet. Conflicting readings in the sources are listed in the Critical Commentary along with a discussion of all editorial decisions.<br>