He played the violin already at the age of five, piano at the age of six, and composed his first composition at the age of eight. Having graduated from secondary school, he left to work in Prague, where he studied music and earned his living as a music teacher. But he did not succeed in Prague, and therefore, he decided to accept the offer to go to Gothenburg, Sweden. He spent five years there as a conductor, piano player and pedagogue. During his stay in Sweden, he composed three symphonic poems – Richard III, Valdštýnův tábor (The Wallenstein Camp) and Hakon Jarl. His major works include the opera Prodaná nevěsta (The Bartered Bride), which is still regarded as the national opera, Braniboři v Čechách (The Brandenburgers in Bohemia), and Libuše and Dalibor.
At the age of 50, he turned completely deaf, but neither the deafness nor numerous health problems broke him. He continued to work and composed his supreme work – the cycle of symphonic poems Má vlast (My Fatherland), operas Hubička (The Kiss), Tajemství (The Secret) and Čertova stěna (The Devil’s Wall), famous E minor string quartet Z mého života (From My Life), duet for violin and piano Z domoviny (From the Homeland), piano cycles Sny (The Dreams) and České tance (The Czech Dances), choral pieces for a male chorus Věno (The Dower), Večerní písně (The Evening songs) and a symphonic poem Pražský karneval (The Prague Carneval), which remained unfinished.
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