Mythological Signification in Smetana’s Tábor and Blaník and its Implications on Personal Compositional Output

The presented thesis is an examination of the mythology and literary narrative that is present within the two orchestral tone poems of Bedřich Smetana, Tábor and Blaník, and how ideas pertaining to the examination of Smetana’s compositions may be applied to my own compositional output. In my research, I propose potential source materials, and have a brief discussion about how literary narrative may be applied to musical narrative, particularly with compositions of the 19th century. In the analysis of Tábor and Blaník, I examine Smetana’s use of the chorale Kdož jsú Boží bojovníci and how he utilizes this chorale as the compositional foundation of both pieces, as well as looking at the musical elements and structure that combine to suggest narrative function being present within both compositions.  The latter portion of my thesis contains an analysis of the compositions that I wrote throughout the course of my study that were inspired by, or were direct reflections of, issues and ideas that came up during the course of my research. All of my own compositions presented are based on ideas of mythology and the presence of a literary narrative. Accompanying this analysis, are copies of the scores of my compositions.