Bed345;ich Smetana( 2 March 1824 – 12 May 1884) was one of the most significant Czech composers. He is best known for his symphonic poem Vltava (also known as The Moldau from the German), the second in a cycle of six which he entitled Má vlast ("My Country"), and for his opera The Bartered Bride.
Vltava, also known as Die Moldau (German name), was composed between 20 November and 8 December 1874 and was premiered on 4 April 1875. It is about 12 minutes long, and is in the key of E minor.
The piece contains Smetana's most famous tune. It is an adaptation of La Mantovana, a folk song of the Italian renaissance origin, which is also the basis for the Israeli national anthem, Hatikvah. The tune also appears in major in an old folk Czech song "Ko269;ka leze dírou" (Cat is crawling the hole").