deafness
Definition
Smetana lost his hearing completely in October 1874, at the age of fifty. Unlike Beethoven, who had several years of partial hearing before total deafness, Smetana's loss was sudden. Despite this, his greatest works — Má vlast, the Czech Dances, Rêves, both string quartets — were written after 1874. The Rêves, Czech Dances, and the Romance in G minor (his last piano piece, 1880) were all composed in silence. A high-pitched tone, the A four octaves above middle A, tormented him constantly; he notated it in the first string quartet 'From My Life'.
Interpretive Guidance
The fact that Smetana's finest piano works were composed deaf demands respect in performance. When playing Rêves or Czech Dances II — knowing they were written in complete silence — every note carries additional weight. Smetana could not hear his own music; he composed from internal imagination alone.