Rêves

Dreams — six character pieces for piano by Smetana composed 1874–75, immediately after his sudden deafness. The French title was chosen to evoke Liszt's influence and the dreaming, memory-laden character of the set. Titles: Le bonheur éteint (Bygone Happiness), La consolation (Consolation), En Bohème: Le village (In Bohemia: The Village), Au château (At the Castle), La paysanne (The Peasant Woman), Fête champêtre (Harvest Home). Each piece evokes a Czech landscape or memory now accessible only through imagination.

Rêves are neither salon miniatures nor student pieces; they are large-scale concert works of exceptional harmonic sophistication. The long arching phrases and widely spaced textures require a full cantabile tone and careful pedalling. Approach each piece as a complete emotional world. Bygone Happiness in particular is vast in its emotional arc for such a short piece.