Grove's dictionary of music and musicians

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SMART SMETANA 485
musical profession]. He had begun his musical
education at an early age, and studied the violin
under Wilhelm Cramer, in which he made such
progress that when only fourteen he was engaged
at the Opera, the Concert of Antient Music,
and the Academy of Ancient Music. He was
engaged as leader of the band at the Lyceum
ou its being opened as an English Opera-House
in 1809, and continued so for several seasons.
He was leader at the present Drury Lane Theatre
from its opening in 1812 until 1821. On June
12, 1819, the band presented him with a silver
cup as a token of their regard. He was leader
of the Lenten oratorios from the time they came
under the management of his brother. Sir
George, in 1813, and a member of the Philharmonic
Society's orchestra, which he occasionally
led. In 1820 he established a inanufactory
of pianofortes, of a peculiar eonstraction,
and on July 22, 1823, obtained a patent for
improvements in the construction of pianofortes.
He went to Dublin to superintend the debut of
his pupU, Miss Goward (afterwards Mrs. Keeley),
where he was attacked by typhus fever, and
died, Nov. 27, 1823. His son,
Henet Thomas (known as Henry Smart), a
prominent member of the modern English School,
was bom in London, Oct. 26, 1813, and after
declining a commission in the Indian army, was
articled to a solicitor, but quitted law for music,
for which he had extraordinary natural faculties,
and which he studied principally under W. H.
Kearns, though he was to a great extent selftaught.
In 1831 he became organist of the parish
church of Blackburn, Lancashire, which he resigned
in 1836. While at Blackburn he composed
his first important work, an anthem for the tercentenary
of the Reformation, in 1835. Inl836
he settled in London as organist to St. Philip's
Church, Regent Street. In March 1844 he was
appointed to the organ of St. Luke's, Old Street,
where he remained until 1864, when he was
chosen organist of St. Pancras. He was an
excellent organ-player, specially happy as an
accompanist in the service, a, splendid extemporiser,
and a voluminous and admirable composer
for the instrument. But his compositions
were by no means confined to the organ. On
May 26, 1855, an opera from his pen, Berta, '
or.
The Gnome of the Hartzberg,' was successfully
produced at the Haymarket. In 1864 he composed
his cantata, The ' Bride of Dunkerron
(his best work), expressly for the Birmingham
Festival. Heproducedtwocantatas, 'KingRen^'s
Daughter,' 1871, and 'The Fishermaidens,
both for female voices. An opera on the subject
of 'The Surrender of Calais,' the libretto by
Planche, originally intended for Mendelssohn,
was put into his hands by Messrs. Chappell,
about 1852, but though considerable progress
was made with it, it was never completed. A
sacred cantata, 'Jacob,' was written for the
Glasgow Festival, produced Nov. 10, 1873, and
two large anthems for solos, chorus, and organ
were written for the Festivals of the London
Choral Choirs Association at St. Paul's in 1876
and 1878— 'Sing to the Lord,' and
'
Lord, thou
hast been our refuge.' For many yeaiB past his
sight had been failing, and soon after 1864 he
became too blind to write. All his compositions
after that date therefore were committed to
paper—like those of another distinguished
English composer. Sir G. A. Maofarren—through
the truly disheartening process of dictation.
It is as a composer of part-songs and a writer
for the organ that Henry Smart will be known
in the future. His earlier part-songs, 'The
Shepherd's Farewell,' 'The Waves' Reproof,"
and 'Ave Maria,' are lovely, and will long be
sung ; and his organ pieces are full of charming
melody and effective combinations. He edited
Handel's thirteen Italian duets and two trios
for the Handel Society.
His health had for several years been very bad,
and cancer on the liver gave him excruciating
agony. In June 1879 the Government granted
him a pension of £1 00 a year in acknowledgment
of his services in the cause of music, but he did
not live to enjoy it, for he died July 6, 1879.
He was buried in Hampstead Cemetery. His
last composition was a Postlude in El> for the
organ, finished very shortly before the end. His
life was written by his friend Dr. Spark (Reeves,
1881), and the book will always be interesting,
though it might perhaps have been more usefully
arranged and more accurately printed. [See
the Musical Times for May 1902.] w. H. H.
SMART, Thomas, probably brother to the
elder George Smart, was an organist at St.
Clement's Danes in 1783. He composed many
songs and pieces for the pianoforte and harpsichord.
He set to music the well-known song
on the death of General Wolfe by Tom Paine,
beginning ' In a mouldering cave where the
wretched retreat.' Dates of birth and death
not ascertained. f. k.
SME6ERGILL, William. See C^esae, vol. i.
p. 443.
SMETANA, Feiedeich, born March 2, 1824,
at Leitomischl in Bohemia, was a pupil of
Proksch at Prague, and subsequently for a short
time studied with Liszt. He became a highly
skilled pianist, and opened a music school of
his own at Prague, where he married the pianist
Katharina Kolar. In 1856 he accepted the
directorship of the Philhaiinonio
I Society of
Gothenburg in Sweden, and his wife died there
in 1860. In 1861 he made a tour in Sweden,
and on the foundation of the National Theatre
in Prague, betook himself again to his native
country, and eventually became chief conductor
of the new institution in 1866, the year of
production of his most famous work,
'
Die
Verkaufte Braut.' He produced three other
Bohemian operas, 'DieBrandenburgerinBohmen'
(1866), 'Dalibor' (1868), and 'ZweiWitwen'