The Bartered Bride which Smetana took to heart: "I swore there and then that no other than I should beget a native Czech music." Smetana did not act immediately on this aspiration. The announcement that a Provisional Theatre was to be opened in Prague, as a home for Czech opera and drama pending the building of a permanent National Theatre, influenced his decision to return permanently to his homeland in 1861. He was then spurred to creative action by the announcement of a prize competition, sponsored by the Czech patriot Jan von Harrach, to provide suitable operas for the Provisional Theatre. By 1863
Karel Svoboda (composer) in the garden of his villa at Jevany on January 28, 2007. It is believed that he committed suicide. Karel Svoboda (composer) Karel Svoboda (19 December 1938 – 28 January 2007) was a Czech composer of popular music. He wrote music for many TV series in the 1970s. Karel Svoboda was born in Prague, Czechoslovakia (now in the Czech Republic) and began his career as a pop composer after abandoning medicine in his third year of university. He became a member of the rock band "Mefisto" in 1963 where he played piano. Later, he composed music for the "Laterna Magica"