The Bartered Bride language newspaper "Národní listy". Smetana's diary for December 1864 records that he was continuing to work on "The Bartered Bride"; the piano score was completed by October 1865. It was then put aside so that the composer could concentrate on his third opera "Dalibor". Smetana evidently did not begin the orchestral scoring of "The Bartered Bride" until, following the successful performance of "The Brandenburgers" in January 1866, the management of the Provisional Theatre decided to stage the new opera during the following summer. The scoring was completed rapidly, between 20 February and 16 March. A crowd of villagers is celebrating
The Bartered Bride commented that despite the colour and vigour of the music, there is little by way of characterisation, except in the cases of Kecal and, to a lesser extent, the loving pair and the unfortunate Vašek. The two sets of parents and the various circus folk are all conventional and "penny-plain" figures. In contrast, Kecal's character – that of a self-important, pig-headed, loquacious bungler – is instantly established by his rapid-patter music. Large suggests that the character may have been modelled on that of the boastful Baron in Cimarosa's opera "Il matrimonio segreto". Mařenka's temperament is shown in vocal flourishes which