Compilations and classic songs that put you in mind of the city, from Traveler's city playlist.
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Music has always served as a rallying point for Czechs in their struggle for identity—first in the 19th century as Czech culture reestablished itself, and then in the 20th century when it came under threat from Nazism and Communism.
Compilations:
Ma Vlast (My Country)
Czech composer Bedrich Smetana’s extended symphonic poem to his country. The best known of the six symphonies is the haunting “Vltava” (The Moldau)—but each tells a different story of Czech history.
Dvorak’s 9th Symphony (The New World Symphony)
Czech composer Antonín Dvořák wrote his best-known symphony in 1893 during a visit to New York. It was partly influenced by Dvořák's love of Native American sounds.
Songy a balady (Songs and Ballads)
Sixties pop idol Marta Kubisova’s album was banned in 1969 and only re-released in 1990. The single “Modlitba pro Martu” (Prayer for Marta) was recorded during the Warsaw Pact invasion in 1968 and became the unofficial anthem of the 1989 Velvet Revolution. Play it in a room filled with Czechs and there won’t be a dry eye in the house.
Bratricku, zavirej vratka (O’ Brother, Shut the Door)
A soul-stirring album by the revered protest singer Karel Kryl. Released shortly after the 1968 invasion. Ondrej Hejma of the legendary Czech band Zluty Pes says the sound reflected the spirit of the times: “depressed, angry, and bitter, with no light at the end of the tunnel.”
Karel Gott ´76
The eternal golden voice of Czech pop—part Tom Jones and part Frank Sinatra. Hejma: “Karel Gott survived all of the regimes and until this day—on the verge of his 70th birthday—rules the Czech pop world.” This collection includes the signature “Je jaka je” (She Is What She Is). Like David Hasselhoff, Gott remains inexplicably popular in Germany.
Vetsi nez male mnozstvi lasky (More Than a Little Love)
The 1998 album by acclaimed Czech rock band Lucie. Hejma says Lucie represented “pop rock at its best when freedom came.”
Classic songs:
1. “Modlitba pro Martu” (Prayer for Marta) by Marta Kubisova
2. “Bratricku, zavirej vratka” (O’ Brother, Shut the Door) by Karel Kryl
3. “Je jaka je” (She Is What She Is) by Karel Gott
4. “Stin Katedral” by Helena Vondrackova
5. “Ja Budu Chodit Po Spickach” by Petr Novak
6. “Zelva” (Turtle) by Olympic
7. “Laska je laska” (Love is Love) by Lucie Bila
8. “Cerni Andele” (Black Angels) by Lucie
9. “Pohoda” by Kabat
10. “Promeny” by Cechomor
