A really marvelous tone poem, one of my favorites. Liszt’s influence on the young Smetana can easily be heard.
Check out Emil Hartmann’s version here:
Performed by the Symponieorchester des Bayerischen Rundfunks
Conductor: Rafael Kubelik
Haakon Jarl (1861), written in homage to the hospitality afforded Smetana while in Gothenburg, Sweden, draws on an episode from Norwegian history and the tragic drama of the same name by Danish poet Adam Oehlenschläger. Haakon, the defacto king of Norway, seeks to reestablish paganism after Christianity had come to the land. To this end Haakon sacrifices his son to the Gods. This is in vain however, as he is defeated by Olaf Tryggvason, the legitimate heir to the dethroned king. In Smetana’s words: “With Christ’s cross to the fore, and followed by priests intoning hymns, Olaf returns to the land of his fathers, and is greeted by the jubilant population as their deliverer. Haakon, last scion of paganism, falls even though he has sacrificed his only son to the gods in hope of victory.”