Music can move us across emotions, time, and landscapes - yet it rarely ties to a specific geography. Bedřich Smetana’s musical piece Vltava uniquely maps a real river through sound, tracing the course of the Vltava in the Czech Republic. Composed in 1874, it became both music and a symbol of Czech identity.
Created with ArcGIS StoryMaps, this story follows that journey, pairing sound with place to explore how Smetana’s masterpiece transforms river, history, and imagination into a living map of art, culture, and homeland.
This story pairs audio with interactive maps to create a fully immersive experience, letting listeners follow Vltava as they explore the landscape it depicts.
The river’s path before 20th‑century dams was carefully reconstructed through detailed analysis of satellite imagery and elevation data, revealing its historic meanders.
The ArcGIS Vector Tile Style Editor was used to design a bespoke, old‑style map aesthetic that complements the music’s timeless quality.
Begin with a creative idea that feels slightly impossible, then let the tools catch up to the vision.
Combine John Nelson’s Parchment Texture and Watercolor Paper Texture from the ArcGIS Living Atlas with World Hillshade, using blend modes and transparency to build a textured, dimensional surface.
Push the basemap further in the Vector Tile Style Editor by adding a tessellating music-tile icon across selected polygons, so the basemap itself carries music, not just geography.
Map Author
Madeleine loves history, music and languages. She spends her time (when not mapping) reading, out in nature or playing the flute.
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