Má vlast combines the symphonic poem form, pioneered by Franz Liszt, with the ideals of nationalistic music of the late nineteenth century.

A seemingly triumphant climax is cut short by a descending passage depicting the collapse of the castle, and the music falls quiet.

The Vltava swirls into the St John's Rapids;[n 2] then it widens and flows toward Prague, past the Vyšehrad, and then majestically vanishes into the distance, ending at the Elbe.

It is an adaptation of the melody La Mantovana, attributed to the Italian Renaissance tenor Giuseppe Cenci,[9] which, in a borrowed Romanian form, was also the basis for the Israeli national anthem Hatikvah.

Horst Jankowski played a syncopated version of the tune on his easy listening hit, "A Walk in the Black Forest."

The third poem was finished on 20 February 1875 and is named for the female warrior Šárka, a central figure in the ancient Czech legend of The Maidens' War.

Šárka ties herself to a tree as bait and waits to be saved by the princely knight Ctirad, deceiving him into believing that she is an unwilling captive of the rebelling women.

The first part is dedicated to the grandeur of the forest with a surprising fugue in the strings, interrupted by a soft woodland melody of the horns, which is later taken over by the whole orchestra.

The theme for the piece is quoted from the first two lines of the Hussite hymn, "Ktož jsú boží bojovníci" ("Ye Who Are Warriors of God").

Musically, Blaník begins exactly as Tábor ends, "hammering" out the motto which was left unresolved, but now continuing on, as if in the aftermath of the battle.

The work is scored for piccolo, two flutes, two oboes, two clarinets, two bassoons, four French horns, two trumpets, three trombones, tuba, timpani, bass drum, triangle, cymbals, two harps, and strings.