Scope and Contents The collection primarily consists of correspondence, but it also includes postcards, newspaper clippings, and photographs. Especially notable is Vaska's explanation of Bedrich Smetana's innermost, most personal feelings of Ma Vlast, which Vaska used to better explain the scores to performing musicians. This From My Life is written in Vaska's hand in Czech, Finnish, German, French, and Polish languages, as he conducted ...