This question is solely for Iaint - if you are not he, please don't
answer.  What's the musical piece that my charm bracelet plays, which
I have dubbed "I'm a sad little teapot"?

Hi austin_trill

Wow, thank you for posting this here for me to answer.

There is a well-known piece of classical music which does indeed sound
superficially similar to the children's tune "I'm A Little Teapot"
albeit in a minor key. Your charm bracelet probably plays the main
melodic theme from the second of Bedrich Smetana's odes to Czech
Nationalism, "Ma Vlast" (My Country). This "symphonic poem" is
dedicated to the River Vltava -- if you have a RealAudio player on
your computer you can hear the work performed by the BBC Philharmonic
Orchestra at http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio3/classical/listen/vltava.shtml:
the "I'm A Sad Little Teapot" theme first occurs at about 90 seconds
into the piece.

This beautiful piece of music describes the course of the Vltava as it
flows through the Czech countryside and a basic map can be seen at
http://www.sitesatlas.com/Europe/CzechRepublic/mczephys.htm. The
Vltava flows from south to north through the western half of the
country, passing through the capital, Prague, en route. The page on
the BBC site that I mentioned above has a good description of how the
different instruments and melodies represent the twists and turns of
the river as it changes from a small fast-flowing river at the foot of
the mountains until it arrives as a large, majestic river in Prague.

I hope that this answer satisfies your curiosity and increases the
enjoyment you get from listening to your charm bracelet.


Regards
iaint-ga


Search strategy:
smetana "ma vlast"
map czech republic

Fantastic!  He answered my question to a 'T'.