Throughout his life, Smetana kept a notebook where he jotted down themes and melodies as they occurred to him, often using them later. Three of the melodies from The Bartered Bride appear in his notebook - "The Holiday Chorus", "Jeník and Marenka's duet", and "the duet of Esmeralda and the Ringmaster".

Meanwhile, the political state of the Czech republic was changing. Smetana had grown up speaking German, like most Bohemians growing up under Austrian rule. Prague was the first city to rise up for reform, but the revolution was soon crushed. Smetana joined the movement among Czechs demanding the right to independence and the free use of their language. He wrote marches and songs to support the movement, and he learned the Czech language.

Despite their efforts, things were not really changing, so when he was offered a job to teach piano in Sweden, Smetana and his family moved. There he had success with a music institute he opened, and he conducted the town's choral society. Following the death of his wife and three of his four daughters, Smetana returned to Prague where political conditions had improved. There was a new movement towards the appreciation of Czech art and culture and Smetana wanted to be a part of it.

Smetana paired himself with the librettist Karel Sabina for his first opera, The Brandenburgers in Bohemia. This success was followed by his best-known and loved opera, The Bartered Bride. Both operas were richly immersed in Czech folklore and music. The Bartered Bride was rewritten many times until it reached its final form in 1870. During that time, Smetana also held the post of chief conductor at the Provisional Theater, promoting Czech opera. Despite his vision, he was highly criticized. He continued to write operas, chamber music, piano pieces and songs, but in 1874 Smetana went almost completely deaf and had to give up his position. It became increasingly difficult for him to compose; his final works (including three operas) were written in total deafness. He once said: "I've never heard my [later] compositions, but I've seen the audience cry." Smetana began to lose his mind and was committed to the Prague Lunatic Asylum, where he died on May 12, 1884 at the age of 60.