Who’s afraid of Karel Husa?
It seems like Husa’s barely left us, and already it is time to mark his centenary.
A former student of Arthur Honegger and Nadia Boulanger, Husa fled to the United States from his native Czechoslovakia in 1954. He became an American citizen in 1959.
Ten years later, he became the recipient of the Pulitzer Prize for Music for his String Quartet No. 3. It’s ironic that an artist so highly regarded for his wind music should win the Pulitzer for a string quartet! In 1993, he was also recognized with a Grawemeyer Award for his Cello Concerto. However, it is for his “Music for Prague 1968,” inspired by the Soviet bloc invasion of his homeland, that he is probably best known.
Husa held a professorship at Cornell University from 1954 to 1992. He was also a lecturer at Ithaca College from 1967 to 1986.
Performance of his music was banned in Czechoslovakia for over three decades. At the time of his death, in 2016, he was 95 years-old.
Husa’s mode of expression can come across as a little angsty at times, but I think I’ve managed to come up with a nice cross-section of some of his more accessible works. Click the links below, and fear no Husa!
Concertino for Piano and Winds
“Music for Prague 1968”
Trumpet Concerto
Five Poems for Wind Quintet, inspired by the composer’s love of birds. As the title suggests, it’s in five movements, so if you want to hear the whole thing, let the playlist run through all five videos.
Concerto for Percussion and Wind Ensemble
Interviewed by Bruce Duffie
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