Czech-born composer Karel Husa (1921-2016) emigrated to the United States in 1954 and became an American citizen a few years later.
Settling in Ithaca, New York, Husa was professor of composition at Cornell University from 1954 until 1992, and concurrently was a lecturer at Ithaca College from 1967 until 1986. His students included Steven Stucky and Christopher Rouse. His Music for Prague, 1968, a programmatic work originally scored for band, was written in response to the Soviet summer invasion of the Czechoslovakian capital. Karel Husa served as the first music director of the Cayuga Chamber Orchestra from 1977 to 1984.
Composed in 1956 in response to a commission from the Friends of Music at Cornell, Husa’s Fantasies for Orchestra explores tonal color and atmosphere. The first movement (Aria) begins with a single gloomy wandering musical line in the low strings. Haunting new voices join in impassioned counterpoint amid gradually rising tension. The climax comes with dissonant shrieks of desperation before the music falls back into the shadows.
The second movement (Capriccio) begins without pause. It is an exhilarating dance based on the two-plus-three rhythm often found in Eastern European folk music. The movement unfolds as a conversation of sometimes mischievous instrumental voices. It begins mysteriously with the tap of the snare drum and triangle. At first sneaky, the voices become increasingly bold, with an ominous figure in the piano answered by triumphant interjections by the trumpets. At moments, you may be reminded of the dizzying irregular meters of Copland and Bartók.
The final movement (Nocturne) begins with the hum of insects, punctuated by birdsongs. These atmospheric sounds pay homage to the “Night music” of Bartók. As with the first movement, the music reaches a frenzied climax and retreats. The piano enters with fragments of a walking bass line. The final moments fade into a haunting nocturnal dreamscape.
I. Aria:
II. Capriccio:
III. Nocturne:
Recordings
- Husa: Fantasies for Orchestra, Karel Husa, Orchestra des Solistes de Paris PhoenixCD
Featured Image: Karel Husa in 1956