KPFA-FM Music Dept. ➔ Morning Concert: Composer Karel Husa, 1 of 2
Analog Audio
Event Type
Interview and MusicOrigin
KPFAIdentifier
MC.1975.02.07.AProgram Series
Morning ConcertProgram Length
140 minPart
1 of 2Dates
1975-02-07 | broadcast| 1975-02-07 | created
Description
Born in Prague in 1921, composer Karel Husa won the Pulitzer Prize for music in 1969, for his third String Quartet. On February 7, 1975 he was in Berkeley to attend a conference of college band directors and stopped by the KPFA studio to talk with KPFA Music Director Charles Amirkhanian and Charles Shere, music critic with the Oakland Tribune. The three of them discuss the phenomena of university bands and how they are a breeding ground for young and enthusiastic wind players, who should ideally have an outlet for their talent once finishing their education. The idea that a composer needs to dumb down their works in order to be played by a school band is thoroughly disputed by Husa. Husa, who was a professor of music at Cornell University in Ithaca, New York, also discusses his early life in Prague, his musical influences, including Schoenberg, Webern, and Berg, as well as his forays into abstract painting. Husa also describes the twelve tone, serial compositional technique and how he has adapted it to fit his own style, as is evident in his prize winning quartet, which is heard in its entirety as well as several other of his compositions.Genres
20th century classicalMusical Selections
Apotheosis of this Earth: Apotheosis ; Tragedy of Destruction ; Postscript (1971) (26:00)Performers
University of Michigan Symphony Band (Apotheosis)Karel Husa, conductor (Apotheosis)
Subjects
20th century classicalBand music
Acknowledgment
Funding for the preservation of this program made possible through a grant by the GRAMMY Foundation.Related places
Berkeley (Calif.) (was recorded at)Berkeley (Calif.) (was broadcast at)
Related Entities
University of Michigan. Symphony BandAmirkhanian, Charles
Husa, Karel, 1921-
Shere, Charles, 1935-2020