KPFA-FM Music Dept. ➔ Morning Concert: Composer Karel Husa, 2 of 2
Analog Audio
Event Type
Interview and MusicOrigin
KPFAIdentifier
MC.1975.02.07.BProgram Series
Morning ConcertProgram Length
140 minPart
2 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
Symphony No. 1 (1953) (26:30) -- String Quartet No. 3 (1968) (21:10) -- Serenade, for woodwind quintet with strings, harp, and xylophone [3rd movement] (1963) (4:40) -- Music for Prague 1968 (1968) (23:30)Performers
Prague Symphony Orchestra (Symphony ; Serenade)Karel Husa, conductor (Symphony ; Serenade)
Fine Arts Quartet: (Quartet)
Leonard Sorkin, violin (Quartet)
Abram Loft, violin (Quartet)
Bernard Zaslav, viola (Quartet)
George Sopkin, cello (Quartet)
Foerster Woodwind Quintet (Serenade)
Louisville Orchestra (Prague)
Jorge Mester, conductor (Prague)
Subjects
20th century classicalSymphonies
String quartets
Suites (Bassoon, clarinet, flute, horn, oboe with string orchestra)
Suites (Orchestra)
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
Prague Symphony OrchestraSymfonický orchestr hlavního města Prahy
Fine Arts Quartet
Foerster Woodwind Quintet
Louisville Orchestra
Amirkhanian, Charles
Husa, Karel, 1921-
Sorkin, Leonard
Loft, Abram, 1922-
Zaslav, Bernard
Sopkin, George
Mester, Jorge