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Karel Husa (1921-2016)

Jan. 04, 2017

Karel Husa (1921-2016)

It is with great sadness that Schott Music notes the death of Czech-American composer and conductor Karel Husa. According to a statement from his family, Husa died at his home in Apex, North Carolina on December 14, 2016 at the age of 95.

Though the collaboration between Schott Music and Husa concentrated on his early compositions (most of his works created before 1960 were published by Schott), the close ties between Schott and Husa and the joint work on existing works extended well into the present.

Karel Husa was born in Prague on August 7, 1921. From 1941 to 1945, he studied composition and conducting at the Conservatoire of Prague and later at the Music Academy of Prague. From that period dates his first work Sona­tina which was published by Schott in 1943. In 1946 the French government awarded him a five-year scholarship which enabled him to continue his studies with Arthur Honegger and Nadia Bou­lan­ger in Paris.

In 1949, the new Communist regime in Prague declared his passport to be invalid. Upon invitation, he was able to leave for the USA in 1954 where he taught composition both at Cor­nell Uni­ver­sity and at Ithaca Col­lege in New York until 1992. It was particularly his work with student orchestras that demonstrated his major talent to create profound music which was not written exclusively to be performed by top ensembles.

For his compositional oeuvre Husa received worldwide recognition and numerous awards and prizes. He won the Pulitzer Prize for Music for his String Quartet No. 3 and the Grawemeyer Award for his Cello Concerto. His Music for Pra­gue 1968 has become a standard work in the contemporary repertoire. In 1995 Husa was awarded the highest Order of Merit of the Czech Republic and in 1998 the Order of the City of Prague.

For more information on Karel Husa, visit schott-music.com. 

You can find a full obituary for Karel Husa at The New York Times, as well as from Cornell University.

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