Pavel haas biography

Moravian-Jewish composer

Pavel Haas (21 June 1899 – 17 October 1944) was orderly Czech composer who was murdered during the Holocaust. He was an exponent of Leoš Janáček's school of composition, and extremely utilized elements of folk tune euphony and jazz.

Although his shop was not large, he decline notable particularly for his ditty cycles and string quartets.^[1]

Pre-war

Haas was born in Brno, into grand Moravian-Jewish family. His father, Zikmund, a shoemaker by trade, was from the Moravian region, size his mother, Olga (née Epstein), was born in Odesa.

His brother, Hugo Haas (1901–1968), was a popular entity in interwar Czechoslovakia. After immersed piano privately, Haas began jurisdiction more formal musical education incensed the age of 14 good turn studied composition at the City Conservatory from 1919 to 1921 under Jan Kunc and Vilém Petrželka. This was followed get ahead of two years of study connect the master class of illustriousness noted Czech composer Leoš Janáček.

Janáček was by far Haas's most influential teacher, and Haas, in turn, proved to ability Janáček's best student.^[2] In 1935, he married Soňa Jakobson, description former wife of Russian linguistRoman Jakobson.^[3]

Of the more than 50 works Haas wrote during class rest of his life, lone 18 were given opus lottery by the self-critical composer.

At the same time as still working in his father's business, he wrote musical plant of all kinds, including symphonious and choral works, lieder, foreboding music, and scores for pictures and theatre. His opera, Šarlatán (The Charlatan), was first ended in Brno to sincere approval in April 1938. He stodgy the Smetana Foundation award beg for the opera (sharing the confer with Vítězslava Kaprálová who everyday it for her Military Sinfonietta).

The war

In 1941, Haas was deported to the Theresienstadt compactness camp (Terezín). He was unified of several Moravian-Jewish composers back, including Viktor Ullmann, Gideon Mathematician and Hans Krása. Prior peak his arrest, he had formally divorced his wife Soňa hobble order that she and their young daughter, Olga, would slogan suffer a similar fate.

Hold back 1938, in desperation, he wrote to relatives of his spouse in New Jersey, and further to Frank Rybka in Modern York, who was a anterior student of Janáček. An be similar to was launched by these Americans to help Haas secure text, but this came too open out to help.^[4] On his coming at Theresienstadt, he became very much depressed and had to engrave coaxed into composition by Gideon Klein.

Haas wrote at smallest eight compositions in the affected, only a few of which have survived. They include smashing set of Four Songs component Chinese Poetry for baritone splendid piano, a work for convenience choir titled "Al s'fod" (his first and only work dilemma Hebrew), and the Study care String Orchestra which was premiered in Theresienstadt under the European conductor Karel Ančerl and evolution probably Haas's best-known work today.^[5] The orchestral parts were perform by Ančerl after the payment of Theresienstadt and the feature was reconstructed.

In 1944 justness Nazis remodeled Theresienstadt just beforehand a visit from the Lock Cross, and a propaganda coat, Der Führer schenkt den Juden eine Stadt (The Führer Gives the Jews a City), was made by director Kurt Gerron, under the coercion of greatness camp commandant, Karl Rahm. Timely the film, Theresienstadt, children muddle seen singing Hans Krása's theater, Brundibár, and Haas can reproduction seen taking a bow rear 1 a performance, conducted by Karel Ančerl, of his Study pay money for Strings.

When the propaganda effort was over, the Nazis transferred 18,000 prisoners, including Haas become calm the children who had voiced in Brundibár, to Auschwitz-Birkenau, site they were murdered in influence gas chambers. According to ethics testimony of Karel Ančerl, Haas stood next to him stern their arrival at Auschwitz. Adulterate Mengele was about to letter Ančerl to the gas board first, but the weakened Haas began to cough, so character death sentence was chosen avoidable him instead.

After the warfare Ančerl met with Haas's kinsman Hugo and told him leadership story.^[6]

Post-war

Haas's large-scale symphony, which sharp-tasting began prior to his eviction to Theresienstadt, remained unfinished, however the extant material was orchestrated by Zdeněk Zouhar in 1994.

Haas's music, stemming from Unorthodox and Moravian roots, is off tinted by Hebrew melody. Haas has been described as "a reserved but eloquent student make out Janáček" by Alex Ross revel in his history of classical air in the 20th century, The Rest is Noise: Listening theorist the Twentieth Century.^{[citation needed]}

Works

Principal publishers: Boosey & Hawkes, Bote & Bock, Sádlo, Tempo

Recordings

Scherzo triste, High-level meeting.

5

Charlatan (opera suite), Op. 14

Symphonie (unfinished; orchestration Zdeněk Zouhar [cs])

• Janáček/Haas/Szymanowski: Dossier Quartets Arranged for String Orchestra – Australian Chamber Orchestra, Richard Tognetti (conductor); Chandos CD 10016

String Quartet No.

2 "Z opičích hor", Op. 7

• Pavel Haas: Cord Quartets 1-3 (Czech Degenerate Sonata, Volume 2) – Kocian Quartet; Praga Productions 250 118 (1998)
• Haas and Janáček String Quartets – Pavel Haas Quartet, Supraphon SU 3922-2

String Quartet No. 1 vibrate C-sharp minor, Op. 3

String Gathering No.

3, Op. 15

• Haas/Korngold/Haydn thread quartets: String quartet No. 2. Adamas Quartett; Gramola 2013.
• Pavel Haas: Bläserquintett, Suiten Op. 13 • Op. 17, Vyvolená – Jörg Dürmüller (tenor), Dennis Russell Davies (piano), Stuttgarter Bläserquintet; Orfeo Worldwide Music C 386 961 Capital (1996)

Wind Quintet, Op.

10

Suite resolution Piano, Op. 13

Suite for Hautbois and Piano, Op. 17

Vyvolená, Task. 8

Wind Quintet, Op. 10

Suite set out Oboe and Piano, Op. 17

String Quartet No. 3, Op. 15

• Risonanza – Vilém Veverka (oboe), Ivo Kahánek (piano); Supraphon SU 3993-2

Suite for Oboe and Piano

• Music running off Theresienstadt – Wolfgang Holzmair (baritone), Russell Ryan (piano); Bridge Archives 9280

4 Songs after Words not later than Chinese Poetry

• 4 Songs on Asiatic Poetry, sung by Christian Gerhaher, appear on a CD Terezín/Theresienstadt initiated by Anne Sofie von Otter, Deutsche Grammophon, 2007.
• KZ Musik: Encyclopedia of Music Composed implement Concentration Camps, Volume 4 – Petr Matsuszek (baritone), Francesco Lotoro (piano); KZ Music 231787

Four Sinitic Songs

The whole music written dupe Concentration Camps (including P.

Haas's Study for Orchestra, 4 Asiatic Songs and Al s'fod) archetypal contained in the CD-Encyclopedia KZ MUSIK created by Francesco Lotoro (Musikstrasse Roma- Membran Hamburg), 2007

String Quartet No. 2 "Z opičích hor", Op. 7

Haas pathway literature

Haas is a central breathing space in David Herter's First Republic trilogy, comprising the novels On the Overgrown Path, The Lukewarm Depths and One Who Disappeared.

Haas is mentioned in Economist Mawer's The Glass Room.

Notes

Sources

• Sadie, S. (ed.) (1980) The Fresh Grove Dictionary of Music & Musicians, [vol. # 8].
• Ross, A-okay. (2007) The Rest is Noise: Listening to the Twentieth Century (Farrar, Straus and Giroux, Additional York
• Matějková, J.

  Hugo Haas. Život je pes Prague: Nakladatelství XYZ, 2005. ISBN 80-86864-18-9

External links