Hans Krása: Difference between revisions

Hans Krása was born in [[Prague]], tothe son of Anna (Steiner) and Karl Krása, a Czechlawyer.<ref>{{Cite fatherbook|last=Taylor|first=Stephen|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=8CMfAQAAMAAJ&q=anna+steiner+Krasa|title=Who's who in Central and East-Europe|date=1935|publisher=Central European Times Publishing Company, Limited}}</ref> His father was a [[lawyer]],Czech Jew and ahis mother was German [[Jewish]] mother.{{citation needed|date=May 2012}} He studied both the [[piano]] and [[violin]] as a child and went on to study composition at the German Music Academy in Prague. After graduating, he went on to become a [[répétiteur]] at the [[Prague State Opera|Neues Deutsches Theater]], where he met the composer and conductor [[Alexander von Zemlinsky]], who had a major influence on Krása's career.

In 1927 he followed Zemlinsky to [[Berlin]], where he was introduced to [[Albert Roussel]]. Krása, whose primary influences were [[Gustav Mahler|Mahler]], [[Arnold Schoenberg|Schoenberg]] and Zemlinsky, also felt an affinity with French music, especially the group of composers known as ''[[Les Six]]'' and made a number of trips to [[France]] to study under Roussel whilstwhile he lived in Berlin. Krása eventually returned, homesick, to [[Prague]] to resume his old job as a répétiteur at the Neues Deutsches Theater. His debut as a composer came with his ''[[Four Orchestral Songs (Krasa)|Four Orchestral Songs]]'', opOp. 1, based on the ''Galgenlieder'' (Gallows Songs) of [[Christian Morgenstern]]. The work was first performed under Zemlinsky's direction in Prague in May 1921 and was widely acclaimed. There followed a string quartet, a set of five songs for voice and piano and his ''Symphonie für kleines Orchester'', which was performed in [[ZurichZürich]], [[Paris]] and [[Boston]]. His major achievement, however, was the opera ''[[Verlobung im Traum]]'' (''Betrothal in a Dream'') after the novel ''Uncle's Dream'' by [[Feodor Dostoyevsky|Dostoyevsky]]. This work was first performed at the [[Neues Deutsches Theater]] in [[Prague]] in 1933 under [[Georg Szell]] and was awarded the Czechoslovak State Prize. {{Citation needed|date=July 2013}}

''[[Brundibár]]'', a children's opera based on a play by [[Aristophanes]], was the last work Krása completed before he was arrested by the [[National Socialist German Workers Party|Nazis]] on 10 August 1942. Krása was sent to the [[Theresienstadt concentration camp|Theresienstadt ghetto]] where he reworked ''[[Brundibár]]'' forwith the available forcescast “and scattered salt of staging”, which waswho then performed it 55 times in the camp, andwith alsoexcerpts featuresfeatured in the [[Theresienstadt (film)|infamous propaganda film]] made for the [[Red Cross]] in 1944. While he was interned in the ghetto, Krása was at his most productive, producing a number of chamber works including ''Tans, Theme with Variations,'' and ''Pascaglia and Fugue,'' <ref name=":0">{{Cite book |last=Brown |first=Kellie D. |title=The sound of hope: Music as solace, resistance and salvation during the holocaust and world war II |publisher=McFarland |year=2020 |isbn=978-1-4766-7056-0 |pages=103}}</ref> although, due to the circumstances, some of these have not survived.{{Citation needed|date=July 2013}} He also contributed to the musical culture of Theresienstadt as a pianist, accompanist, and conductor.<ref name=":0" />

* ''[[Four Orchestral Songs (Krasa)|4 Orchesterlieder'' -]], opOp. 1 (1920) (text by [[Christian Morgenstern]])

* ''String Quartet'', - opOp. 2 (1921)

* ''5 Lieder, opOp. 4'' -, for voice and piano (1925) (text by [[Rainer Maria Rilke]], [[Catullus]], [[Christian Morgenstern|Morgenstern]])

* ''[[Verlobung im Traum]]'' (''Betrothal in a Dream'') (1928–30) -, opera in two acts after the novel ''Uncle's Dream'' by [[FyodorFeodor Dostoyevsky]]

* ''Die Erde ist des Herrn'' (''The Earth is the Lord's'') (1931) -, cantata for soloists, chorus and orchestra.

* ''Kammermusik'' - for harpsichord and seven instruments (1936)

* ''Theme and Variations'' - for string quartet (1936)

* ''[[Brundibár]]'' (1938–43) -, symbolic anti-Nazi opera

* ''Three Songs'' - for baritone, clarinet, viola and cello (1943) (text by [[Arthur Rimbaud]])

* ''Overture'' - for small orchestra (1943)

* ''Tanec'' -, dance for string trio (1944)

* ''Passacaglia and Fugue'' - for string trio (1944)<ref>''Universal Edition'', ''Boosey & Hawkes'', ''Bote & Bock'' (music publishers)</ref>

His ''Three Songs'' after poems by [[Arthur Rimbaud]], ''Čtyřverší'', ''Vzrušení'' and ''Přátelé'', sung by [[Christian Gerhaher]], appear on the CD ''Terezín - Theresienstadt '' initiated by [[Anne Sofie von Otter]], Deutsche Grammophon, 2007.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.cduniverse.com/search/xx/music/pid/7483636/a/Terezin+-+Theresienstadt.htm |title=Terezín - Theresienstadt |year=2010 | publisher = cduniverse.com | accessdateaccess-date = 9 December 2010}}</ref>

His ''String Quartet'' appears on ''[[Pavel Haas]] and Hans Krása: String Quartets'', performed by the [[Hawthorne String Quartet]] as part of the [[Decca Records|Decca]] series, ''Entartete Musik'', label: Decca 440 853-2853–2.<ref>Davis, Peter G. [httphttps://books.google.co.ukcom/books?id=yegCAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA82&dq=%22Hawthorne+string+quartet%22&hlpg=en&ei=RUP-TJK3FobNhAeqvrndCw&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=4&ved=0CEMQ6AEwAw#v=onepage&q=%22Hawthorne%20string%20quartet%22&f=falsePA82 "Hear No Evil"]. ''[[New York Magazine]]'' (June 9, 1997) pp. 82-83. Retrieved 7 December 2010.</ref> As part of the same series his opera ''Verlobung im Traum (Betrothal in a Dream)'' and ''Symphonie'' appeared in recordings by the [[Deutsches Symphonie-Orchester Berlin]] conducted by [[Lothar Zagrosek]] and [[Vladimir Ashkenazy]] respectively, label: Decca 455 587-2587–2.<ref>Bates, Peter [http://www.classical.net/music/recs/reviews/l/lon55587a.php "Krása - Verlobung im Traum, Symphonie"]. ''Classical Net Review'' Retrieved 1 March 2014.</ref>

* Karas, Joža. ''Music in Terezin: 1941-1945''. New York: Beaufort Books, 1985. {{ISBN |0-8253-0287-0}}.

* [https://web.archive.org/web/20090326061938/http://claudet.club.fr/Terezin/index.html Comprehensive discography of Terezin Composers] by Claude Torres

[[Category:Musicians20th-century fromclassical Praguecomposers]]

[[Category:Jewish20th-century classicalCzech composersmale musicians]]

[[Category:MaleJewish classical composers]]

[[Category:CzechComposers Jewsfrom Prague]]

[[Category:ComposersTheresienstadt whoGhetto died in Nazi concentration campsprisoners]]