Karel Husa - CD

This CD presents music by Karel Husa performed by the Belfiato Quintet, whose exploration of the composer’s remarkable work follows earlier recordings devoted to Music for Prague and clarinettist Anna Paulová. Husa, a recipient of the Pulitzer and Grawemeyer awards and one of the most prominent figures in 20th-century Czech music, studied in Paris with Nadia Boulanger and Arthur Honegger before settling abroad after the 1948 February coup. He spent most of his life at Cornell University in the United States, though he never forgot his homeland. The recording includes the colourful Serenade for Wind Quintet, Strings, Harp and Xylophone, inspired by his earlier Slovakian Evocations; Five Poems for Wind Quintet, reflecting his admiration for birds and employing microtones and aleatoric techniques; and Recollections for Wind Quintet and Piano, which explores memory through simple tones and constantly changing combinations and sounds. Prague Philharmonia, conducted by Emmanuel Villaume, joins the quintet in the Serenade, while the Recollections features pianist Matouš Zukal. The programme is in English and includes works composed between 1963 and 1994.