CZECH MUSIC AFTER 1945
Novák, Eben, Husa


Jan Novák (1921-1984)
¨Studied 1947 with Aaron Copland and Bohuslav Martinů in US, returned to Czechoslovakia on the 25th
of February 1948 (day of communist takeover).
¨After Soviet invasion in august 1968 emigrated (Denmark, Italy, Germany)
¨Examples:
¨Missa Philadelphiae (1952): for the wedding of composer´s brother
¨Oratorium Dido (1967): for mezzo, speaker, male choir and orchestra

Karel Husa (1921)
¨ American composer and conductor of Czech birth.
¨ In 1947 he studied with Arthur Honegger and Nadia Boulanger.
¨ In 1954 he joined the music faculty at Cornell University (he became an American citizen in
1959).
¨Music for Prague (1968)
¨

Petr Eben (1929-2007)
¨Composer and pianist, organ player.
¨Acknowledged mostly for his compositions for organ.
¨Number of church composiotions, often cites chant melodies or medieval hymns.
¨Te Deum for Prague 1989

Petr Eben
¨Music for me is not mainly something that sounds, but something that addresses people. I také it
not as something that creates acoustic space but as something that creates space for me and you.
For me music is an encounter. An encounter with the listener, a way of addressing them, a kind of
message, an encounter with God in prayer or praise. I am allways concerned with the addresse. I am
not only interested in how a tone sounds, but also how a tone is heard, not only what its timbre
is, but also how the timbre is perceived. A composition is not for me a deflated balloon but a
balloon thrown into the air and waiting for hands to catch it.

Music for films
¨Zdeněk Liška
¨http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dsdtn9jjth4
¨Luboš Fišer
¨http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1ROCrl5Aunc
¨Jan Novák
¨http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6xxk-pZyvbE&feature=related
¨