Ithaca College

Renowned composer Karel Husa dies, Wednesday, 14 December

Sad News from the Schol of Music

Contributed by Mark A. Radice, Curator, Karel Husa Archive & Gallery for Contemporary Music

Musicians in the Ithaca College community and around the world are saddened by the death on Wednesday, 14 December of Karel Husa (7 August 1921–14 December 2016).Husa emigrated via France from Czechoslovakia and settled in Ithaca in 1954. In 1967, he was appointed Lecturer in Composition at the Ithaca College School of Music, where he taught composition until his retirement from IC in 1986. Husa worked with IC students and faculty in the most gentle and supportive manner. His music has been performed by major ensembles around the world. Particularly well known are his scores of Music for Prague 1968 (two versions: wind ensemble, 1969; orchestra, 1970), which was commissioned by the Ithaca College School of Music,  and his Third String Quartet (1968), which won the Pulitzer Prize in 1969. Writing of Husa’s music in Baker’s Biographical Dictionary (8th ed., 1992), Nicolas Slonimsky noted that “his music is oxygenated by humanistic Romanticism; as a result, it gains numerous performances.” At the time of his death, Husa was surrounded by his wife, four daughters and three grandchildren.

I know that the entire musical community and the Ithaca College community join with me in mourning the loss of this distinguished colleague, gentle friend, and humble man. We extend our sincere condolences to Karel’s wife Simone and to his family.