Hans Krása (30 November 1899 – 17 October 1944) was a

Czech Czech may refer to: * Anything from or related to the Czech Republic, a country in Europe ** Czech language ** Czechs, the people of the area ** Czech culture ** Czech cuisine * One of three mythical brothers, Lech, Czech, and Rus *Czech (surnam ...

composer A composer is a person who writes music. The term is especially used to indicate composers of Western classical music, or those who are composers by occupation. Many composers are, or were, also skilled performers of music. Etymology and def ...

. He was killed during

the Holocaust The Holocaust (), known in Hebrew language, Hebrew as the (), was the genocide of History of the Jews in Europe, European Jews during World War II. From 1941 to 1945, Nazi Germany and Collaboration with Nazi Germany and Fascist Italy ...

Auschwitz-Birkenau Auschwitz, or Oświęcim, was a complex of over 40 Nazi concentration camps, concentration and extermination camps operated by Nazi Germany in Polish areas annexed by Nazi Germany, occupied Poland (in a portion annexed into Germany in 1939) d ...

. He helped to organize cultural life in

Theresienstadt concentration camp Theresienstadt Ghetto was established by the SS during World War II in the fortress town of Terezín, in the Protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia ( German-occupied Czechoslovakia). Theresienstadt served as a waystation to the extermination c ...

Life

Hans Krása was born in Prague to the German Anna (Steiner) and Karl Krása, a Czech lawyer. Both were

Jewish Jews (, , ), or the Jewish people, are an ethnoreligious group and nation, originating from the Israelites of History of ancient Israel and Judah, ancient Israel and Judah. They also traditionally adhere to Judaism. Jewish ethnicity, rel ...

. He studied both the

piano A piano is a keyboard instrument that produces sound when its keys are depressed, activating an Action (music), action mechanism where hammers strike String (music), strings. Modern pianos have a row of 88 black and white keys, tuned to a c ...

and

violin The violin, sometimes referred to as a fiddle, is a wooden chordophone, and is the smallest, and thus highest-pitched instrument (soprano) in regular use in the violin family. Smaller violin-type instruments exist, including the violino picc ...

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 A (; from the French verb meaning 'to repeat, to go over, to learn, to rehearse') is an accompanist, tutor or coach of ballet dancers or opera singers. The feminine form is . Opera In opera, a is the person responsible for coaching singers ...

at the Neues Deutsches Theater, where he met the composer and conductor

Alexander von Zemlinsky Alexander Zemlinsky or Alexander von Zemlinsky (14 October 1871 – 15 March 1942) was an Austrian composer, conductor, and teacher. Biography Early life Zemlinsky was born in Vienna to a highly diverse family. Zemlinsky's grandfather, Anton ...

, who had a major influence on Krása's career. In 1927 he followed Zemlinsky to Berlin, where he was introduced to

Albert Roussel Albert Charles Paul Marie Roussel (; 5 April 1869 – 23 August 1937) was a French composer. He spent seven years as a midshipman, turned to music as an adult, and became one of the most prominent French composers of the interwar period. His ...

. Krása, whose primary influences were

Mahler Gustav Mahler (; 7 July 1860 – 18 May 1911) was an Austro-Bohemian Romantic composer, and one of the leading conductors of his generation. As a composer he acted as a bridge between the 19th-century Austro-German tradition and the modernism ...

, Schoenberg and Zemlinsky, also felt an affinity with French music, especially the group of composers known as ''

Les Six "Les Six" () is a name given to a group of six composers, five of them French and one Swiss, who lived and worked in Montparnasse. The name has its origins in two 1920 articles by critic Henri Collet in '' Comœdia'' (see Bibliography). Their mu ...

'' and made a number of trips to France to study under Roussel while 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'', Op. 1, based on the ''Galgenlieder'' (Gallows Songs) of

Christian Morgenstern Christian Otto Josef Wolfgang Morgenstern (6 May 1871 – 31 March 1914) was a German writer and poet from Munich. Morgenstern married Margareta Gosebruch von Liechtenstern on 7 March 1910. He worked for a while as a journalist in Berlin ...

. 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

Zürich Zurich (; ) is the list of cities in Switzerland, largest city in Switzerland and the capital of the canton of Zurich. It is in north-central Switzerland, at the northwestern tip of Lake Zurich. , the municipality had 448,664 inhabitants. The ...

, Paris and

Boston Boston is the capital and most populous city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Massachusetts in the United States. The city serves as the cultural and Financial centre, financial center of New England, a region of the Northeas ...

. His major achievement, however, was the opera '' Verlobung im Traum'' (''Betrothal in a Dream'') after the novel ''Uncle's Dream'' by

Dostoyevsky Fyodor Mikhailovich Dostoevsky. () was a Russian novelist, short story writer, essayist and journalist. He is regarded as one of the greatest novelists in both Russian and world literature, and many of his works are considered highly influenti ...

. This work was first performed at the Neues Deutsches Theater in Prague in 1933 under Georg Szell and was awarded the Czechoslovak State Prize. '' Brundibár'', a children's opera based on a play by

Aristophanes Aristophanes (; ; ) was an Ancient Greece, Ancient Greek Ancient Greek comedy, comic playwright from Classical Athens, Athens. He wrote in total forty plays, of which eleven survive virtually complete today. The majority of his surviving play ...

, was the last work Krása completed before he was arrested by the

Nazis Nazism (), formally named National Socialism (NS; , ), is the far-right politics, far-right Totalitarianism, totalitarian socio-political ideology and practices associated with Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party (NSDAP) in Germany. During H ...

on 10 August 1942. Krása was sent to the

Theresienstadt ghetto Theresienstadt Ghetto was established by the SS during World War II in the fortress town of Terezín, in the Protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia ( German-occupied Czechoslovakia). Theresienstadt served as a waystation to the extermination c ...

where he reworked ''Brundibár'' with the available cast “and scattered salt of staging”, who then performed it 55 times in the camp, with excerpts featured in the

propaganda film A propaganda film is a film that involves some form of propaganda. Propaganda films spread and promote certain ideas that are usually religious, political, or cultural in nature. A propaganda film is made with the intent that the viewer will ad ...

made for the

Red Cross The organized International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement is a Humanitarianism, humanitarian movement with approximately 16million volunteering, volunteers, members, and staff worldwide. It was founded to protect human life and health, to ...

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,'' although, due to the circumstances, some of these have not survived. He also contributed to the musical culture of Theresienstadt as a pianist, accompanist, and conductor.

Death

Along with fellow composers

Viktor Ullmann Viktor Ullmann (1 January 1898 – 18 October 1944) was a Silesia-born Austrian composer, conductor and pianist. Biography Viktor Ullmann was born on 1 January 1898 in Cieszyn (Teschen), which belonged then to Austrian Silesia in the Austro- ...

Pavel Haas Pavel Haas (21 June 189917 October 1944) was a Czech composer who was murdered during the Holocaust. He was an exponent of Leoš Janáček's school of composition, and also utilized elements of folk music and jazz. Although his output was not l ...

and Gideon Klein, Krása was taken to

Auschwitz Auschwitz, or Oświęcim, was a complex of over 40 concentration and extermination camps operated by Nazi Germany in occupied Poland (in a portion annexed into Germany in 1939) during World War II and the Holocaust. It consisted of Auschw ...

. He was murdered on 17 October 1944.

Works

* 4 Orchesterlieder, Op. 1 (1920) (text by

) * String Quartet, Op. 2 (1921) * ''Symphonie für kleines Orchester'' (1923) * 5 Lieder, Op. 4, for voice and piano (1925) (text by

Rainer Maria Rilke René Karl Wilhelm Johann Josef Maria Rilke (4 December 1875 – 29 December 1926), known as Rainer Maria Rilke, was an Austrian poet and novelist. Acclaimed as an Idiosyncrasy, idiosyncratic and expressive poet, he is widely recognized as ...

Catullus Gaius Valerius Catullus (; ), known as Catullus (), was a Latin neoteric poet of the late Roman Republic. His surviving works remain widely read due to their popularity as teaching tools and because of their personal or sexual themes. Life ...

, Christian Morgenstern) * '' Verlobung im Traum'' (''Betrothal in a Dream'') (1928–30), opera in two acts after the novel ''Uncle's Dream'' by Feodor 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 Jean Nicolas Arthur Rimbaud (, ; ; 20 October 1854 – 10 November 1891) was a French poet known for his transgressive and surreal themes and for his influence on modern literature and arts, prefiguring surrealism. Born in Charleville, he s ...

) * Overture for small orchestra (1943) * ''Tanec'', dance for string trio (1944) * Passacaglia and Fugue for string trio (1944)

Recordings

His Three Songs after poems by

, ''Čtyřverší'', ''Vzrušení'' and ''Přátelé'', sung by

Christian Gerhaher Christian Gerhaher (born 24 July 1969, in Straubing) is a German baritone and bass singer in opera and concert, particularly known as a Lieder singer. Career Christian Gerhaher studied with Paul Kuën and Raimund Grumbach at the Hochschule ...

, appear on the CD ''Terezín - Theresienstadt '' initiated by

Anne Sofie von Otter Anne Sofie von Otter (born 9 May 1955) is a Swedish mezzo-soprano. Her repertoire encompasses lieder, operas, oratorios and also rock and pop songs. Early life Von Otter was born in Stockholm, Sweden. Her father was Göran von Otter, a Swedi ...

, Deutsche Grammophon, 2007. His String Quartet appears on ''

and Hans Krása: String Quartets'', performed by the Hawthorne String Quartet as part of the

Decca Decca may refer to: Music * Decca Records or Decca Music Group, record label * Decca Gold, classical music record label owned by Universal Music Group * Decca Broadway, musical theater record label * Decca Studios, recording facility in West ...

series, ''Entartete Musik'', label: Decca 440 853–2. 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 The Deutsches Symphonie-Orchester Berlin (DSO) is a German broadcast orchestra based in Berlin. The orchestra An orchestra (; ) is a large instrumental ensemble typical of classical music, which combines instruments from different families ...

conducted by Lothar Zagrosek and

Vladimir Ashkenazy Vladimir Davidovich Ashkenazy (, ''Vladimir Davidovich Ashkenazi''; born 6 July 1937) is a Soviet-born Icelandic pianist, chamber music performer, and conductor. Ashkenazy has collaborated with well-known orchestras and soloists. In addition, ...

respectively, label: Decca 455 587–2.Bates, Pete
"Krása - Verlobung im Traum, Symphonie"
''Classical Net Review'' Retrieved 1 March 2014.

References

External links