Ithaca College Wind Ensemble To Mark 40th Anniversary Of Karel Husa's 'Music For Prague 1968'

Keith Davis, 9/30/2009

ITHACA, NY — The Ithaca College Wind Ensemble will present a free concert featuring Karel Husa’s “Music for Prague 1968” on Tuesday, October 13. Conducted by Stephen Peterson, the performance will take place at 8:15 p.m. in Ford Hall in the James J. Whalen Center for Music. Originally premiered by the Ithaca College Concert Band 40 years ago under the baton of Kenneth Snapp, “Music for Prague 1968” has since become one of the most-performed works for wind ensemble worldwide. Also on the program is music by Bach, Bernstein and Dvorak.

Husa wrote his landmark work in late 1968 in response to the Soviet invasion of his homeland, Czechoslovakia, and on commission from Ithaca College. A reviewer from the “Ithaca Journal,” commenting on the Ithaca premiere, wrote, “Music as great as this should not be written about: one should only listen and be deeply moved.” In January 1969, some 5,000 people attended the official premiere by the concert band in Washington, D.C. The work was immediately banned in Czechoslovakia. However, 22 years later, after the fall of the communist government, Husa returned to Prague and triumphantly conducted a televised performance of the work.

“Music for Prague 1968” has been performed thousands of times by both wind ensembles and in its orchestral version. Husa, who taught composition at both Ithaca College and Cornell University, lived in Ithaca until very recently. He won the 1969 Pulitzer Prize for music with his third string quartet.

For more information, contact Erik Kibelsbeck, coordinator of facilities and publicity in the School of Music, at (607) 274-3717 or ekibelsbeck@ithaca.edu.