Pavel Haas

Pavel Haas (21 June 1899 – 17 October 1944) was a Czech composer who perished in the Holocaust. He belongs to the important representatives of the Leoš Janáček´s compositional school. In his compositions he used also the elements of the folk music and jazz. Although his output isn't very volumnious, he is notable particularly for his song cycles and string quartets.

Pre-war

Haas was born in Brno, into a Jewish family. His father Zikmund was a shoemaker by trade, mother Olga (née Epstein) was of Russian origin (born in Odessa). Haas began his formal musical education there at the age of 14. He studied composition at the Conservatory from 1919 to 1921 under Jan Kunc and Vilém Petrželka. This was followed by two years of study in the master class of the composer Leoš Janáček. Janáček was far and away Haas' most influential teacher and Haas, in turn, proved to be Janáček's foremost student. In 1935 he married Soňa Jakobson, former wife of Russian linguist Roman Jakobson.

Of the more than 50 works written during the next 20 years or so, only 18 were given opus numbers by the self-critical composer himself. While still working in his father's business, he wrote musical works of all kinds, including symphonic and choral works, lieder, chamber music, scores for cinema and theatre and the opera Šarlatán (The Charlatan), first performed in Brno to great acclaim in April 1938.

The war

In 1941, Haas was deported to the concentration camp of Theresienstadt (Terezín). He was one of several Czech-Jewish composers there, including Viktor Ullmann, Gideon Klein and Hans Krása. Prior to his arrest, he had officially divorced his wife Soňa in order that she and their young daughter would not suffer a similar fate. On his arrival, he became very depressed and had to be coaxed into composition by Gideon Klein. However, Haas wrote at least eight compositions in the camp, unfortunately only a few of which have survived. They include a set of Four Songs on Chinese Poetry for baritone and piano and the Study for String Orchestra which was premiered in Theresienstadt under the Czech conductor Karel Ančerl and is probably Haas' best-known work today. The orchestral parts was found by Ančerl after the liberation of Theresienstadt and the score reconstructed.

In 1944 the Nazis remodeled Theresienstadt just before a visit from the Red Cross and a propaganda film was made. In the film Theresienstadt, children are seen singing Krása's opera Brundibar and Haas can be seen taking a bow after the performance of his Study for Strings. When the propaganda project was over, the Nazis transferred 18,000 prisoners, including Haas and the children who had sung in Brundibar, to Auschwitz-Birkenau where they were murdered in the gas chambers. According to the testimony of Karel Ančerl, Haas stood next to him after the arrival at Auschwitz. Dr. Mengele was about to send Ančerl to the gas chamber first, but weakened Haas began to cough and the death sentence was therefore chosen for him. After the war Ančerl met with Haas' brother Hugo and told him the story.

Post-war

Haas' large-scale symphony, which he began prior to his deportation to Theresienstadt, remained unfinished, but the surviving torso was orchestrated by Zdeněk Zouhar in 1994. Haas's music, stemming from Bohemian and Moravian roots, is sometimes tinted by Hebrew melody.

Haas has been described as "a reserved but eloquent student of Janáček" by Alex Ross in his history of classical music in the 20th century, The Rest is Noise: Listening to the Twentieth Century.

His brother Hugo Haas (1901–1968) was popular actor in pre-war Czechoslovakia.

Works

Principal publishers: Bote & Bock / Tempo / Boosey & Hawkes / Sádlo

Opus	Date	Czech Title	English Title	Remarks
1	1918–1919	Šest písní v lidovém tónu	Six Songs in Folk Tone	for soprano and piano; orchestrated 1938
2	1919–1920	Tři písně	Three Songs	for soprano and piano; words by Josef Svatopluk Machar
3	1920	Smyčcový kvartet č.1	String Quartet No.1 in C♯ Minor
4	1919	Čínské písně	Chinese Songs	for alto and piano; words by Kao Shi, Tsui Hao, Thu Fu
5	1921	Zesmutnělé scherzo	Scherzo triste	for orchestra
6	1923	„Fata morgana“ Klavírní kvintet se sólovým zpěvákem tenorového hlasu	"Fata morgana"	for piano quintet with tenor solo; words by Rabindranath Tagore
7	1925	Smyčcový kvartet č.2 „Z opičích hor“	String Quartet No.2 "From the Monkey Mountains"
8	1927	Vyvolená	The Chosen One	for tenor, flute, horn, violin and piano; poems by Jiří Wolker
9	1928–1929	Karneval	Carnival	for male chorus; words by Dalibor Chalupa
10	1929	Dechový kvintet	Wind Quintet
11	1931	Předehra pro rozhlas	Overture for Radio	for orchestra
12	1932	Žalm 29	Psalm XXIX	for baritone, female chorus and chamber orchestra with organ
–	1933	Život je pes	Life Is a Dog	music for the film
–	1934	Mazlíček	The Little Pet	music for the film
13	1935	Suita pro klavír	Suite for Piano
14	1936	Šarlatán	The Charlatan	opera in 3 acts; libretto by the composer
–	1937	Kvočna	Mother-Hen	music for the film
–	1937	Allegro moderato	Allegro moderato	for piano
15	1937–1938	Smyčcový kvartet č.3	String Quartet No.3
16
17	1939	Suita pro hoboj a klavír	Suite for Oboe and Piano
18	1940	Sedm písní v lidovém tónu	7 Songs in Folk Style	for high voice and piano; words by František Čelakovský
–	1940–1941	Symfonie	Symphony	for orchestra; unfinished; orchestration completed by Zdeněk Zouhar
–	1942	Al s'fod	Do Not Lament	for male chorus; words by David Shimoni
–	1943	Studie pro smyčcový orchestr	Study for String Orchestra
–	1944	Čtyři písně na slova čínské poezie    1. Zaslech jsem divoké husy    2. V bambusovém háji    3. Daleko měsíc je domova    4. Probděná noc	4 Songs on Chinese Poetry    1. I Heard the Wild Geese    2. In the Bamboo Grove    3. The Moon Is Far from Home    4. A Sleepless Night	poems by Wei Jing-wu, Wang-wei, Tchang Tiou-ling, Han I
–			The Advent	for mezzo-soprano, tenor and quintet
–			Fantasy on a Jewish Melody
–			Partita in Olden Style	for piano; lost
–			Terezín Songs
–		Tři skladby	Three Pieces	for mezzo-soprano, tenor, flute, clarinet and string quartet; lost
–		Variace pro klavír a smyčcový orchestr	Variations for Piano and String Orchestra

Sources

• Sadie, S. (ed.) (1980) The New Grove Dictionary of Music & Musicians, [vol. # 8].
• Ross, A. (2007) The Rest is Noise: Listening to the Twentieth Century (Farrar, Straus and Giroux, New York
• Matějková, J. Hugo Haas. Život je pes Prague: Nakladatelství XYZ, 2005. ISBN 80-86864-18-9

External links

• Free scores by Pavel Haas at the International Music Score Library Project (IMSLP)
• Pavel Haas at the Czech Music Information Centre.
• Pavel Haas, a brief biographical entry on the Boosey and Hawkes site
• Comprehensive discography of Terezin Composers by Claude Torres
• Music and the Holocaust - Pavel Haas