MUSIC FOR PRAGUE 1968

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CZECH COMPOSER KAREL HUSA WROTE THIS EPIC 4 MOVEMENT PIECE SOON AFTER THE SOVIET UNION INVADED HIS HOME COUNTRY OF CZECHOSLOVAKIA, IN SPRING 1968. DEEPLY MOVED, HE WROTE THIS TO MEMORIALIZE THE EVENTS. PERFORMED BY THE TEXAS ALL STATE SYMPHONIC BAND.

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Symphonic Band Performances

Contemporary band compositions, classical music arrangements, marches, jazz, symphonies, overtures. A collection from bands that I have played in throughout hi

Hello and welcome! "Symphonic Band Performances" is a compilation of recordings from several high school and college bands that I played in including the TMEA (Texas) All State Band, the TMEA Region X All Region Band, the Interlochen Arts Academy National Music Camp, the Cal Poly Tech Band, San Luis Obispo, the USAF Golden West Band, and recordings from my h.s. band, Beaumont H.S. and a few band recordings that were passed down to me. Also included are various All State groups and college and university bands. I participated and played in the large majority of these recordings. There are no professional recordings here and every recording is Public Domain. Most are available for free download. Each song has been converted from the original analog or digital source and edited with Audacity or Dak software. In the majority of these recordings, I play the tenor sax or alto sax, b flat or e flat clarinet, or directing. I was drum major for 2 years in high school, I have a BA from Cal Poly, San Luis Obispo, where I studied music ed, composition and theory. I had about 500 more recordings I was planning to digitize and upload, but this past Nov. 20th, my home was completely destroyed by fire, and all the contents, including all my music and instruments. So, this is it. Please feel free to post a comment here or on my member page. If you like, please become a fan by clicking "I'm a fan" below.

Song Info

Genre

Classical • Contemporary

Charts

Peak #1,273

Peak in subgenre #23

Rights

public domain

Uploaded

October 23, 2009

Track Files

MP3

MP3 29.8 MB • 192 kbps • 21:43

Story behind the song

This is performed by the 1990 TMEA (Texas) All State Symphonic Band.
 
The piece is in four movements:
Introduction and Fanfare
Aria
Interlude
Toccata and Chorale

Music for Prague 1968 is a programmatic work written by Czech-born composer Karel Husa for symphonic band and later transcribed for full orchestra, written shortly after the crushing of the Prague Spring reform movement in Czechoslovakia in 1968. Karel Husa was sitting on the dock at his cottage in America at the time, listening to the BBC broadcast of the events on the radio. He was deeply moved, and wrote Music for Prague 1968 to memorialize the events. This piece is a standard among wind ensemble repertoire.

From his cottage overlooking Cayuga Lake, Husa wrote the piece soon after the Soviet Union invaded his home country of Czechoslovakia. Music for Prague 1968 is the most widely performed piece in the Husa repertoire, but it has hardly been heard in the Czech Republic. The piece was banned by the Communist government and not heard in that country until the 1989 election of Vaclav Havel and the first non-Communist government in 40 years. That's when Husa returned to guest conduct the Czech Philharmonic Orchestra in a performance of the piece.

The composer usually asks that his own Foreword be reproduced in concert programs. It reads, in part, "Three main ideas bind the composition together. The first and most important is an old Hussite war song from the 15th century, 'Ye Warriors of God and His Law,' a symbol of resistance and hope for hundreds of years, whenever fate lay heavy on the Czech nation. It has been utilized by many Czech composers, including Smetana in My Country. The beginning of this religious song is announced very softly in the first movement by timpani and concludes in a strong unison Chorale. The song is never used in its entirety. The second idea is the sound of bells throughout; Prague, named also the City of Hundreds of Towers, has used its magnificently sounding church bells as calls of distress as well as of victory. The last idea is a motif of three chords first appearing very softly under the piccolo solo at the beginning of the piece, in flutes, clarinets, and horns. Later it appears at extremely strong dynamic levels, for example in the middle of the Aria movement. Much symbolism also appears: in addition to the distress calls in the first movement (Fanfares), the unbroken hope of the Hussite song, sound of bells, or the tragedy (Aria), there is also a bird call at the beginning (piccolo solo), symbol of the liberty which the city of Prague has seen only for moments during its thousand years of existence."