Pavel Haas (1899-1944)

Pavel Haas (1899-1944)

Čtyři písně na slova čínské poezie (4 Songs on Chinese Poetry, 1944)

II. V bambusovém háji (In the Bamboo Grove)

Pavel Haas was one of several Czech composers sent to Terezín (Theresienstadt) during the Second World War. Prior to his imprisonment, Haas was an established composer in his native Brno, even bearing the nickname of "Janáček's most talented pupil."

In 1940, Haas and his wife, a non-Jew, separated so she could continue her profession as a doctor in order to support their young daughter. Haas was eventually sent to the Terezín Ghetto in 1941, where he remained until October 1944. He was then sent to Auschwitz, where he perished one day after his arrival.

Severe depression plagued Haas while at Terezín, but it was his friend and fellow composer Gideon Klein who encouraged him to write. One of his compositions included 4 Songs on Chinese Poetry -- a cycle filled with a longing for one's distant home.

The first, third, and fourth songs are somber. Haas displays his longing for home by repeating a motive found in the St. Wenceslas chorale, one of the oldest known Czech songs stemming from the 12th century. He also uses rhythmic and melodic elements commonly found in Moravian folk music, such as the use of syncopated rhythms.

In "V bambusovém háji," there is a sense of levity. The singer seems content to be completely alone in the bamboo grove, left to softly play their lute under a sickle moon.

Here is Christian Gerharer singing the entire Čtyři písně na slova čínské poezie. "V bambusovém háji" begins at 2:39.