Pavel Haas

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Pavel Haas (born 21 June 1899 in Brno, died 17 October 1944 in the Concentration Camp of Auschwitz) was a Czech composer.

His formal musical education began at the age of 14 in Brno. He studied composition at the Conservatory from 1919 to 1921 under Jan Kunc and Vilém Petrželka, followed by two additional years of study at the school of Leoš Janáček.

Only 18 of his more than 50 works written during the following 20 years have been categorised by the self-criticizing musician himself. While still working in his father's business, he wrote musical pieces of all types, including symphonic and choral works, Lieder, Chamber Music, scores for cinema and theatre and the Opera Sarlátan.

He was deported to the Concentration Camp of Theresienstadt in 1941, and murdered in Auschwitz. His great Symphony remained unfinished until 1994, when it was instrumented by Zdeněk Zouhar in Haas' style. His Music, stemming from Bohemian and Moravian roots, is sometimes tinted by Hebrew melody. There is virtually nothing left from the at least eight compositions made while he was in the concentration camps.

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