Any piece you write, its like life.

Life just doesnt

go along and build smoothly to a crescendo, then
some big event happens and things just smoothly
go away. Things happen and theres tragedies and
catastrophes, people die and theres invasions
and murders, so never save a really great idea
you have for later in the piece.

Al Fresco
Karel Husa

Andrew Janes
Wind Literature,
Spring 2016

Karel Husa (b. 1921)

Born in Prague on 7 August 1921.
He studied composition and conducting in Prague at the
Academy of Music, as well as in Paris at the Paris
National Conservatory and the Ecole normale de
musique.
Teachers included Jaroslav Ridky, Arthur Honegger,
Nadia Boulanger and conductor Andre Cluytens.
Husas first international success came in 1950 (age 39),
when his1st String Quartetwas performed at the ISCM
Festival in Brussels.
In 1954, Husa was appointed to the faculty of Cornell
University, serving as Kappa Alpha Professor until his
retirement in 1992. He also later taught at Ithaca
College.
His works earned him numerous awards and acclaim
world-wide, with his most notable compositions being
theString Quartet No. 3, Music for Prague, 1968, and

Karel Husa (b. 1921)

In 1948, Husas career and life were changed forever when
his homeland of Czechoslovakia became a member nation
of the Soviet block.
In addition to his music being banned entirely, his passport was
revoked, and he was forbidden to return to his home country until
the demise of the Soviet Union in 1989. He faced considerable
heartbreak during this time when his mother died in 1955 and he
could not go home to attend her funeral.

In 1995, Husa was awarded the Czech Republics highest

civilian recognition, the State Medal of Merit, First Class, and
in 1998, he received the Medal of the City of Prague. An
American citizen since 1959, Karel Husa now lives and
works in North Carolina.

Al Fresco

Husa was approached about the commission of Al Fresco in

1974 with the intent it would premier in 1975.
Because of the limited time he had to write this piece, he
chose to base it on his orchestral work Fresque (1963),
which was based on another of his orchestral works entitled
Three Fresques (1947).
Both of these orchestral versions were heavily reliant on the
wind section, so it made sense that Husa would write the
third version for wind ensemble.
Roughly 11-12 minutes in length, Al Fresco does not have any
programmatic content, but the title certainly reflects Husas
admiration for the art of mural painting.
He states that he nearly attended the Prague painting
school, so the fact that he chose to reflect that appreciation
in Al fresco is not surprising.
It is titled Dramatic Overture for Concert Band on the original
manuscript. The title page contains a note dated 1974 that
reads final title Al Fresco, signed by Husa.

Instrumentation
Woodwinds
Piccolo
2 Flute 1
Xylohphone
2 Flute 2
Glockenspiel, Small
Oboe 1
large
Oboe 2
English Horn
Large gong,
E-flat Clarinet
drum
3 B-flat Clarinet 1
3 B-flat Clarinet 2
3 B-flat Clarinet 3
E-flat Alto Clarinet
B-flat Bass Clarinet
Bassoon 1
Bassoon 2
Contrabassoon
E-flat Alto Saxophone 1
E-flat Alto Saxophone 2
B-flat Tenor Saxophone

Brass
2 B-flat Trumpet 1
2 B-flat Trumpet 2

Percussion
1. Vibraphone
2. Marimba, Glockenspiel,

2 B-flat Trumpet 3

3. Snare Drum,

2 B-flat Trumpet 4

suspended cymbal, 2

F Horn 1
F Horn 2

crash cymbals
4. Large suspended cymbal,

F Horn 3

2 large crash cymbals, bass

F Horn 4
2 Trombone 1
Trombone 2
Trombone 3
2 Baritone
2 Tubas
2 String Bass (pref. 3-4)

Instrumentation

Symbols, Translations, & Terms

Perd.:
Perdendosi; dying away.
Echo tone:
Sotto voce; covered, faint, or distant tone.
Fastest flutter:
Fastest possible flutter tongue; ratchets up tension.
Ma sonoro/espressivo:
But resonant/expressive; often coupled with disjunct
lines/phrases to remind musicians to be musical.
Quasi gliss.:
Pseudo-gliss; as connected as possible.
Ancora:
again

Symbols, Translations, & Terms

Tempi & Meter

Tempos based on performance by the North Texas Wind
Symphony, under the direction of Eugene Migliaro Corporon

Molto Moderato, Quarter = 60-66, moving to 72 around m. 20

Allegro risoluto, Quarter = 126-132
m.212, Quarter = 120-126; tempo slows with low brass
entrance, in preparation for pseudo-improvisatory section to
come at m.219.
m.239, Quarter = 88-92
m.250, Quarter = 84

4/4
3/4 (one measure in introduction, four measures near end)

Formal Content

Harmonic Content
Tonally-derived, but serially developed.
Heavily chromatic; interval-centered rather than truly harmonically
centered.

Pitches unfolds chromatically in both directions out of the opening

C-sharp.
First fully-formed melodic fragment occurs in Tenor Sax in m. 13,
(beginning a step above the opening C-sharp): ascending minor third
followed by an ascending minor second.
In m. 17, the trumpet (a major third above the C-sharp) features a rising
major third following by a minor second.
The initial melodic fragment is further stretched out by the Clarinet and
Oboe entrances, featuring major thirds followed by major seconds upward,
and ending with a minor second descent.

Finally, after all this unfolding of intervals, the Flute presents the
primary motive of the piece: B down a major third to G, up a minor
third to Bb, up a major second to C.

Melodic Content & Features

All of the melodic ideas after the flutes initial presentation are
derived from the motives Husa used to construct the harmony of
Al Fresco at the beginning of the work.
As mentioned on the formal content slide, this piece is a
sectional composition.
Vigorous sections characterized by brilliant timbres, loud
dynamics, full scoring, and staccato rhythms.
Lyrical sections distinguished by mellow timbres, moderate
to soft dynamics, sparse scoring, and prolonged legato
melodies, usually as solos.
Only in the introduction and coda is there a feeling of rhythmic
stasis, resulting from a sustained pedal, a slower tempo, and
absence (or coda diminution of) of 8 th note motion that drives the
middle section(s).
Use of augmentations and retrograde statements, sometimes
more than one at a time.

Tension Technique, m. 25-37

Saxophone solo is in easily-carrying register of the instrument;
powerful and desperate timbre.
Duple against triple subdivision
High, prolonged sustain in trombone, suspended cymbal on
the dome (gnat in ear)
Textural trills of woodwinds gives way to invasion to swelling
hornets nests.
Rhythmic interjections by piano start in the background but
increase in dynamic and intensity for the remainder of the
introduction.
Imitation among marimba, horn, and vibraphone: dialogue of
all variations of initial melodic motives.
***Contextualization of all of this for the players is paramount.

Texture & Timbre

More specific in description of sound than articulation

markings.
Saxophones: reedy, harsh m. 82.
Dry sound in clarinets, m. 134.
Implying Senza vibrato, as opposed to naturale in m.
146.
Senza vibrato: primitive hollow sound, clarinets m.
158.
Varied and specified mallet choices for each percussive
keyboard instrument; motor on/off for vibraphone.
Mysterious vibrating sound m. 158, Damp hard
mallets m. 219.
Many different instructions for piano player: inside plucked,
cues, naturale, etc.
Variety of mute colors: harmon, str. fiber, str. metal mute.
Extensive use of glissandi in instruments that can fully
achieve (trombone) or partially achieve (keyboard); written

Dynamics & Articulation

As with many of Husas compositions, the dynamic range
of Al Fresco is extreme, ranging from ppp to fff.
Begins as it ends.
Dynamic quality largely related to the melodic quality of
the section at hand. (Lyrical being soft, vigorous being
loud).
Somewhat specific in articulation markings; as mentioned
before, Husa seems primarily concerned with the evocation
of emotion rather than the precise nature of its execution.
Most deployments in opening 37 measures are that of
tenutos, and used more for phrasing than articulation.
Accents appear to be more indicative of Husas style of
phrasing than the actual bar lines he uses. m.205.

Performance Considerations &

Special Instructions
Many covering parts written in to the score in case of a lack or
certain instruments; special instructions for available sonorities.
M. 99, m. 103; m. 280.

In Allegro risoluto section, the accompaniment is extremely

active, and should favor precision of articulation and placement
to presence in volume.
Clarinet 1 part: Lip pressure and release (notation
approximate). m. 272
Extended section of aleotoricism beginning in m. 219, marked
each player independently.
Moving in and out of improvised and written parts in a continuous
melodic line.

MICRO-TONALITY: first seen m.6.

Many prolonged solos of extensive range.

Program Note
Al Frescohas its roots in Karel Husas 1947 orchestral
work,Three Fresques for Orchestra, Op. 7.Because the first
movement was driven by extensive wind writing, Husa found the
perfect opportunity to reimagine the music for wind band upon
receiving a commission to compose a work for the Ithaca College
Concert Band. Fittingly, this keystone work was the first of the
heralded Walter Beeler Memorial Commissions. Husa conducted
the Ithaca College Concert Band in the world premiere of the work
in 1975 at the Music Educators National Conference in
Philadelphia.
Al Frescohas no programmatic content. However, the title
indicates my admiration for the art of painting, especially mural
painting on wet plaster. And I have always been greatly moved by
the forceful, even grandiose and rough, mysterious pictures
dealing with primitive life, war, and pageantry.
The composition has been commissioned for the Ithaca
College Concert Band as the first of the Walter Beeler Memorial
Commission Series. The first performance was given by the Ithaca
College Concert Band (Edward Gobrecht, director) at the MENC

Bibliography
Al Fresco: Karel Husa. The Wind Repertory
Project Website. Last modified 23 February 2016.
Web. Accessed 22 February 2016.
Kukieza, Nicole. Karel Husa: Coach, Musician, and
Human Being. Web. Accessed 22 February 2016.
White, Stewart Blackwell. Husas Al Fresco: An
Amazing Coherence. Scholarship Repository,
Honors Thesis. University of Richmond. Web.
Accessed 25 February 2016.