Hrušovský, Ivan

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Hrušovský, Ivan

Hrušovský, Ivan, Slovak composer and musicologist; b. Bratislava, Feb. 23, 1927. After training at the Zilina Music School, he studied composition with A. Moyzes at the Bratislava Cons. (1947–52), continuing under his tutelage at the Bratislava Academv of Music and Drama (graduated, 1957); he also pursued training in musicology, philosophy, and aesthetics at the Comenius Univ. in Bratislava (1947–52). He later completed postgraduate studies with his thesis on the genesis of Cikker’s musical thinking (1965–66), and his Habilitation with his thesis on the development of Slovak music, 1939-48 (1967). After working at the Inst. of Musicology at the Slovak Academy of Sciences in Bratislava (1952–53), he taught at the Bratislava Academy of Music and Drama from 1953, becoming assoc. prof. of musicology in 1968 and prof, of composition in 1984. In 1990 he joined the faculty of the Matej Bel Univ. in Banskâ Bystrica as a teacher of music theory. In 1976 and 1986 he won the Union of Slovak Composers Prize, and in 1988 was made a Meritorious Artist of Slovakia. Among his writings are Uvod do étudia teorie harmonie (Introduction to the Study of Harmony; Bratislava, 1960; 2^nd ed., 1972), Slovenskâ hudba ν profiloch a rozboroch (Slovak Music in Portraits and Analyses; Bratislava, 1964), and Antonin Dvorak (Bratislava, 1964). In his compositions, he makes effective utilization of the entire gamut of contemporary musical expression.

Works

ORCH.: Pastoral Suite for Small Orch. (1955); Piano Concerto (1957); Tatra Poem (1960); Concertante Overture for Strings (1963); Passacaglia (1966); Musica nocturna per archi (1970); Confrontations (1979); Suita quasi una fantasia for Chamber String Orch. (1980); Little Romance for Chamber String Orch. (1986); Music for V Hloznik, symphonic fresco (1986); Noble Dances ofLevoca, suite for Chamber String Orch. (1987); 2 syms: No. 1 for Strings (1988) and No. 2, Remembrance, for Chamber Orch. and Piano (1995–96). CHAMBER: Suita piccola for Cello and Piano (1963); Combinazioni sonoriche per 9, nonet for Flute, Oboe, Bass Clarinet, Trumpet, Vibraphone, Piano, Violin, Viola, and Cello (1963); Sonata for Solo Violin (1969); 3 Canons for Violin and Harpsichord (1980); Dialoghi in ritmo for Organ and Percussion (1982); 3 string quartets (1983, 1990, 1995); Musica rustica for Flute (1984); Septetino for Flute, Clarinet, Bassoon, Horn, Violin, Viola, and Cello (1987). keyboard: piano: 2 sonatas (1965, 1968); Toccata chromatica (1970); Fantasia, Introduction, and Fugue in the Old Style for Piano, 4-Hands (1986); Suite for 2 Pianos (1986; also for Piano, 4-Hands). harpsichord:Sonata in modo classico (1977); Suite of Old Dances from the Levoöa Collection (1978). VOCAL: Against Death, cantata trilogy: 1, Hiroshima for Reciter, Soprano, Baritone, Chorus, and Orch. (1961–65); 2, White Birch, Sister of Mine…for Mezzo-soprano and Women’s Chorus (1961); and 3, Dream about a Man for Reciter, Soprano, Chorus, and Orch. (1964); Madrigal Sonata for Chorus (1974); Odes for 3 Choruses (1975); Canti for Chamber Choruses (1978); That Love, cantata for Mezzo-soprano and Chorus (1984); Canticum pro pace, oratorio for Reciter, Mezzo-soprano, Bass, Chorus, and Orch. (1985); Cantus de cantate for Chorus and Piano or Organ (1990); Psalm 120 for Chorus (1996); other choral works; many song cycles. electroacoustic:Invocation (1973); Idée fixe (1976).