1862–1953 · United States
Henry Holden Huss (1862–1953) was an American composer, pianist and organist, born in Newark and died in New York. He studied in Munich with Josef Rheinberger and worked as a concert pianist. His barcarolle Lake Como by Moonlight was widely used in the studios of American teachers, and his piano concerto has been recorded in our own time.
Henry Holden Huss was born on 21 June 1862 in Newark. His father, Georg (George) Huss, a church organist and music teacher, had come to the United States from Germany and began teaching his son music in early childhood. The future composer grew up in New York City, in a family of German immigrants.
He studied with Otis Bardwell Boise and then continued his education in Munich.
Huss entered the Munich Conservatory. His mentors there were Josef Rheinberger and the pianist Josef Giehrl, who had studied with Franz Liszt. Among his fellow students in Munich were Arthur Whiting and Horatio Parker.
After finishing his studies, Huss returned to the United States. There he began a career as a concert pianist.
Critics judged Huss's playing in very different ways. In 1891 he took part in a concert of Tchaikovsky's music held for the composer's American tour. Huss played the piano part in the Piano Trio in A minor, and Tchaikovsky was very displeased with his playing.
During Huss's lifetime his music met with moderate success: in American musical life around the turn of the twentieth century, native composers had a modest place. The piano trio Op. 23, written in 1886 and dedicated to Rheinberger, the string quartet Op. 31 and the barcarolle Lake Como by Moonlight had a certain resonance.
Huss dedicated the Piano Concerto, Op. 10, to the pianist Adele aus der Ohe. Present-day specialists believe the concerto did not succeed in his own performances during his lifetime because his skill as a pianist was not sufficient. The Op. 31 quartet came out in print in 1921 from the New York house of G. Schirmer, brought out for S.P.A.M., the society that published American music.
In 1896 Huss became one of the co-founders of the American Guild of Organists. He died on 17 September 1953 in New York City.
Gary A. Greene wrote a detailed book about Huss's life and music, with a full catalogue of his compositions. It was published in 1995 by Scarecrow Press.
Among Huss's works, the sources mention the piano trio Op. 23, the string quartet Op. 31, the Piano Concerto in B major, Op. 10, and the barcarolle Lake Como by Moonlight. The Op. 23 trio had a successful premiere and several later performances, yet it stayed unpublished until 2008.
The barcarolle Lake Como by Moonlight had a particular resonance, and American teachers widely used it in their practice. The Piano Concerto, Op. 10, was recorded in 1997 by Ian Hobson and the BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra in the Romantic Piano Concerto series. The British label Hyperion also released a recording of the concerto in that series.
The site has four editions by Huss: concerto part1, concerto part2, concerto part3 and concerto part4, for piano and orchestra. All four are listed at the Intermediate+ level.