Remembering Karl Haas

In case you can't see the video, here is a link: http://youtu.be/zINDMdEfGjQ

Karl Haas's lack of pretense and simple delight infected my childhood enthusiasm for music. We picked up his program, Adventures In Good Music, from WQRS in Detroit. Perhaps I even felt an unconscious natural affinity for his halting but ever-eloquent speech. He also had an intriguing way of leading you along, an unanswered question he would resolve over the course of an hour. For example, I remember one episode about a mystery composer. He played numerous unfamiliar but alluring excerpts, admittedly schmaltzy, along with clues: another composer of nine symphonies. It turned out to be Alexander Glazunov; I've loved his music ever since. I looked forward to the weekly broadcasts and must have heard scores if not hundreds of them. My pleasure in Classical music has always been unclouded by cynicism, and I like to think I have Karl Haas to thank. I had no idea he continued producing new episodes until two years before his death in 2005. I probably hadn't heard one since 1984.