JAN HANUS studied composition privately with Otakar Jeremias and at the same time was educated in conducting at Prague Conservatory. Then he worked as an editor (later an editor-in-chief) in the publishing houses now succeeded by Supraphon. He was a manager of the publishing house of the Czech Music Fund Panton, further on he was active in the Union of Czechoslovak Composers, he was the chairman of the Czech Company for Music Education, a member of the managing committee of ISME (the International Society for Music Education) and the chairman of its Czech section, the vice-chairman of the Czech Music Company, a member of the festival committee of Prague Spring. As an editor he has signed the editions of the collected works of Antonin Dvorak and Zdenek Fibich, he was a co-operator of the critical publication of Leos Janacek's work, etc. In his composer's work Jan Hanus was following up the Czech Smetana and Dvorak tradition in the traces of his teacher Otakar Jeremias. They both, too, share a sense for the subjective relevance of works, a broadminded architectonics, a full to bursting orchestral sound and an unfailing musical-dramatic imagination. Hanus's access to compositional tasks was a searching one, that's why the evolutionary line of his production was changing, always aiming at new conceptions. Nevertheless there are no violent ups and downs in Mr Hanus's work: his idiom includes constant elements, especially in melodics, rhythmics and instrumentation, which passed all phases of his compositional development.
Hanus's first works found their roots in passionately pathetic, philosophic and patriotic aims, such as his opera The Flames. The first post-war decade witnessed lyricism, near to national tradition (2nd Symphony, The Czech Year), since the late fifties, a new tendency to a more dramatic view of the world and a musically expressive innovation (3rd Symphony), reaching as far as the combination of traditional means of expression with electronics (esp. in the opera The Torch of Prometheus). The seventies and eighties represented a period of synthesis of all his preceding advances, and their improved utilization. Jan Hanus had always aimed at emphasizing the great spiritual values of Czech and foreign cultures and thus we find in his compositions messages of antiquity and the Renaissance, as well as popular culture and the stimulations of modern times. This holds true especially in his scenic work, cantata, chorus and song production, but of his many instrumental compositions as well. For instance, his Suita drammatica for string quartet is a preliminary study for the opera The Torch of Prometheus, based on the theme of Aischylos, Night Divertimento for two string trios is inspired by the poetry of Jaroslav Seifert, etc. Jan Hanus's symphonies, too, in a way reflect the reality of the world and the human society. There are, however, even a number of compositions lacking outward stimulation: in those the author exploits his pure musical imagery and indulges in pleasure and an absolutely independent and whole-hearted personal inspiration. He returned all the state awards in November 1989.