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“I do not bow to anyone, except to my own conscience and to our noble Lady Music… and yet at the same time I know that thereby I serve my country, and praise the great people from the period of our wakening who taught us to love our country.” –Josef Suk[1]

Suk’s background[edit]

Josef Suk is considered an obscure composer, but not undeserving of recognition. His compositions are generally overshadowed by major post-romantic composers.[2] Suk was taught organ, violin, and piano by his father, also known by the name Josef Suk. Though he did not start composing until 1891, his music skills were well-trained. He was trained further in violin by the Czech violinist Antonín Bennewitz and his theory studies were conducted with several others including composer Josef Bohuslav Foerster, Karel Knittl, and Karel Stecker. He later focused his writing on chamber works under the teachings of Hanuš Wihan.[3] All of his training aside, his musical skill was said to be an inheritance.[4] Though continuing his lessons with Wihan another year after his schooling was complete, one of Josef Suk’s largest inspirations was another one of his teachers, who was also a very well-known Czech composer: Antonín Dvořák.[5]

Because of their heritage and deaths coming in the same year, Suk’s works and style were compared closely to another Czech composer, Otakar Ostrčil.[6] Known as one of Dvořák’s favorite pupils, Suk and Dvořák became very close.[7] This could pertain to Dvořák's respect for Suk's talent and expertise, and the same respect for Suk can be recognized in the fact that Suk later married Dvořák’s daughter, Otilie. This marked some of Suk’s happier times in his life and music.[8] However, the last portion of Suk’s life was stricken with tragedy.[9] Over the span of 14 months around 1907, not only did Suk’s mentor, Dvořák, die, but so did Otilie. These events inspired one of Suk’s greatest works, the Asrael Symphony. Suk retired in 1933[10], although he continued to be a very valuable and inspirational person to his Czech people and land.[11]

Suk, alongside Vitezslav Novak and Ostrčil, was considered to be one of the leading composers in Czech Modernism, with much of this influence coming from Dvořák.[12] Popular composers, such as Johannes Brahms and Eduard Hanslick, recognized Suk’s work during his time with the Czech Quartet.[13] Overtime, other well-known Austrian composers, like Gustav Mahler and Alban Berg, also began to take notice of Suk.[14] Although he wrote mostly instrumental music, Suk occasionally branched out into other genres. His orchestral music was his strong suit, notably the Serenade for Strings, Op. 6 (1892).[15] His time with the Czech Quartet, though successfully performing concerts up until his retirement,[16] was not always met with approval. Several anti-Dvořák campaigns began to rise, and criticism was pointed at the quartet and Suk, specifically. Zdeněk Nejedlý accused the Czech Quartet of playing concerts in the Czech lands during a time of war. These attacks diminished Suk’s spirits, but did not hinder his work.[17]

Suk’s musical style[edit]

Suk’s musical style started off with a very heavy emphasis on what he experienced during his time with Dvořák, though this Czech-style influence eventually slowly became more German and Austrian in style. The biggest change of Suk’s style came after a “dead end” in his musical lifestyle (music played less of a role in Suk’s life outside of his schooling[18]) just before he began the shift of style during 1897-1905, perhaps realizing that his known Dvořák influence would restrain his work.[19] Morbidity was always been a large factor in Suk’s music. For instance, he wrote his own funeral march in 1889. Ripening, a symphony, was also a story of pain and questioning the value of life. This is not to say that Suk was entirely a morbid and loathing individual. Some of his works represent his happiness, such as the music he set to Julius Zeyer’s drama Radúz a Mahulena (which he referenced to his marriage with Otilie). Another of Suk’s works, Pohádka (‘Fairy Tale’), was drawn from his work with Radúz a Mahulena. The closest Suk came to working with opera is music his wrote for the play Pod jabloní or 'Beneath the Apple Tree'.[20]

Suk’s style began with his studies in school, but evolved afterwards during his studies with Dvořák. As Suk continued evolving, his life also had a strong impact on his music. Using the good and the bad times in his life as inspiration, Suk created music that, while obscure, still deserves recognition. The majority of Suk’s prints are kept in Prague. There is also a new catalogue of Suk’s works that contains more manuscripts than any before it, some of them also containing sketches by Suk.[21] Suk, though his name may still be unknown by many, is a composer worth recognition.

  1. ^ Beckerman, Michael. “In Search of Czechness in Music.” 19th-Century Music, Vol. 10, No. 1 (Summer, 1986). 63, date accessed: October 2, 2012. http://www.jstor.org/stable/746749
  2. ^ Novak, John K. “Josef Suk’s Non-Obsinate Ostinato Movements: A Study of Harmony and style.” College Music Symposium, Vol 43 (2003). 87, date accessed: October 1, 2012. http://www.jstor.org/stable/40374472
  3. ^ Tyrell, John. "Suk, Josef." In Grove Music Online. Oxford Music Online. 1, date accessed: September 25, 2012. http://www.oxfordmusiconline.com/subscriber/article/grove/music/27094
  4. ^ Helfert, Vladimir. “Two Losses to Czech Music: Josef Suk and Otakar Ostrčil.” The Slavonic and East European Review, Vol. 14, No. 42 (April, 1936). 639, JSTOR. Date accessed: September 30, 2012. http://www.jstor.org/stable/4203158
  5. ^ Tyrell, 1
  6. ^ Helfert, “Losses.” 649
  7. ^ Novak, “Non-Obstinate.” 86
  8. ^ Helfer, “Losses.” 640
  9. ^ Novak, “Non-Obstinate.” 87
  10. ^ Tyrell, Grove. 1
  11. ^ Holland, Bernard. "A String Quartet as Family Affair And Showcase for Czech Masters." New York Times 23 July 2004: E10. Gale World History In Context. 1. Date accessed: October 2, 2012).http://ic.galegroup.com/ic/whic/NewsDetailsPage/NewsDetailsWindow?failOverType=&query=&windowstate=normal&contentModules=&mode=view&displayGroupName=News&limiter=&currPage=&disableHighlighting=&source=&sortBy=&displayGroups=&action=e&catId=&activityType=&scanId=&documentId=GALE%7CA119639114&userGroupName=butleru&jsid=209b86b4b145016dcfb0e0ce3457fd57
  12. ^ Helfert, “Losses.” 641
  13. ^ Tyrell, Grove. 1
  14. ^ Novak, “Non-Obstinate.” 86
  15. ^ Tyrell, Grove. 1
  16. ^ Tyrell, Grove. 1
  17. ^ Ed. Jana Vojtěšková. “Josef Suk — dopisy o životě hudebním i lidském.” 2005. 1. Date accessed: October 1, 2012. http://ezproxy.butler.edu:2286/content/90/3/498
  18. ^ Tyrell, Grove. 1
  19. ^ Novak, “Non-Obstinate.” 86
  20. ^ Tyrell, Grove. 2
  21. ^ John Tyrrell. "Josef Suk: Tematický katalog skladeb/Thematic Catalogue of the Works (JSkat) (review)." Music and Letters 90, no. 3 (2009): 501-503. http://ezproxy.butler.edu:2276/journals/music_and_letters/v090/90.3.tyrrell01.html (date accessed: 30 September 2012).
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