Josef Suk (1874-1935) This gentleman was the son-in-law of Dvorak and a violinist /composer who wrote very little chamber music with most of his more well known works being orchestral pieces.Whilst I will have to put my hand up to not really being a devotee of Dvorak I really liked son-in-law Suk's work. The cd I have is his Asrael- Faerie Tale - Serenade for strings.Surprisingly this is not Naxos but Chandos 964040-41 a double cd set.
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Re: Josef Suk
Tue, January 16, 2007 - 11:41 PMAll three of those pieces are excellent, I have them on separate CDs though.
I just read an interesting remark Dvorak made in regards to his son-in-laws “Asrael”. He criticized it saying, “God gave us five fingers, not four or six. Beethoven gave four movements to a symphony. Three is too few; five is too many.”
Though I’ve seen writings to suggest Suk started the work in 1905, Dvorak died in 1904 which seems to indicate from the previous quote, that he (Suk), started the work, or at least presented the idea for such a work, at an earlier date. I’ve always wondered what Dvorak would have thought of the piece, had he lived to see its first performance (February of 1907).
I personally love Dvorak but understand the attraction to Suk. His Epilogue is nice and the early piano Trio is excellent. You can get the trio on a recording his grandson made with the chamber group bearing his grandfathers name. -
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Re: Josef Suk
Wed, January 17, 2007 - 3:04 AMSteve,The bio that I managed to find for Suk says"Other works, written on a larger scale, in particular the symphony Asrael, in which he mourns the death of his father-in-law and his wife, represent music of greater ambition" the bio itself is fairly skimpy but I haven't gone to any great lengths to research in any great depth so I don't know any more than that.I thought the music good though and I have some cello pieces and also two cd's of his works for piano to play yet. -
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Re: Josef Suk
Wed, January 17, 2007 - 7:12 AMI think you will enjoy your choice rob. Naxos does have a CD with some of his large scale works so you might keep your eyes open for it.
www.naxos.com/composerinfo/1010.htm -
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Re: Josef Suk
Wed, January 17, 2007 - 7:46 AMBBC Symphony Orchestra: Macha, Martinu, Suk
Thursday 15 February
Free Tickets: www.bbc.co.uk/whatson/tic...estra3.shtml -
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Re: Josef Suk
Wed, January 17, 2007 - 8:05 AMThanks Bobs, free airfare would help too! HA! I wish I were rich enough to fly off for the day. I'm so jealous. : )
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