View source for Josef Suk (composer)

{{Short description|Czech composer and violinist (1874–1935)}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=January 2024}}
{{Infobox person
| name               = Josef Suk
| image              = Josef Suk(1).jpg<!--Josef Suk composer.gif-->
| image_upright      = 0.8
| caption            = <!--Suk in the early 1900s-->
| birth_date         = {{birth date|1874|01|04|df=y}}
| birth_place        = [[Křečovice]], [[Kingdom of Bohemia|Bohemia]], [[Austria-Hungary]] (now [[Czech Republic]])
| death_date         = {{death date and age|1935|05|29|1874|01|04|df=y}}
| death_place        = [[Benešov]], [[First Czechoslovak Republic|Czechoslovakia]] 
| education          = 
| occupation         = {{ubl | Violinist | Composer }}
| organizations      = 
| awards             = 
}}

'''Josef Suk''' (4 January 1874 – 29 May 1935) was a Czech composer, violinist, and [[Art competitions at the 1932 Summer Olympics|Olympic silver medalist]]. He studied under [[Antonín Dvořák]], whose daughter he married.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.olympedia.org/athletes/921422 |title=Josef Suk |work=Olympedia |access-date=26 July 2020 |archive-date=9 January 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230109102013/https://www.olympedia.org/athletes/921422 |url-status=live }}</ref>

==Biography==

From a young age, Josef Suk (born in [[Křečovice]], [[Bohemia]]) was deeply involved and well trained in music. He learned organ, violin, and piano from his father, Josef Suk Sr., and was trained further in violin by the Czech violinist [[Antonín Bennewitz]]. His theory studies were conducted with several other composers including [[Josef Bohuslav Foerster]], {{ill|Karel Knittl|cs}}, and {{ill|Karel Stecker|cs}}. He later focused his writing on chamber works under the teachings of [[Hanuš Wihan]].<ref>Tyrell, John. [http://www.oxfordmusiconline.com/subscriber/article/grove/music/27094 "Suk, Josef."] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240104123447/https://www.oxfordmusiconline.com/grovemusic/display/10.1093/gmo/9781561592630.001.0001/omo-9781561592630-e-0000027094 |date=4 January 2024}} In Grove Music Online. Oxford Music Online. Page 1, date accessed: 25 September 2012.</ref> Despite extensive musical training, his musical skill was often said to be largely inherited.<ref>Helfert, Vladimir. [https://www.jstor.org/stable/4203158 "Two Losses to Czech Music: Josef Suk and Otakar Ostrčil."] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160128085048/http://www.jstor.org/stable/4203158 |date=28 January 2016}} ''The Slavonic and East European Review'', Vol. 14, No. 42 (April 1936). Page 639, JSTOR. Date accessed: 30 September 2012.</ref> Though he continued his lessons with Wihan another year after the completion of his schooling, Suk's greatest inspiration came from another of his teachers, Czech composer [[Antonín Dvořák]].<ref name="Grove1">Tyrell, Grove. Page 1</ref>

Known as one of Dvořák's favorite pupils, Suk also became personally close to his mentor.<ref name="Novak, Non-Obstinate. 86">Novak, "Non-Obstinate." Page 86</ref> Underlying this was Dvořák's respect for Suk, reflected in Suk's 1898 marriage to Dvořák's daughter, Otilie, marking some of the happiest times in the composer's life and music.<ref>Helfer, "Losses." Page 640</ref> However, the last portion of Suk's life was punctuated with tragedy.<ref>Novak, "Non-Obstinate." Page 87</ref> Over the span of 14 months around 1905, not only did Suk's mentor Dvořák die, but so did Otilie. These events inspired Suk's ''[[Asrael Symphony]]''.

[[File:Josef Suk sitting028.jpg|thumb|left|upright|Josef Suk]]
{{MedalTableTop | name = no | medals =
{{MedalSport | [[Art competitions at the Summer Olympics|Art competitions]] }}
{{MedalCountry | {{TCH}} }}
{{MedalCompetition | [[Olympic Games]] }}
{{MedalSilver | [[1932 Summer Olympics|1932 Los Angeles]] | [[Art competitions at the 1932 Summer Olympics|Music]] }}
}}

Owing to a shared heritage—and the coincidence of their dying within a few months of one another—Suk has been closely compared, in works and style, to fellow Czech composer [[Otakar Ostrčil]].<ref>Helfert, "Losses." Page 649</ref> Suk, alongside [[Vitezslav Novak]] and [[Otakar Ostrčil|Ostrčil]], is considered one of the leading composers in Czech Modernism, with much shared influence among the three coming in turn from Dvořák.<ref>Helfert, Page "Losses." 641</ref> Eminent German figures such as composer [[Johannes Brahms]] and critic [[Eduard Hanslick]] recognized Suk's work during his time with the Czech Quartet.<ref name="Grove1" /> Over time, well known Austrian composers such as [[Gustav Mahler]] and [[Alban Berg]] also began to take notice of Suk and his work.<ref name="Novak, Non-Obstinate. 86"/>

Although he wrote mostly instrumental music, Suk occasionally branched out into other genres. Orchestral music was his strong suit, notably the [[Serenade for Strings (Suk)|Serenade for Strings]], Op. 6 (1892).<ref name="Grove1" /> His time with the [[Czech Quartet]], though performing successful concerts until his retirement,<ref name="Grove1" /> was not always met with public approval. Several anti-Dvořák campaigns came into prominence; criticism not only being directed at the quartet, but towards Suk specifically. The leftist critic [[Zdeněk Nejedlý]] accused the Czech Quartet of inappropriately playing concerts in the Czech lands during World War I. While these attacks diminished Suk's spirits, they did not hinder his work.<ref>Ed. Jana Vojtěšková. "Josef Suk – dopisy o životě hudebním i lidském." (''tr. "Josef Suk – letters about musical and human life"'') 2005. Prague : Bärenreiter Page 1.</ref>

==Private life==

Suk married Dvorak's daughter, [[Otilie Suková]], a composer in her own right, in 1898.<ref>Eleanor Kelly. [https://donne-uk.org/otiliesukova/# 'Otilie Suková (1878-1905)'], Donne Foundation</ref> They had one child, a son, also named Josef, in 1898. Otilie died of heart failure aged 27 in 1905, a year after her father. Josef Suk Jr. in turn was father of the acclaimed violinist [[Josef Suk (violinist)|Josef Suk]], who died in 2011.<ref>Alena Němcová. [http://www.oxfordmusiconline.com/subscriber/article/grove/music/27095 "Suk, Josef (ii)."] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240104123556/https://www.oxfordmusiconline.com/grovemusic/display/10.1093/gmo/9781561592630.001.0001/omo-9781561592630-e-0000027095 |date=4 January 2024 }} Grove Music Online. Oxford Music Online. Oxford University Press. Web. 7 July 2015.</ref>

Suk retired in 1933,<ref name="Grove1" /> although he continued to be a valuable and inspirational public figure to the Czechs.<ref>Holland, Bernard. "[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 A String Quartet as Family Affair And Showcase for Czech Masters] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240104123523/https://go.gale.com/ps/i.do?p=WHIC&u=butleru&v=2.1&it=r&id=GALE%7CA119639114&asid=1704430800000~26ad9bd3 |date=4 January 2024 }}." ''New York Times'' Page 23 July 2004: E10. Gale World History in Context. 1. Date accessed: 2 October 2012).</ref> Suk died on 29 May 1935, in [[Benešov]], [[Czechoslovakia]] (now [[Czech Republic]]); he was buried in the cemetery of St Luke's Church, [[Křečovice]].{{citation needed|date=November 2022}}

==Musical style==

{{see also|List of compositions by Josef Suk}}

{{listen|image=none|help=no|filename=Suk - Meditation on the Old Czech Chorale Saint Wenceslas, Op. 35a (Musopen String Quartet).flac|title=''Meditation on the Saint Wenceslas Chorale'', Op. 35a|description=Performed by Musopen String Quartet}}

[[File:Josef Suk deska.jpg|thumb|Memorial plaque]]

Suk's musical style started off with a heavy influence from his mentor, [[Antonín Dvořák|Dvořák]]. The biggest change of Suk's style came after he reached a "dead end" in his early musical style (music played less of a role in Suk's life outside of his schooling<ref name="Grove1" />), just before he began a stylistic shift during 1897–1905, perhaps realizing that the strong influence of Dvořák would limit his work.<ref name="Novak, Non-Obstinate. 86"/> Morbidity was always a large factor in Suk's music. For instance, he wrote his own funeral march in 1889 and it appears significantly also in a major work, the "funeral symphony" ''[[Asrael Symphony|Asrael]]'', Op. 27. ''[[Ripening (Suk)|Ripening]]'', a [[symphonic poem]], was also a story of pain and questioning the value of life. Other works, however – such as the music he set to [[Julius Zeyer]]'s drama ''[[Radúz and Mahulena|Radúz a Mahulena]]'' – display his happiness, which he credited to his marriage with Otilie. Another of Suk's works, ''[[Fairy Tale (Suk)|Pohádka]]'' (Fairy Tale), was drawn from his work with ''Radúz a Mahulena''. The closest Suk came to opera is in his [[incidental music]] to the play ''Pod jabloní'' (Beneath the Apple Tree).<ref>Tyrell, Grove. Page 2</ref>

The majority of Suk's papers 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.<ref>John Tyrrell. "Josef Suk: Tematický katalog skladeb (''tr. Thematic catalog of compositions'') (JSkat) (review)." Oxford University Press: Music and Letters 90, no. 3 (2009): 501–503.</ref>

Suk said of himself: "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."<ref>Beckerman, Michael. "In Search of Czechness in Music." 19th-Century Music, Vol. 10, No. 1 (Summer, 1986). Page 63, date accessed: 2 October 2012. {{JSTOR|746749}}</ref>

==See also==

* [[Josef Suk Museum]], formerly the composer's home in [[Křečovice]].

== References ==

=== Citations ===

{{Reflist}}

=== Sources ===

{{refbegin}}
* {{cite book |title=Československý hudební slovník II. M-Ž |editor-last=Černušák |editor-first=Gracián  |year=1965 |publisher=Státní hudební vydavatelství |location=Prague |page=641 |ref=Černušák |language=cs }}
* {{cite book |title=The Games of the Xth Olympiad Los Angeles 1932 |publisher=Xth Olympiade Committee of the Games of Los Angeles, U.S.A. 1932 |year=1933 |pages=748–765 |url=http://www.la84foundation.org/6oic/OfficialReports/1932/1932s.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080410231532/http://www.la84foundation.org/6oic/OfficialReports/1932/1932s.pdf |archive-date=10 April 2008 |url-status=dead }}
* {{cite web|title=Olympic Art Competition 1932 |work=Olympic Games Museum |author=Wagner, Juergen |url=http://olympic-museum.de/art/1932.htm |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080501135344/http://www.olympic-museum.de/art/1932.htm |archive-date=1 May 2008 |url-status=dead }}
* {{cite journal |title=In Search of the Lost Champions of the Olympic Art Contests |last=Kramer |first=Bernhard |journal=Journal of Olympic History |volume=12 |issue=2 |date=May 2004 |pages=29–34 |url=http://www.la84foundation.org/SportsLibrary/JOH/JOHv12n2/johv12n2m.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080410082301/http://www.la84foundation.org/SportsLibrary/JOH/JOHv12n2/johv12n2m.pdf |archive-date=10 April 2008 |url-status=live}}
* {{cite Sports-Reference |url=https://www.sports-reference.com/olympics/athletes/su/josef-suk-1.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200417231613/https://www.sports-reference.com/olympics/athletes/su/josef-suk-1.html |url-status=dead |archive-date=17 April 2020 |title=Josef Suk |access-date=29 May 2016}}
{{refend}}

==External links==

{{Commons category|Josef Suk}}
* {{YouTube|rlvZqZzC1Y4|Video: 1st movement of the Serenade op. 6 played by the Slovak Chamber Orchestra}} at the 'Indian Summer in [[Levoča]]' Festival, 2008.
* Photo of Josef and Otilie Suk in a [https://web.archive.org/web/20080221053101/http://www.antonin-dvorak.cz/galerie_rodina.htm Dvořák Family Photo Gallery]
* {{IMSLP|id=Suk, Josef|cname=Josef Suk}}
* [https://archive.today/20070927185200/http://www.musicabona.com/catalog/SU3820-2.html.fr Josef Suk: Piano Works]
* [http://www.brikcius.com/News.uk.049.html#Meet Meet … Czech composer and violinist Josef Suk] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190419150539/http://brikcius.com/News.uk.049.html#Meet |date=19 April 2019 }}
* [http://www.editionsilvertrust.com/music-s.htm Josef Suk Piano Quartet Op. 1, Piano Trio in c, Op. 2 and String Quartet No. 1, Op. 11] Soundbites and discussion of works
* [http://academictree.org/music/tree.php?pid=130097 Josef Suk's academic genealogy entry]

{{Josef Suk}}
{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Suk, Josef (composer)}}
[[Category:1874 births]]
[[Category:1935 deaths]]
[[Category:19th-century Czech classical composers]]
[[Category:19th-century classical violinists]]
[[Category:19th-century Czech male musicians]]
[[Category:20th-century Czech classical composers]]
[[Category:20th-century Czech classical violinists]]
[[Category:20th-century Czech male musicians]]
[[Category:Composers for piano]]
[[Category:Czech male classical composers]]
[[Category:Czech Romantic composers]]
[[Category:Czech male classical violinists]]
[[Category:Medalists at the 1932 Summer Olympics]]
[[Category:Art competitors at the 1932 Summer Olympics]]
[[Category:Olympic silver medalists for Czechoslovakia]]
[[Category:Olympic silver medalists in art competitions]]
[[Category:People from Benešov District]]