Stjepan Šulek (5 August 1914 in

Zagreb Zagreb ( , , , ) is the capital (political), capital and List of cities and towns in Croatia#List of cities and towns, largest city of Croatia. It is in the Northern Croatia, northwest of the country, along the Sava river, at the southern slop ...

Austria-Hungary Austria-Hungary, often referred to as the Austro-Hungarian Empire,, the Dual Monarchy, or Austria, was a constitutional monarchy and great power in Central Europe between 1867 and 1918. It was formed with the Austro-Hungarian Compromise of ...

– 16 January 1986 in Zagreb,

SR Croatia The Socialist Republic of Croatia ( sh-Latn-Cyrl, separator=" / ", Socijalistička Republika Hrvatska, Социјалистичка Република Хрватска), or SR Croatia, was a constituent republic and federated state of the Sociali ...

SFR Yugoslavia The Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, commonly referred to as SFR Yugoslavia or simply as Yugoslavia, was a country in Central and Southeast Europe. It emerged in 1945, following World War II, and lasted until 1992, with the breakup of Yu ...

) was a Croatian

composer A composer is a person who writes music. The term is especially used to indicate composers of Western classical music, or those who are composers by occupation. Many composers are, or were, also skilled performers of music. Etymology and Def ...

, conductor, violinist and music teacher.

Biography

Born in

in 1914, Šulek began his music study very early by learning

piano The piano is a stringed keyboard instrument in which the strings are struck by wooden hammers that are coated with a softer material (modern hammers are covered with dense wool felt; some early pianos used leather). It is played using a keyboa ...

violin The violin, sometimes known as a '' fiddle'', is a wooden chordophone ( string instrument) in the violin family. Most violins have a hollow wooden body. It is the smallest and thus highest-pitched instrument ( soprano) in the family in regu ...

, and

composition Composition or Compositions may refer to: Arts and literature *Composition (dance), practice and teaching of choreography *Composition (language), in literature and rhetoric, producing a work in spoken tradition and written discourse, to include v ...

. In 1936 he received his diploma from the Zagreb Academy of Music, where he studied violin with Vaclav Huml (1880–1953) and composition with

Blagoje Bersa Blagoje Bersa (born as Benito Bersa, 21 December 1873 – 1 January 1934) was a Croatian musical composer of substantial influence.

(1873–1934), the founder of Croatian modern music movements. Until 1952 Šulek was an active soloist who gave numerous recitals. He was also an active

chamber music Chamber music is a form of classical music that is composed for a small group of instruments—traditionally a group that could fit in a palace chamber or a large room. Most broadly, it includes any art music that is performed by a small nu ...

performer of the highest level, as he was the first violin of the Zagreb String Quartet from 1936 to 1938 and was a member of the Maček-Šulek- Janigro Trio from 1939 to 1945. At the Zagreb Conservatorium, Šulek began teaching violin in 1939, composition in 1948, and

orchestration Orchestration is the study or practice of writing music for an orchestra (or, more loosely, for any musical ensemble, such as a concert band) or of adapting music composed for another medium for an orchestra. Also called "instrumentation", orch ...

in 1953. His works were played on a national and international level beginning in 1945 in

Europe Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a Continent#Subcontinents, subcontinent of Eurasia ...

South America South America is a continent entirely in the Western Hemisphere and mostly in the Southern Hemisphere, with a relatively small portion in the Northern Hemisphere at the northern tip of the continent. It can also be described as the sou ...

, and the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country Continental United States, primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 U.S. state, states, a Washington, D.C., ...

. Šulek became a corresponding member of the Croatian Academy of the Arts and Sciences in 1948 and an official member and secretary of the Department of Music for the academy in 1954. He launched a successful conducting career in building up an international reputation for the Chamber Orchestra of the Zagreb (now Croatian) Radio and Television. From 1958 to 1964 he was the principal conductor of both the chamber and symphony orchestras of Zagreb and undertook numerous European tours with these orchestras. He was frequently invited to be a guest conductor for the symphony orchestras of Zagreb,

Belgrade Belgrade ( , ;, ; names in other languages) is the capital and largest city in Serbia. It is located at the confluence of the Sava and Danube rivers and the crossroads of the Pannonian Plain and the Balkan Peninsula. Nearly 1,166,763 mi ...

, and

Slovenia Slovenia ( ; sl, Slovenija ), officially the Republic of Slovenia (Slovene: , abbr.: ''RS''), is a country in Central Europe. It is bordered by Italy to the west, Austria to the north, Hungary to the northeast, Croatia to the southeast, and ...

. In his teaching career, Šulek was a distinguished professor of musical composition and mentor of many leading Croatian composers. his students including

Milko Kelemen Milko Kelemen (30 March 1924 – 8 March 2018) was a Croatian composer. Life Milko Kelemen was born in Slatina, Croatia (then Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes). He studied under Stjepan Šulek in Zagreb, under Olivier Messiaen in Paris ...

, Stanko Horvat, Krešimir Šipuš, Sandro Zaninović, Pavle Dešpalj,

Dubravko Detoni Dubravko Detoni (born 22 February 1937) is a composer, pianist and writer. Although active since the early 1970s he is almost unknown internationally. He was born in Križevci, Croatia, educated in Zagreb, Sienna, Warsaw and Darmstadt, and stu ...

Igor Kuljerić Igor Kuljerić (February 1, 1938 – April 20, 2006) was an important Croatian composer and conductor. His large opus followed the stylistic changes and evolutions of 20th and 21st century music. Biography Born in the coastal city of Šibenik ...

etc. Šulek died in Zagreb in 1986.

Compositions

Symphonies A symphony is an extended musical composition in Western classical music, most often for orchestra. Although the term has had many meanings from its origins in the ancient Greek era, by the late 18th century the word had taken on the meaning co ...

* First Symphony (1944) * Second Symphony, "Eroica" (1946) * Third Symphony (1948) * Fourth Symphony (1954) * Fifth Symphony (1964) * Sixth Symphony (1966) * Seventh Symphony (1979) * Eighth Symphony (1981) * Epitaf (1971) * Runke (1972)

Concerto A concerto (; plural ''concertos'', or ''concerti'' from the Italian plural) is, from the late Baroque era, mostly understood as an instrumental composition, written for one or more soloists accompanied by an orchestra or other ensemble. The typ ...
s

* First Piano Concerto (1949) * Second Piano Concerto (1952) * Third Piano Concerto (1970) * Cello Concerto (1950) * Violin Concerto in D minor (1951) * Bassoon Concerto (1958) * Viola Concerto (1959) * Horn Concerto (1972) * Organ Concerto "Memento" (1974) * Clarinet Concerto (1970)

"Classical Concertos"

* First Classical Concerto, for orchestra (1944) * Second Classical Concerto, for strings (1952) * Third Classical Concerto, for strings (1957) * Fourth Classical Concerto, for orchestra (1983)

Sonatas

* First Piano Sonata (1947) * Second Piano Sonata (1978) * Third Piano Sonata (1980) * Sonata for Trombone and Piano "Vox Gabrieli" (1973) * Sonata for Cello and Piano (1974) * Sonata for Violin and Piano

Chamber music Chamber music is a form of classical music that is composed for a small group of instruments—traditionally a group that could fit in a palace chamber or a large room. Most broadly, it includes any art music that is performed by a small nu ...

* Ten string quartets * Piano Sextet (1957)

Opera Opera is a form of theatre in which music is a fundamental component and dramatic roles are taken by singers. Such a "work" (the literal translation of the Italian word "opera") is typically a collaboration between a composer and a libr ...
s

* Koriolan (1957) * Oluja (Storm) (1969)

Ballet Ballet () is a type of performance dance that originated during the Italian Renaissance in the fifteenth century and later developed into a concert dance form in France and Russia. It has since become a widespread and highly technical form ...
s

* De Veritate (1977)

Choir A choir ( ; also known as a chorale or chorus) is a musical ensemble of singers. Choral music, in turn, is the music written specifically for such an ensemble to perform. Choirs may perform music from the classical music repertoire, which sp ...

* Bašćanska ploča (Bašhka Stone Etchings) (1980)

Cantata A cantata (; ; literally "sung", past participle feminine singular of the Italian verb ''cantare'', "to sing") is a vocal composition with an instrumental accompaniment, typically in several movements, often involving a choir. The meaning o ...
s

* Zadnji Adam (the Last Adam) (1964)

Song cycle A song cycle (german: Liederkreis or Liederzyklus) is a group, or cycle, of individually complete songs designed to be performed in a sequence as a unit.Susan Youens, ''Grove online'' The songs are either for solo voice or an ensemble, or rare ...
s

* Singing of the Dead Poet (1970) * Strah (Fear) (1975)

Guitar The guitar is a fretted musical instrument that typically has six strings. It is usually held flat against the player's body and played by strumming or plucking the strings with the dominant hand, while simultaneously pressing selected string ...

* The Troubadours Three **I. Melancholy **II. Sonnet **III. Celebration

Bibliography

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Sulek, Stjepan 1914 births 1986 deaths Croatian opera composers Croatian classical composers Vladimir Nazor Award winners Academy of Music, University of Zagreb alumni Burials at Mirogoj Cemetery 20th-century classical composers Male classical composers 20th-century male musicians Yugoslav musicians