Josef Suk (8 August 1929 – 7 July 2011) was a Czech

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 regular ...

ist,

violist ; german: Bratsche , alt=Viola shown from the front and the side , image=Bratsche.jpg , caption= , background=string , hornbostel_sachs=321.322-71 , hornbostel_sachs_desc=Composite chordophone sounded by a bow , range= , related= *Violin family ...

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 numb ...

ian and conductor. In his home country he carried the title of

National Artist National Artist is an honorary title issued by some states as a highest recognition of artists for their significant contributions to the cultural heritage of the nation. An equivalent title, People's Artist, has been known in countries of the f ...

Youth and studies

Josef Suk was born in Prague, the grandson of the composer and violinist Josef Suk, and great-grandson of the composer

Antonín Dvořák Antonín Leopold Dvořák ( ; ; 8 September 1841 – 1 May 1904) was a Czechs, Czech composer. Dvořák frequently employed rhythms and other aspects of the folk music of Moravian traditional music, Moravia and his native Bohemia, following t ...

. After finishing high school in 1945 he entered the

Prague Conservatory The Prague Conservatory or Prague Conservatoire ( cs, Pražská konzervatoř) is a music school in Prague, Czech Republic, founded in 1808. Currently, Prague Conservatory offers four or six year study courses, which can be compared to the level ...

(1945-1951), where his teachers were

Jaroslav Kocián Jaroslav Kocián (22 February 1883 in Ústí nad Orlicí – 8 March 1950 in Prague) was a Czech people, Czech violinist, classical composer and teacher. Together with Jan Kubelík he is considered as the most important representative of "Ševč ...

, Norbert Kubát and Karel Šnebergr. The most important of all his teachers was Jaroslav Kocián, who started teaching him privately when Suk was 7 years old. Led by him, Suk mastered the violin art drawing from the spectacular interpretative art of his teacher, who was specific with his noble technique of tone formation. During his studies, in 1949, Suk was sent to Paris and Brussels where he represented successfully the young generation of Czech violinists. After leaving the Prague Conservatory, he spent four terms at the Academy of Performing Arts in Prague (AMU) with the professors Marie Hlouňová and Alexandr Plocek. However, before finishing his studies he was suspended for political reasons. "AMU was rather a military and political school at that time. For example, I protested against being obliged to trench. That was because our fingers suffered – and I wanted to be a musician, not a soldier. That was the reason why I was suspended after four terms and detached to the military division of Košice for punishment. In the last minute I was saved when I got to the Army artist company, where I spent the two years of military service playing the violin." "Since the very beginning, when I got my first violin from my father, a binding feeling of big expectations bore on me. I wasn’t sure whether I was able to be up to the wishes and hopes of my parents and my grandfather. The great commitment of filling my family tradition attached all my artist career. Sometimes it might have opened some gates and routes, but on the other hand it meant also an indispensable stress." Josef Suk violinist with his wife Marie

Concert career

1950-1952 he was the primarius of the Prague quartet, 1953-1955 concert master of the dramatic orchestra of the National theatre in Prague, then till 1957 a soloist of the Army artist company. His first significant success was a recital in Prague on 6 November 1954. Shortly after that

George Szell George Szell (; June 7, 1897 – July 30, 1970), originally György Széll, György Endre Szél, or Georg Szell, was a Hungarian-born American conductor and composer. He is widely considered one of the twentieth century's greatest condu ...

invited him to the US to play with the

Cleveland Orchestra The Cleveland Orchestra, based in Cleveland, is one of the five American orchestras informally referred to as the " Big Five". Founded in 1918 by the pianist and impresario Adella Prentiss Hughes, the orchestra plays most of its concerts at Sev ...

. In 1958 he performed in Germany, Netherlands and Romania, then also in France and Belgium. In 1960 he was lent the violin by

Antonio Stradivari Antonio Stradivari (, also , ; – 18 December 1737) was an Italian luthier and a craftsman of string instruments such as violins, cellos, guitars, violas and harps. The Latinized form of his surname, ''Stradivarius'', as well as the colloq ...

called ''Duc de Camposelice'' made in 1710. Its former owner was

Váša Příhoda Váša Příhoda (22 August 1900Nicolas Slonimsky, ed. Baker's Biographical Dictionary of Musicians, 8th ed.26 July 1960) was a Czech violinist and minor composer. Considered a Paganini specialist, his recording of the Violin Concerto in A minor ...

, who donated it to the Czechoslovak state shortly before his death. Suk also played the ''Libon'' Stradivari and ''The Prince of Orange'' violin by

Giuseppe Guarneri del Gesu Bartolomeo Giuseppe "del Gesù" Guarneri (, , ; 21 August 1698 – 17 October 1744) was an Italian luthier from the Guarneri family of Cremona. He rivals Antonio Stradivari (1644–1737) with regard to the respect and reverence accorded his in ...

. He also used an instrument by Přemysl Špidlen for a long time. In 1961 he was named as soloist of the Czech Philharmonic, playing on many of its tours and recitals. He cooperated, and made numerous recordings, with the world's best orchestras, conductors and interpreters. He won many prizes for his recordings – Grand Prix du Disque for Debussy's and Janáček's sonatas, for the Dumky Trio by Dvořák with Jan Panenka and Miloš Sádlo, for the complete collection of Mozart's violin concerts with the Prague Chamber Orchestra conducted by Libor Hlaváček, for the

Berg Berg may refer to: People *Berg (surname), a surname (including a list of people with the name) *Berg Ng (born 1960), Hong Kong actor * Berg (footballer) (born 1989), Brazilian footballer Former states *Berg (state), county and duchy of the Holy ...

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 typi ...

and for the concertos of Martinů. He was also a violist and he recorded the Sinfonia Concertante by Mozart, playing both parts of violin and viola. With the Czech Philharmonic, conducted by

Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau (28 May 1925 – 18 May 2012) was a German lyric baritone and conductor of classical music, one of the most famous Lieder (art song) performers of the post-war period, best known as a singer of Franz Schubert's Lieder, ...

, he recorded ''

Harold en Italie ''Harold en Italie,'' ''symphonie avec un alto principal'' (English: ''Harold in Italy,'' ''symphony with viola obbligato''), as the manuscript calls and describes it, is a four-movement orchestral work by Hector Berlioz, his Opus 16, H. 68, w ...

'' by Hector Berlioz. His violin art was characterized by a rotund and rich tone, glass-clear intonation and an idiomatic interpretation. Suk was one of the world's best interpreters of Bach, Mozart and Beethoven. His recordings of Dvořák's Violin Concerto are exemplary. From 1979 to 1986 he was a teacher at the Music College in Vienna.

Chamber music

Aside from his solo career he focused on chamber music. As a student (1950-1952) he was the primarius of the Prague quartet and in 1951 he founded the

Suk Trio The Suk Trio was a Czech piano trio founded in 1951 and disbanded in 1990. They made their debut on March 5 at the Rudolfinum Hall in Prague with Josef Suk (violin), Jiří Hubička (piano) and Saša Večtomov (cello). The permanent member of the ...

, named after his grandfather Josef Suk, together with his friends Jiří Hubička (piano) and

Saša Večtomov Saša Večtomov (12 December 1930 – 29 December 1989) was a Czechoslovak cellist and music pedagogue. Biography Večtomov first studied piano and cello with his father, cellist/composer Ivan Večtomov (1902–81), a soloist in the Czech Phil ...

(cello), later with

Jan Panenka Jan Panenka (8 July 192212 July 1999) was a Czech pianist. He recorded many of Beethoven's works, and he played for many years with the Suk Trio. Life Jan Panenka began his concert career in 1944, as a pupil of František Maxián at the Prague C ...

(piano, replaced then by Josef Hála) and Josef Chuchro (cello). Suk Trio played many concerts both home and abroad and recorded many compositions. With the trio's later pianist

Suk recorded the entire collection of Beethoven's sonatas, and their recording of Shostakovich's sonata for viola and piano was the very first. As a violist he often cooperated with the

Smetana Quartet The Smetana Quartet ( cs, Smetanovo kvarteto) was a Czech string quartet that was in existence from 1945 to 1989. Personnel 1st violin * Václav Neumann (1920-1995), from 1943 to 1945 * Jaroslav Rybenský, from 1945 to 1947 * Jiří Novák (1924 ...

, mostly as second viola. Another remarkable partnership was with the harpsichordist prof.

Zuzana Růžičková Zuzana Růžičková () (14 January 1927 – 27 September 2017) was a Czech harpsichordist. An interpreter of classical and baroque music, Růžičková was the first harpsichordist to record Johann Sebastian Bach's complete works for keyboard, ...

. They were close friends and within many concerts they made many recordings, for example Bach's and Händel's sonatas. They were also dedicated a sonata by Růžičková's husband, Viktor Kalabis. Josef Suk also collaborated with

Julius Katchen Julius Katchen (August 15, 1926 – April 29, 1969) was an American concert pianist, possibly best known for his recordings of Johannes Brahms's solo piano works. Early career Katchen was born in Long Branch, New Jersey, and debuted at age ...

and

János Starker János Starker (; ; July 5, 1924 – April 28, 2013) was a Hungarian-American cellist. From 1958 until his death, he taught at the Indiana University Jacobs School of Music, where he held the title of Distinguished Professor. Starker is consider ...

when recording Brahms's trios and sonatas. In 1974, as a commemoration of the 100th anniversary of birth of his grandfather Josef Suk, he founded the

Suk Chamber Orchestra The Suk Chamber Orchestra (Czech: Sukův komorní orchestr) is a classical chamber orchestra named after the composer Josef Suk. It was founded by the violinist Josef Suk in 1974, on the centenary of his grandfather, the composer Josef Suk. Th ...

. Suk acted as its leader and conductor till 2000. He held the title of Meritorious Artist and since 1977 the title of National Artist. In 2002 he was awarded the National Order of the Legion of Honour.

Death

Josef Suk died on 7 July 2011, aged 81, of

prostate cancer Prostate cancer is cancer of the prostate. Prostate cancer is the second most common cancerous tumor worldwide and is the fifth leading cause of cancer-related mortality among men. The prostate is a gland in the male reproductive system that sur ...

and was buried in Prague, the Vyšehrad cemetery.Inglis, Ann
Josef Suk obituary
''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...

'' (8 July 2011) Josef Suk-Vysehrad cemetery Prague

Selected discography (violin)

J.S. Bach Johann Sebastian Bach (28 July 1750) was a German composer and musician of the late baroque music, Baroque period. He is known for his orchestral music such as the ''Brandenburg Concertos''; instrumental compositions such as the Cello Suite ...

: Violin Concertos - Supraphon Records *Bach: Sonatas for Harpsichord and Violin – Lotos *

Beethoven Ludwig van Beethoven (baptised 17 December 177026 March 1827) was a German composer and pianist. Beethoven remains one of the most admired composers in the history of Western music; his works rank amongst the most performed of the classical ...

: Concerto for violin in D; Dvořák: Concerto for violin in A minor –

BBC Radio BBC Radio is an operational business division and service of the British Broadcasting Corporation (which has operated in the United Kingdom under the terms of a royal charter since 1927). The service provides national radio stations covering th ...

Classic * Bartók: Violin Concertos Nos. 1 and 2 - Praga Records *

: Concerto for violin – Supraphon * Bartók: Concerto for violin No. 1 - Supraphon *

Brahms Johannes Brahms (; 7 May 1833 – 3 April 1897) was a German composer, pianist, and conductor of the mid-Romantic period. Born in Hamburg into a Lutheran family, he spent much of his professional life in Vienna. He is sometimes grouped with ...

: Concerto, Op. 77; Concerto, Op. 102 – Praga *Brahms: Concerto, Op. 77; Concerto, Op. 102 – Praga *Brahms: Piano Trios and Violin Sonatas with

(piano) and

Janos Starker János or Janos may refer to: * János, male Hungarian given name, a variant of John Places * Janos Municipality, a municipality of Chihuahua ** Janos, Chihuahua, town in Mexico ** Janos Biosphere Reserve, a nature reserve in Chihuahua * Janos ...

(cello) –

Decca Records Decca Records is a British record label established in 1929 by Edward Lewis (Decca), Edward Lewis. Its U.S. label was established in late 1934 by Lewis, Jack Kapp, American Decca's first president, and Milton Rackmil, who later became American ...

*Brahms: Symphony No. 2 in D, Op. 73; Concerto in A minor, Op. 102 – Supraphon *Brahms: Symphony No. 2/Double Concerto – Supraphon *Brahms: The Violin Sonatas, with Julius Katchen – Decca (466 393–2) * Chausson: Concerto for violin, piano & String Quartet; Fauré: Sonata No. 2 for Violin & Piano - Supraphon * Dvořák: Concerto for violin in A minor – Supraphon *Dvořák: Piano Quartets Nos. 1 & 2 – Supraphon *Dvořák: Quartet Op. 51 / Sextet Op. 48 - Lotos Records *Dvořák: Quintet in E-flat; Quintet No. 1 –

Denon Records Denon Records was a Japanese audiophile record label owned by Denon and distributed by A&M Records from 1990 through 1992. This was a reissue program that included 390 jazz and classical music titles that were issued on compact disc. Artists *Aero ...

*Dvořák: 'Songs My Great-Grandfather Taught Me' – Toccata Classics (2009) *Dvořák: Trio No. 1; Trio No. 2 – Denon Records *Dvořák: Violin Concerto; Romance; Josef Suk: Fantasy – Supraphon *Dvořák: Works for Violin and Piano – Supraphon * Janáček: Complete works for Violin, Cello and Piano – Carlton Classics *Janáček: Sinfonietta, Op. 60; ''Taras Bulba'', rhapsody – Supraphon * Kodály: Musique de chambre – Praga * Martinů: Sonata for violin No. 3; Madrigal Stanzas H.297 – Supraphon *

Mendelssohn Jakob Ludwig Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy (3 February 18094 November 1847), born and widely known as Felix Mendelssohn, was a German composer, pianist, organist and conductor of the early Romantic music, Romantic period. Mendelssohn's compositi ...

: Concerto for violin in E minor; Bruch: Concerto for violin in G minor – Supraphon *

Mozart Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (27 January 17565 December 1791), baptised as Joannes Chrysostomus Wolfgangus Theophilus Mozart, was a prolific and influential composer of the Classical period (music), Classical period. Despite his short life, his ra ...

: Quintets – Denon Records *Mozart: Sinfonia concertante in E-flat; Sinfonia concertante in E-flat – Panton Records *

Ravel Joseph Maurice Ravel (7 March 1875 – 28 December 1937) was a French composer, pianist and conductor. He is often associated with Impressionism in music, Impressionism along with his elder contemporary Claude Debussy, although both composer ...

: Sonatas for Violin and Piano; Sonata for Violin and Cello; Tzigane – Praga *

Schubert Franz Peter Schubert (; 31 January 179719 November 1828) was an Austrian composer of the late Classical and early Romantic eras. Despite his short lifetime, Schubert left behind a vast ''oeuvre'', including more than 600 secular vocal wor ...

: String Quartet No. 1, D.87/String Quintet in C, Op. 163, D.956 Praga *

Suk Suk or SUK may refer to: Places * Suk, Iran, a village in Bushehr Province * Suk Qazqan, a village in Markazi Province, Iran * Seh Suk, a village in Lorestan Province, Iran * Suk Samran District, a district of Ranong Province, Thailand * Santi S ...

: Piano Quintets, Opp. 1 & 8 – Lotos *Suk: Piano Trio; Piano Quartet; Piano Quintet – Supraphon *Karel Ančerl Golden Edition No. 8. CD Supraphon: Praha 2002. SU 3668-2

References

External links

* *

Biography A biography, or simply bio, is a detailed description of a person's life. It involves more than just the basic facts like education, work, relationships, and death; it portrays a person's experience of these life events. Unlike a profile or ...

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Suk, Josef (violinist) Czech classical violists Czech conductors (music) Male conductors (music) Czech classical violinists Male classical violinists Prague Conservatory alumni Recipients of Medal of Merit (Czech Republic) Recipients of the Legion of Honour 1929 births 2011 deaths 20th-century classical violinists 20th-century conductors (music) 20th-century Czech male musicians Burials at Vyšehrad Cemetery 20th-century violists