If you think your life sucks, consider that of Josef Suk.
Suk (1874-1935) was the pupil and eventual son-in-law of Antonin Dvořák. Though he experienced a degree of anxiety before breaking to his mentor the news of his love for Dvořák’s beautiful daughter Otilie – the struggle and romance of which he channeled into his fairy tale suite, “Pohádka” – Dvořák, who respected Suk mightily, joyfully consented to their union. So everyone lived happily ever after, right?
Unfortunately, happily ever after didn’t last very long. Over a span of 14 months, when the composer was in his early 30s, he lost both his mentor and his wife. The double-blow led to a new intensity in Suk’s work, as exemplified by the dark exploration of his “Asrael Symphony” (Azrael is the Angel of Death). Suk’s idiom, which had been steeped in the Czech nationalism of his teacher, took on a new morbidity so that he came to be regarded as one of the leading composers of Czech modernism. Austrian composers Gustav Mahler and Alban Berg began to take notice of his work. We’ll content ourselves with some of his happier stuff.
Suk was a founding member of the Czech Quartet. His grandson was the famous violinist who shared his name.
I hope you’ll join me today, between 4 and 7 p.m. EST, as we celebrate the birthday anniversaries of Josef Suk and Giovanni Battista Pergolesi. We’ll try not to be too morbid about it, on WWFM – The Classical Network and at wwfm.org.
PHOTOS: Life Suks (Otilie, left, and Josef Suk)