Josef Suk

Josef Suk Sheet Music

  • Born: 4th January 1874
  • Died: 29th May 1935
  • Birthplace: Křečovice, Czech Republic

Josef Suk was a Czech composer and violinist. Suk's musical style started off as heavily marked by Dvořák's work, though this Czech influence slowly became more German and Austrian in style. The biggest change of Suk's style came after a "dead end" in his musical lifestyle just before he began the shift of style during 1897–1905, perhaps realizing that his known Dvořák influence would restrain his work. Morbidity was always a large factor in Suk's music. For instance, he wrote his own funeral march in 1889. Ripening, a symphony, was also a story of pain and questioning the value of life. Others of his works represent his happiness, such as the music he set to Julius Zeyer's drama Radúz a Mahulena. Another of Suk's works, Pohádka ('Fairy Tale'), was drawn from his work with Radúz a Mahulena. The closest Suk came to working with opera is music his wrote for the play Pod jabloní or 'Beneath the Apple Tree'.