Josef Suk - String Quartet No. 1, 2

 

Josef Suk, early 1900s

(4 January 1874 – 29 May 1935)

was a Czech composer and violinist. He studied under Antonín Dvořák, whose daughter he married.

 

 String Quartet No. 1, Op. 11 (1896)

1. Allegro moderato
2. Intermezzo: Tempo di marcia (8:37)
3. Adagio ma non troppo (12:40)
4. Finale: Allegro giocoso (21:28)

Suk Quartet

Description by Margaret Godfrey [-]
Suk's first String Quartet was written during his early teens; he later developed the second and most accomplished movement into the Barcarolle for string quartet, published separately later in his life. In 1896, he had been playing with the Czech Quartet for four years and had developed enormously as a composer, so his Op. 11 string quartet was a work of far greater depth and maturity. The work is made up of four contrasting movements, with an almost military Intermezzo and a sweepingly lyrical Adagio placed between the energetic first and last movements. Thus the later works of the mature Suk are foreshadowed in this serene and skillful composition.

In 1915 he revisited this work, completely rewriting the last movement in the vein of his then-current compositional method. As a result, the finale is completely different from the rest of the work. Despite the composer's desire to incorporate the changes into future performances of the quartet, it is generally performed in its original version.

 

String Quartet No. 2, Op. 31 (1911)

This quartet, being one of Suk's most expressive and progressive works, has got complicated one-movement construction that contains elements of the sonata cycle. 9:01 - Adagio middle section combined with scherzo elements and described by Suk himself as "an almost religious song of love and devotion."

Performers: Suk Quartet.

Photos: Czech Quartet (Karel Hoffmann, Josef Suk, Hanuš Wihan, Jiří Herold, drawing by Hugo Boettinger, 1907); Czech Quartet (Hoffmann, Wihan, Oskar Nedbal, Suk); Suk with violin; Czech Quartet (Hoffmann, Suk, Ladislav Zelenka, Herold); Suk at the piano; Suk in 1906; Otilie Dvořáková-Suková (Dvořák's daughter and Suk's wife); Dvořák (Suk on the right behind him); Suk with Václav Talich and Vítězslav Novák; Otilie with their little son; Suk in his native region; Czech Quartet (Suk, Zelenka, Herold, Hoffmann); Suk in 1906; Suk at the piano; Suk in his workroom; Suk (portrait by Hugo Boettinger); Suk (portrait by Max Švabinský); Suk relaxing.