Thursday 7 July 2011

Josef Suk died yesterday

Josef Suk died yesterday after a long illness. Please read the full story here in České Noviny. The news is more than "just" the death of a great violinist but also of a lineage. Suk's grandfather was Josef Suk the composer and his great grandfather was Antonin Dvořák.  Please read my post on Dvořák, Josef Suk the eldest, and his Asrael Symphony. At left there's a photo of Ottilka Dvořák holding her baby son, father of the late violinist. It was taken in 1901. A few years later Ottilka was dead, but Josef Suk, the violinist, was born in 1929, and was old enough to remember his grandfather, who died in 1935.  Maybe Suk has musical descendants, but it doesn't matter: all of us have learned from the "family". I heard Suk live only once when I was too young to appreciate. But here is a clip which now seems quite poignant. And here is a link to Martin Anderson's obituary. Martin always writes beautifully, and knowledgeably, but this is truly personal.  The thing with obits is that they're written long before the event, so have a nice elegaic quality about them which is way beyond "ordinary" journalism. (PS I am writing MORE about Vitezslava Kaprálová songs in the next few days. Please come back)LOTS on this site about Czech music and film

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