Asrael (symphony)

Josef Suk´s symphony for large orchestra in C Minor Asrael, Op. 27, (1905-1906), was written in mourning for his teacher and father-in-law Antonín Dvořák (died 1904), and Suk´s wife and Dvořák´s daughter Otilie (died 1905).

Background

The composition was titled after the Islam angel of death Asrael, who leads souls of deceased to the land of eternal blissfulness. Suk began to compose his funeral ["Album notes (SU 3830-2), p. 10"] symphony at the beginning of 1905. The work was planned out in five movements, the sketches of three movements were finished less than a half year later. On 6 July, 1906, in the middle of the work, Suk´s wife Otilie died. ["Dopisy o životě hudebním i lidském, p. 60"] Although the composition was to be also a celebration of Dvořák´s life and work, the desolated composer rejected the optimistic tone of the rest of the work. The complete score was finished on 4 October, 1906. The work was dedicated "to the exalted memory of Dvořák and Otilie""Album notes (SU 3864-2), p. 10"] . Suk dedicated the last two movements to Otilie.

The symphony was premièred on 3 February, 1907 at the Prague´s National Theatre, conducted by Karel Kovařovic. Karel Hoffman and Jiří Herold, members of the Czech Quartet, attended the première as the concertmasters of the orchestra of the National Theatre. ["Dopisy o životě hudebním i lidském, p. 65"]

Norman Lebrecht has singled out Václav Talich's 1952 recording of the Asrael Symphony with the Czech Philharmonic Orchestra on Supraphon as #19 in his list of the 100 best recordings of the century. [Norman Lebrecht, "Masterpieces: 100 Milestones of the Recorded Century" "The Life and Death of Classical Music". New York: Anchor Books (2007): 181 - 182]

Structure

The composition is in five movements:
# Andante sostenuto
# Andante
# Vivace
# Adagio
# Adagio e maestoso

The influence of Dvořák´s composing style, apparent in previous Suk´s work, is not noticeable in this composition. Suk leads his musical language rather to the modern polyphonic and harmonic techniques. ["Hudební slovník pro každého, p. 518"]

The Asrael Symphony represents a significant milestone in the context of Suk´s oeuvre. The composer´s bright and optimistic character of musical expression shifts to fundamental questions of human existence."Album notes (SU 3864-2), p. 10"]

Notes

References

*cite book |title=Dopisy o životě hudebním i lidském |last=Suk |first=Josef |authorlink=Josef Suk (composer) |coauthors=ed. Jana Vojtěšková |year=2005 |publisher=Editio Bärenreiter |location=Prague |isbn=80-86385-31-0 |pages= |url=
*cite book |title=Hudební slovník pro každého II. |last=Vysloužil |first=Jiří |authorlink= |coauthors= |year=2001 |publisher=Lípa |location=Vizovice |isbn=80-86093-23-9 |pages= |url=
*cite album-notes |title=Asrael, A Summer´s Tale, The Ripening, Epilogue, Fairy Tale, Praga (Czech Philharmonic Orchestra, cond. Václav Neumann, Libor Pešek) |albumlink= |bandname=Josef Suk |year=2006 |notestitle= |url= |first=Vít |last=Roubíček |authorlink= |coauthors=transl. Ted Whang |pages=p. 8-12 |format=CD |publisher=Supraphon |publisherid=SU 3864-2 |location=Prague |mbid= [http://www.supraphon.cz/cs/katalog/databaze-titulu/detail-titulu/?idtitulu=2008592]
*cite album-notes |title=Stabat Mater (Dvořák), Asrael (Czech Philharmonic Orchestra and Choir, Václav Talich) |albumlink= |bandname=Josef Suk |year=2005 |notestitle=We Generally Drink Our Pain Alone |url= |first= |last= |authorlink= |coauthors= |pages=p. 8-15 |format=CD |publisher=Supraphon |publisherid=SU 3830-2 |location=Prague |mbid= [http://www.supraphon.cz/cs/katalog/databaze-titulu/detail-titulu/?idtitulu=2007489]