Josef Suk (1874-1935) was a Czech composer and violinist, a pupil and son-in-law of Antonín Dvořák. He was also a founding member of the Czech Quartet, giving him a major place in chamber performance as well as composition.

His works include the Asrael Symphony, the Serenade for Strings, chamber music, piano pieces and orchestral works. Asrael, written after the deaths of Dvořák and Suk’s wife Otilie, is his most powerful score.

Suk’s music is lyrical, deeply felt and harmonically rich, moving from Dvořák’s world toward a more inward and complex early modern idiom. It often carries grief, tenderness and refinement together.

Though still underperformed outside Czech repertory, Suk is a substantial composer. His finest music has the quiet weight of private sorrow made architectural.