J. Suk - Životem a snem, op. 30; Marta Czech

Описание: Recorded on 17.09.2022 in Bielsko-Biała.

Things lived and dreamt op.30 by Josef Suk - this cycle of ten pieces was written between 10 April and 3 June 1909. After coming to terms with the painful losses of the past years - the deaths of his mentor and father-in-law Antonín Dvořák (1904) and his wife Otilie (1905) Suk only managed to find time for composition inbetween his concert tours as violinist of the Bohemian Quartet or during the summer holidays. The piano cycle Things lived and dreamt represents an important chapter in the composer's musical journey- it was written between his tone poem A Summer's Tale op.29 and his symphonic poem Ripening op.34. Suk himself described the cycle as 'a sort of artist's diary'. The pieces are dedicated to Olga Drtinova, the wife of philosopher and Prague university professor Frantisek Drtina, who came from a village in the same region as Suk. The three of them would meet regularly in the summer holidays in the vicinity of Krecovice. The premiere of the piece was given by the composer himself in Prague (1910), as part of a concert entitled 'The intimate piano poetry of Josef Suk'. In the piece one can find reminiscences of musical motives from, among others, Ripening, Lullaby (composed by Otilie), piano cycle About Mother, incindental music to Julius Zeyer's play Raduz and Mahulena, Asrael Symphony, as well as Dvořák's Requiem.