Josef Suk: Fantastic Scherzo
Fantastic Scherzo by the great Czech composer Josef Suk premiered at Prague’s Rudolfinum in 1905.
Josef Suk, who was born in 1874, was one of Antonín Dvořák’s favourite students and indeed married Dvořák’s daughter, Otilie Suková.
The composer and violinist was initially strongly influenced by Dvořák before finding his own voice. His teacher had died by the time Suk’s Fantastic Scherzo was premiered in 1905 by the Prague Conservatory.
Though Suk is known for intimate, expressive piano cycles, the Scherzo fantastique saw the Czech bring the concert hall genre, associated with names like Mendelssohn and Berlioz, into the 20th century.
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