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SLOVAKIA
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Introduction
The 20th-century history of Slovak music has been intertwined with that of
the former Czechoslovakia, though Slovak composers have not been as
prominent as those of the Czech lands. Following the formation of
Czechoslovakia in 1918, the foundation of the Slovak National Theatre in
1919 initiated Slovak opera, while the teaching influence of Novák (see the Czech Republic) encouraged
Slovak composers; he himself was influenced by the music of the Tatras
Mountains. The early works of Alexander Moyes (1906-1984) included the
influences of jazz and Constructivism, but he then turned to the influence
of Slovak folk music, with its vital rhythms. This period includes the
symphonic suite Down the Váh (1935), a set of five symphonic poems
following the course of the river in the manner of Smetana's Vltava. His later music was influenced by Stravinsky, and again included jazz elements. His output
includes nine symphonies, a flute concerto, a piano concerto, and the Wind Quintet (1933). The contribution of Ján Cikker (1911-1989)
was mainly in the field of opera; his earlier operas incorporate folk and
nationalist elements, but the later, highly expressive works adopt an
atonal and free 12-tone harmonic idiom. Juro Jánošík (completed
with final revisions 1955) is based on the story of the Slovak Robin Hood,
the 18th-century outlaw of the title, to a libretto by Štefan Hoza that
adds a love interest and ends with the gallows. Beg Bajazid (1955)
pits the Turks against the Slovaks, with a folk-like story of a boy
captured by the Turks, growing into manhood as a Turk, and returning to his
native land and reverting to its values. Mr.Scrooge
(1957-1959, revised as Evening, Night and Morning, 1963) was based
on Dickens. His later operas moved away from the nationalist themes, and
tackled powerful literary sources. Vzkriesenie (Resurrection, 1962) is drawn from Tolstoy's last novel, Hra láske a smrti (The Play of Love and Death,
1969) is based on a novel by the French writer Romain Rolland, and
Shakespeare was set in Coriolanus (1972). The Sentence: Earthquake in Chile, first performed 1979) is based on
Kleist, while his last opera, Zo života hmyzu (From the Life of Insects, first performed 1987), used The Insect Play by the Capek brothers as its source. His concert
music includes the first Slovak piano concerto, the Concertino
(1942) for piano and orchestra, two popular symphonic dances (Dupák, 1950, and Verbunk, 1951), and the Slovak Suite (1953) for orchestra. The most important Slovak
composer of this generation is Eugen Su chon (born 1908), who is again best known for his operas.
Slovak Music Information Centre:
Slovensky Hudobny Fond
Medena 29, CS-81102
Bratislava
Slovakia
tel: +42 7 331380
fax: +42 7 333569
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SUCHON
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SUCHON
Eugen
born 25th September 1908 at Pezinok
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Eugen Suchon is the best known Slovak composer, whose music commended
itself to both the Nazi and to Communist regimes. His earlier music is
unashamedly Romantic, sometimes with modal inflections, and includes the
cycle Noc carodejnic (The Night of the Witches, 1927) for
orchestra, the Serenáda (1932) for wind quintet, arranged for
string orchestra in 1933, and the programmatic Burleska
(1933) for violin and orchestra, to which Suchon added material in 1948 to
create a short violin concerto Fantázia a burleska. In the Baladická suita (Ballad Suite, 1934) for orchestra (also
version for piano) the image of the ballad is not prominent; instead a
large Romantic orchestra, with the addition of side-drum, creates what
amounts to a tone-poem, elegiac in the second of four movements, tuneful
and colourful but not especially memorable.
Suchon also produced a number of vocal works reflecting the Slovak
countryside, including the cycle O hrách ( About the Mountains, 1934-1942) for male voice choir, and the
grand Žalm zeme Podkarpatskej ( Psalm of the sub-Carpathian Lands, 1938) for tenor, chorus and
orchestra, whose twin themes of the beauty of the countryside and the
repression of the people appealed to the later Communist regime. This
nationalist element culminated in the opera Krútnava ( The Whirlpool, 1941-1949, revision 1952), to a libretto by Štefan
Hoza from a novel by M.Urban. The title refers to a psychological state
rather than a physical phenomenon, and the story of jealousy and murder
combines social comment with a folk tradition. It is set in the early 1920s
in the Slovak mountains, and its central character is Katrena, who develops
from a shy wife to a decisive independent personality, illustrating the
considerable repression of women in this period. The music (especially the
choruses) include folk-like songs and dances, and two actual folk-songs. Metamorfózy (1953) for orchestra are a set of variations
on original themes, lushly Romantic, in an idiom that in all intents and
purposes looks back to Novák,
well-wrought, pleasant, with moments of grander triumph and lyrical
atmosphere, but too unidiomatic to be of real interest. These works had
used extended harmonies drawn from folk music (including chords of 11ths
and 13ths), and in his next opera Suchon extended his harmonic idiom with
the use of 12-note rows within a wider harmonic cast, and preferring modal
inflections. The national historic grand opera Svätopluk
(1959) is set in the 9th century, and in spite of the use of 12-tone
techniques has a traditional harmonic feel. The second act has some very
atmospheric writing for both protagonists and chorus, and exceptionally
powerful dramatic sections with echoes of J anácek. Although the first and third acts are less
memorable, this is worth investigating for those interested in more unusual
nationalistic operatic repertoire. Unfortunately, given Suchon's evident
sense of psychological drama and vocal writing, no other operas have
appeared. Since the song cycle Ad astra (1961) for soprano and
small orchestra or piano, he has embraced a chord structure system ranging
from the diatonic to 12-note, leading to writing in multiple modes. He has
also used sets of different pieces as part of a larger structure: Kaleidoskop (1968), for example, embraces a piano
concerto and an organ and percussion work among its components.
Suchon taught at the Bratislava Academy from 1933, the Bratislava High
School from 1950, and at Bratislava University (1959-1974). He was
President of the Czechoslovak Composer Organization from 1973.
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works include:
- Prielom Symphony; Sinfonietta Rustica
- clarinet concertino; Nocturne for cello and orch.; Ballad for horn and orch.; Rapsodická suita for piano and
orch.; Fantázia a burleska and Sonatina for violin and
orch.; Symfonická fantázia na BACH for organ, strings and
percussion; Kaleidoskop for piano, organ, strings and percussion
- Due pezzi concertanti for clarinet and piano; violin sonata;Počme macabre for violin and piano; string quartet; piano quartet; Serenáda for wind quintet (also string arrangement)
- Malá suita s passacagliou (Little Suite with Passacaglia, also orchestrated),Obrázky zo Slovenska (Pictures from Slovakia) and Toccata for piano
- Baladická suita, Metamorfózy and Noc carodejnic; Six Compositions for strings
- song cycles including Ad astra and Nox et solitudo for
soprano and small orch. or piano; Slovenské l'udové piesne (Slovak Folksongs) for tenor, chorus and small orch.;Žalm zeme Podkarpatskej for tenor, chorus and orch.; O horách and Slovenská piesen for male voice choir; other
vocal works
- ballet Angelika
- operas Krútnava and Svätopluk
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recommended works:
opera Krútnava (The Whirlpool, 1941-1949, revision 1952)
opera Svätopluk (1959)
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