Stjepan Sulek

[X. Trapnel]

Greetings,

I've only recently discovered this amazing site and must now must give up my smug assumption that I know more obscure composers than anyone (Schmidt-Kowalski forsooth). I see that somebody sometime back posted about Wilhelm Petersen. Since then his ravishing, very un-German (more like Cyril Scott, Bax, or Szymanowski) violin sonatas and piano quintet have been recorded.
Is anyone here interested in the symphonies of the Yugolslav/Montenegren Stjepan Sulek? His 7th is cast in a sort of Bruckner/Schmidt mold but with a harmonic and orchestral palette redolent of Zemlinsky, Korngold, or Schreker. A cpo natural.

[saxtromba]

I don't know Sulek's 7th symphony, but the 6th, once available on a Yugoton LP (which I have treasured for years), is really a wild piece, kind of an ultra-decadent salute to glories past (in a way, it's modelled on Chopin's second sonata, with three lengthy movements followed by a swiftly whirling conclusion, save that in Sulek the last movement is in fact the long-delayed coda to the first.  The second movement scherzo is really weird in a wonderful way, with a prominent bass clarinet part and (in what passes for the trio, save that it's the end of the movement) lots of eerie fluttertongued flutes and clicking percussion.  Wonderful!

Your comment about the 7th symphony doesn't say whether you know it from a live performance or a recording.  The only currently available recordings I know are of his 'Vox Gabrieli' trombone sonata (which is a lovely piece indeed) and a guitar piece.  I'd love to discover other recordings.  Can you suggest any?

[X. Trapnel]

I have 6 and 7 on old Jugotons (bought used) that I've transferred to cd with expectable snap, crackle, pop. If I can dig 7 up I'll happily pass it along to you.

[eschiss1]

this sort of thing always intrigues me; it was only in the last year I was introduced to the very fine, somewhat Prokofiev-like symphonies of Jan (not Hans!) Zimmer...

[Amphissa]

Symphony 6, Symphony 7, Piano Concerto No. 3, and a cello sonata are all available on Ebay, in LP format. Condition is said to be Near Mint (which would mean no snap, crackle and pop on a good analog system. Unfortunately, the prices are very high, and I am not sure I wish to order LPs to be shipped from Slovenia to the U.S.

[eschiss1]

It seems his trombone sonata has been recorded on CD (and appears in Worldcat also in library recordings of faculty recitals). A guitar work by Sulek figures on a Naxos recital CD, too. (Though what I took to be a new edition of a work of his I quite misread - he was the editor, Luka Sorkocevic, of course, was the composer of the symphonies in it- I should remember that recording on cpo. Sorkocevic did not return posthumously to edit Sulek's symphonies.) I am not apparently wholly conscious.

Worldcat also lists a biography/monograph "Stjepan Sulek, 1914-1986" published in 1987 by Jugoslavenska akademija znanosti i umjetnosti of Zagreb, authored I think by Kresimir Kovacevic.

A recentish edition of the trombone sonata seems to be listed, or something. hrm. I hope to find out more, anycase, and of course to hear his music.

[Latvian]

Sulek's 6th has long been one of my favorite symphonies, if not symphonic works of any kind. The orchestration is dazzling and the imagination and subtlety of the work always amaze me! The work seems to evoke longing and bittersweet reflection, especially the first movement in a haze of background percussion and birdsong.

A few years ago, I was fortunate enough to obtain copies of the first four symphonies. Sadly, though, they're of considerably less musical interest than the 6th or 7th. Does anyone out there have dubs of the 5th and/or 8th? I'm still holding out hope that the 5th in particular may be another dazzler. There was a Slovenian website a few years ago that spoke highly of it, but of course the work has never made it to commercial release.

[Amphissa]

I now see Sulek Piano Concerto No. 3 and his Horn Concerto available on LP via Ebay. I would love to hear this composer's music, but I am still not inclined to order LPs from Croatia and Slovenia at amazingly high prices.

[Latvian]

I'm posting links to Sulek's 1st, 2nd, and 4th Symphonies in the downloads page this evening. Details in the downloads discussion page. More to come. Enjoy!