The five movements of this hour-long symphony are all connected by a network of thematic relationships, the most important of which is a ‘death motif’, with a characteristic double tritone.
He gave it the subtitle ‘Asrael‘, the angel of death, who in the Islamic faith leads the souls of the departed to paradise. Devastated, the composer turned the work into a requiem for the two, completing it in 1906. He had completed the first three movements when, in 1905, his young wife Otylka – the daughter of Dvorak – also passed away.
Josef Suk began writing his Asrael Symphony in 1904 as a memorial to his revered teacher Antonin Dvorak, who had recently died. Classics Today 10/10, Disc of the Month: "This is one smoking performance of Suk's masterpiece" Gramophone: outstanding.
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