Eugen Suchon

Eugen Suchon was a Slovak composer and music educator. After studying at the Bratislava Academy of Music and the Prague Conservatory, he began teaching at the Bratislava Academy. He composed in a post-Romantic style, and he frequently arranged Slovak folk songs, which influenced the modal qualities of his own works, particularly his first opera, Krútnava (The Whirlpool). From 1948 to 1960, he served as the head of the Department of Music Education at the Bratislava Teacher Training College, while writing numerous chamber and vocal works. This middle period culminated in Král' Svätopluk (King Svätopluk), his second opera, which won international attention. It was performed in Bratislava, Prague, and Kolsice in 1960. From 1959 until his retirement in 1974, Suchon was professor of music theory at Bratislava University. His music in this period was strongly influenced by serialism, and in his later years he composed mostly orchestral and chamber works. ~ Blair Sanderson