Jos Janssen replies to me:

>>Jos Janssen rightly quoted the (2nd) violin concerto among the works by
>>Prokofiev which have some Soviet characteristics.
>
>???? I think you are misquoting me....  Please explain to me the
>"Soviet"character of this work.  I was rather referring to the 6th
>symphony.

Oops, sorry.  Now I see your point.  I mistook this:  "If you ask me, his
best works (a rough estimate:  5th symphony, some of the later sonatas for
piano, the violin- and piano concertos, Romeo and Juliet) bear small marks
of the Soviet situation in which they were composed" as an acknowledgement
that such marks did exist, and thus I did not quite get the connection with
the following remark about the 6th.  Indeed it is hard to point out what
exactly gives me a "Soviet feeling" about the second violin concerto,
especially with words.  Maybe what sounds to me like a touch of unease in
modulations.  Prokofiev's harmonic ingenuity is still there, but sometimes
seems to be superimposed on a thoroughly tonal thought, and a simplified
one (I'd have to confess that when I spent months working on this concerto,
once again a wonderful achievement as a whole, discovering Martinu's
seamless and stricto sensu non-tonal idiom came like a healing balm!).
Some martial features are there as well, without the choregraphic impulse
to be found in, say, Romeo and Juliet.  In fact, I was thinking mostly of
the first movement.

The problem about determining what is or isn't Soviet in Prokofiev is
that many Soviet "orthodox" composers actually borrowed from Prokofiev.
When something seems a bit heavy or less than lofty in Prokofiev, is the
connection with ideology far-stretched? It may be.

Barry Brenesal replies to me:

>>Stjepan Sulek's Classical Concerto No. 2 (1952) is a real gem of that
>>period.
>
>I haven't heard the work, above, and was wondering if
>it uses the essentially dissonant idiom of his Symphony #6?

Oh, this is an interesting reaction as well.  It took me some time to
fully enjoy Sulek's 6th, not because of its dissonances (which actually
do not strike me, although they are factually there) but rather for its
seemingly derivative aspects, notably from Bruckner.  No.  7 is still
"worse" under that respect, verging on the naive, but careful listening
reveals a closely-knit, and ultimately delicate work.  I am adding
"seemingly" since some familiarity with his work does bring out his
personal voice.  Now this symphony appears to me as a very remarkable
achievement, and a good instance of Sulek's orchestral imagination.

The Classical Concerto is much more transparent than the 6th symphony,
despite its inner storms.  It is basically a concerto grosso in G for
strings.  The first movement, "Fanfare", is imperious in tone, opening on
an ostinato G pedal, the main line evolving in parallel sevenths.  It bears
some similarities with, say, some of Bartok's Dances, but there are also
echoes of "sinfonia da chiesa" writing.  Let me say that whereas the 6th
symphony is full of forest sounds, this piece evokes some familiar gothic
church.  It reaches an passionate, radiant climax in the upper register of
strings.  In Sulek's music, dissonances often come from his predilection
for semi-tone shifts, bringing very remote tonalities next to each other,
but the sense of pivotal tone remains quite clear in this concerto, and
there is a wealth of perfect chords indeed.  The central part, "Chorale",
is a slow fugal interplay of fervent, serene but tender melodic lines.  I
find it outstandingly beautiful.  At some point, above the smooth waves of
violas, the divided violins create a genuinely choral texture, both intense
and compassionate, resolving into peaceful quasi-Respighian chords.  The
final part, "Fugue", is a joyful, swirling rondo built on the same thematic
cell as the first movement, now presented in virtuosic thirds.  In a way,
this work would find a good place somewhere between Tchaikovsky's Serenade
for strings, Britten's Simple Symphony and Vaughan-Williams's Tallis
Fantasia!  But of course this says little about its style indeed.

Surprisingly, there does not seem to be a commercial recording of it.  A
new version would be welcome, and such a piece deserves to become part of
the standard repertoire for string orchestra, but I wish that somebody in
Croatia would publish the version of the Zagreb Radio Chamber Orchestra
conducted by the composer, instrumentally rather more satisfactory than
the 6th symphony (also conducted by Sulek), and really magical in the
slow movement.

Symphonies Nos. 6 and 7 were released on Jugoton LPs, so Croatia Records
could make CDs from them, although there is room for better orchestral
performance.  Symphony No. 5 seems to have been recorded by the Zagreb
Philharmonic, according to their website.  Available CDs are:

-- CD HDS/MBZ/Fond Sulek CD 0195, featuring the 2nd piano concerto, 1st
piano sonata (both with Zvjezdana Basic as pianist) and the marvellous,
classical sonata for violin and piano,

-- CD Croatia Records CD-D-K 5052623: the three piano sonatas, as well
as the S.O.S. studies composed for Arturo Benedetti Michelangeli, all
played by Vladimir Krpan,

-- CD Bis CD-258, including his Sonata for trombone and piano "Vox
Gabrieli" by Christian Lindberg and Roland Pontinen.

The first record can be ordered from the Croatian Composers Union, and
probably the second one as well, although this can also be found on some
commercial websites.  The latter work probably is the best-known out of
Croatia, but I, for one, would look forward to a complete recording of
his symphonies.  The violin concerto is very intriguing as well.

Best wishes,

Thanh-Tam Le