Charles J. Suck

Last updated March 19, 2019

Charles J. Suck was an 18th-century composer, oboist, and flutist who was active in London during the 1780s. The European Magazine described him as "proficient on both the oboe and the German flute." He is particularly remembered for his Trio no. 1 in C major.

London is the capital and largest city of both England and the United Kingdom. Standing on the River Thames in the south-east of England, at the head of its 50-mile (80 km) estuary leading to the North Sea, London has been a major settlement for two millennia. Londinium was founded by the Romans. The City of London, London's ancient core − an area of just 1.12 square miles (2.9 km²) and colloquially known as the Square Mile − retains boundaries that follow closely its medieval limits. The City of Westminster is also an Inner London borough holding city status. Greater London is governed by the Mayor of London and the London Assembly.

The European Magazine was a monthly magazine published in London. Eighty-nine semi-annual volumes were published from 1782 until 1826. It was launched as the European Magazine, and London Review in January 1782, promising to offer "the Literature, History, Politics, Arts, Manners, and Amusements of the Age." It was in direct competition with The Gentleman's Magazine, and in 1826 was absorbed into the Monthly Magazine.

Biography

Not much is known about Suck's background, with his date and place of birth currently unknown. Some evidence suggests that he may have been of central European descent. One of the earliest mentions of Suck was a notice for a benefit concert given by Johann Christian Fischer on 16 May 1781 which described Suck as a "scholar" of Fischer. Suck and Fischer played in several more London concerts together during the 1780s.

Johann Christian Fischer was a German composer and oboist, one of the best-known oboe soloists in Europe during the 1770s.

In 1784 Suck performed a double concerto with fellow oboist Friedrich Ramm and in May and June of that year performed in the Handel Commemoration at Westminster Abbey and the Pantheon. It was also the year that his set of six trios was published; two each for oboe, flute and violin, with violin and cello. Melodious and well crafted, the trios, particularly the first one, became popular chamber performance pieces during the latter part of the 18th century. George IV, then the Prince of Wales, was notably an exponent of the pieces.

Friedrich Ramm (1744–1813) was a German oboist for whom Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart wrote several works.

The Handel festival or "Commemoration" took place in Westminster Abbey in 1784, to commemorate the twenty-fifth anniversary of the death of George Frideric Handel in 1759.

Westminster Abbey, formally titled the Collegiate Church of Saint Peter at Westminster, is a large, mainly Gothic abbey church in the City of Westminster, London, England, just to the west of the Palace of Westminster. It is one of the United Kingdom's most notable religious buildings and the traditional place of coronation and burial site for English and, later, British monarchs. The building itself was a Benedictine monastic church until the monastery was dissolved in 1539. Between 1540 and 1556, the abbey had the status of a cathedral. Since 1560, the building is no longer an abbey or a cathedral, having instead the status of a Church of England "Royal Peculiar"—a church responsible directly to the sovereign.

The last known correspondence surrounding Suck is a May 1789 article in the Public Advertiser which stated that Suck was unable to appear at a concert (18 May 1789) at the Hanover Square Rooms where he was supposed to premiere an overture. He had apparently broken his right arm at a gentleman's musical party earlier that month and was unable to perform. After this point, no accounts of performances by Suck or compositions by Suck have been found. Scholars have speculated that he may have moved away from London or that his accident had something to do with the end of his career.

The Public Advertiser was a London newspaper in the 18th century.

The Hanover Square Rooms or the Queen's Concert Rooms were assembly rooms established, principally for musical performances, on the corner of Hanover Square, London, by Sir John Gallini in partnership with Johann Christian Bach and Carl Friedrich Abel in 1774. For exactly one century this was the principal concert venue in London. The premises were demolished in 1900.

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References

Peter Platt and Richard Platt. "Charles J. Suck", Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians Oxford University Press 2007

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