Obituary: Josef Suk, concert violinist

With the composers Antonin Dvork as his great-grandfather and Josef Suk as a grandfather, it was no great surprise that Josef Suk would establish himself as a musician of major importance and a violinist of international standing. Suk was to become recognised for his outstanding interpretations of the music of his ancestors and that of more contemporary composers - especially Alban Berg and Bela Bartk.

In 1952 Suk formed the Suk Trio (named after his grandfather) and they toured the world giving chamber concerts and championing Czechoslovakian composers. He was always realistic about the pressure to follow in the family's musical traditions and established himself as a musician in his own right. "To be a composer after Dvork and after Suk, I would have to be sensational," he once commented. "I don't have that sort of inspiration. I tried, but it wasn't that good so I stayed with my fiddle."

Suk came to Scotland on several occasions, to play with the Scottish National Orchestra (SNO) and at Edinburgh Festivals. His appearances with the SNO are fondly remembered for his delicate playing, his musicianship and his strong musical technique.

He was never a showman on the platform but preferred to play the music with a straightforward honesty, nonetheless preserving an involving energy and enthusiasm.

Suk made his debut with the SNO in 1968 when he performed Dvorak's Violin Concerto at the Usher Hall and the Glasgow Concert Hall. He returned in 1993 to play the Janacek and Bartok concertos conducted by the then SNO principal conductor Walter Weller in Glasgow (by then at the new Royal Concert Hall) and in the Usher Hall.

At the 1970 Festival Suk joined the BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra under James Loughran in the closing concert in the Usher Hall, again playing the Dvork Concerto. In 1990 he was a member of the Trio which gave two memorable morning concerts in the Queen's Hall.

As well as music by Mozart and Beethoven the trio played Czech works by Martinu and Suk's grandfather. The following year Suk was joined by the renowned pianist Rudolf Firkusny in a programme of Mozart, Smetana and Beethoven. Josef Suk never knew Dvork and he was only five when his grandfather died. His own father chose to avoid music as a profession and became an engineer.

Suk's musical talent was spotted early and he made his debut on the concert platform aged 11. At 19 he represented young Czech musicians at a congress in Paris and Brussels. In the 1950s he was leader of the orchestra of the Prague National Theatre and founded the Suk Trio.

Suk was admired for his ability to switch with some ease from the violin to the viola.He particularly enjoyed playing the viola when a fifth instrumentalist was required to perform his great-grandfather's String Quintet. Suk made his Proms debut in 1964, with Sir Malcolm Sargent conducting concertos by Mozart and Dvorak. The following year he returned to the Proms and, also with Sir Malcolm, played the Beethoven concerto - which he later recorded memorably with the New Philharmonia under Sir Adrian Boult.

Suk was to record widely - both chamber music and with major orchestras. These included everything from the unaccompanied sonatas and partitas of JS Bach to the violin concertos of Bartk and Berg.

He also recorded concertos under the baton of Neville Mariner and Karel Ancerl and was awarded the Grand Prix du Disque on six occasions.

He recorded extensively with the Suk Trio and as their reputation grew internationally they became one of the most celebrated ensembles. They continued to play until they disbanded in 1990. An indication of the trio's stature came when they were invited by Deutsche Grammophon to make the label's first stereo recording, of Dvork's Dumky Trio - one of the composer's most admired works.

In 1999 president Vaclav Havel awarded Suk his country's highest medal for merit and was decorated on his 80th birthday by president Klaus. He also held the title of National Artist in the Czech Republic.

In recent years, though retired, he made a Dvorak recording on the violin and viola with the pianist Vladimir Ashkenazy. Songs My Great Grandfather Taught Me comprised his own transcriptions of vocal works. The disc will be released next year by Toccata Classics.

Some of the music was played by Suk on instruments which had been restored but had been played by Dvork had played in the 1870s.

Josef Suk, who was diagnosed with cancer over a year ago, is survived by Marie Polkov whom he married in 1951.