In time his music became more dissonant, rougher in harmony and melody. In the mid-1950’s he integrated into his composing technical arsenal elements of dodecaphony, jazz (most vigorously in the late fifties and early sixties; Concerto for Piano and Orchestra No 3, Mosaic for Classical String Quartet and Jazz Quartet, Capriccio for Violin Solo and Jazz Quartet, Ein Orchestermosaik and so on). Later, pop came in, as did other technical composition techniques of the avant-garde in music of the 20th century, although he retained an ironical distance from some of them, subjecting them on occasions to irony or parody.
The origin of part of Papandopulo’s oeuvre of the 1960’s and 1970’s is related to his guest appearances and acquaintanceships with musicians in the then divided Germany (BNR and DDR), where he had opportunities to meet outstanding artistic personalities, as well as recent European musical creation.
Ideologically grounded aesthetic worldviews never inhibited Papandopulo in his choice of non-musical subjects for his own works; he always found, in each one of them, universal ideas, profound human values. At the beginning of this work he found non-musical stimuli in topics related to the older strata of the folk tradition – in “legends, rites and myths” (Svatovske / Bridal, Dodolice, a Folk Ritual for the Solo Soprano, Piano and Girl’s Choir Op 2, Zlato / Gold, Utva zlatokrila / Ruddy Shellduck). Later, after 1950, very curiously, he drew his inspiration from apparently diametrically opposed worldviews. At the same time he would write compositions of religious topics – from the Croatian Catholic mass with traces and elements of Glagolitic chant (Osorski rekvijem / Osor Requiem, Pučka poljička misa / Folk Mass from Poljica, the cantata Jubilate and a number of smaller religious works) and also monumental works of socialist realism (inspired by the ideology and poetics of the post-war socialist revolution and the People’s Liberation War, such as the musical-poetical work Pasija po srcu / Passion After the Heart, the poetic-musical vision Credo, 1943 – cycle of songs to words by I. G. Kovačić) as well as those inspired by Croatian history (the cantatas Libertas, Pohvala Dubrovniku / In Praise of Dubrovnik, Non bene pro toto libertas venditur auro, Mile Gojslavica and the triptych for mixed voice choir and large symphony orchestra Istarske freske / Istrian Frescos and so on).
Papandopulo went on composing with vigour and inspiration almost to the day of his death, a full 65 years. In all these works he showed himself a master of his craft – a witty musician of inexhaustible and fresh inspiration, very well versed in the technical procedure of composition, of musical forms and the technical capacities of both instruments and voice.
As well as a number of concerts and solo works for individual instruments Papandopulo left a marked trace on the ballet and opera of his time. His seven operas (Amfitrion, Rona, Sunčanica, Madame Buffault, Kentervilski duh / The Canterville Ghost, Požar u operi / Fire in the Opera House, Marulova pisan / Song of Marul) and 15 ballets (Žetva / The Harvest, Tri kavalira gospođice Melanije / Miss Melania’s Three Gentlemen, Teuta, Horoscope (ballet suite for two pianos), Ties (ballet sketch for chamber ensemble), Gold (pantomime ballet with singing and orchestra), Kći dalmatinskih planina / Daughter of Dalmatian Mountains, Intermezzo, Beatrice Cenci, Gitanella, “Dr. Atom”, Kraljevo, Prsten / The Ring, Menschen im Hotel, Der Königsreiher) have demonstrated their anthological values in the many repeated performances at home and around the world. He composed music for an impressive number of stage productions and films, and also devoted some of his opuses for children and young people (puppet performances, instrumental compositions and instrumental concerti).
A large number of his works feature an authentic and typically Papandopulo buoyant and infectious musical humour (in a large range from tonal play full of brightness to flippancy and rough musical grotesquery) in which he often quotes themes of other authors (Grotesque for Tuba, Piano and Percussion, Pop Concerto for Two Pianos and Orchestra, Magic Flute, Papandopulijada, Divertimento alla pasticcio and so on).
It is not possible to give a concise, pithy and yet comprehensive evaluation of Papandopulo’s vast oeuvre from today’s point of view because of the inaccessibility of the scores. Nevertheless, Dubravko Detoni, himself a composer, did make an effort in this direction in the following words: “If it were necessary to utter some kind of definition, then a summation of Papandopulo’s oeuvre should be sought in its being some kind of synthesis of all the more important modern influences from world music in combination with rhythmical, melodic and harmonic features of the Croatian folk melody.”
Irrespective of the time of composition or the stylistic or musical expressive orientation, Papandopulo’s “music very easily and spontaneously makes direct contact with the listener”, and musicians are glad to play it.
Boris Papandopulo played an important role as an arranger of folk songs from the wider region (south east Europe and the Balkans) and as populariser and arranger of works of other composers. This particularly refers to anthological compositions of Croatian concertante and operatic music, some of which he revitalised and put on the stage in his own arrangement (some of the works of Lisinski, Zajc and Krežma, for example).

Davor Merkaš © Croatian Music Information Centre

Citation: Merkaš, Davor, „Boris Papandopulo”. Introduction to the sheet music: Boris Papandopulo. Four Preludes for Piano, Croatian Music Information Centre, Zagreb 2019, pp. XI-XIII.