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The Croatian Music Information Centre of the Vatroslav Lisinski Concert Hall proudly presents new sheet music editions of artistically exceptional, yet unjustly forgotten and almost unknown works of Croatian composers. These editions, produced in collaboration with top experts in the field of music publishing, open up rich and exciting sonic worlds – previously hidden under the dust of archives – to the wider circle of music lovers. Not only do these publications significantly enrich the repertoire of Croatian music, but they also offer new generations of musicians the opportunity to discover and revive valuable and intriguing compositions from the nation’s musical heritage.
Papandopulo, Pejačević, Mandić, Tkalčić, Lhotka Kalinski…
By uncovering the secrets of precious manuscripts from old attics, basements, and dusty archive shelves, the editors of the Croatian Music Information Centre (Jelena Vuković, Davor Merkaš, and Ana Unkić) have given a modern sheet music format to nineteen new titles in the fields of opera, symphonic, chamber, and solo music.
Staying true to the idea of publishing large opera scores, which is considered a “royal discipline” in music publishing and addresses the essential need of Croatian culture for this type of publication, the Croatian Music Information Centre presents the score and piano reduction of the comic opera Amphitryon by Boris Papandopulo, a work with an unusual history. After its great success at the premiere in the Croatian National Theatre in Zagreb on February 17, 1940, and a few subsequent performances, the autograph score mysteriously disappeared! After a long search, Croatia’s own “musicological Indiana Jones,” Davor Merkaš, managed to find the lost opera, and the Croatian Music Information Centre, in collaboration with the Zagreb Music Academy, prepared it for performance. Papandopulo’s musical oeuvre in the Croatian Music Information Centre’s publishing catalog is now enriched by another one of his works, a reissue of the Sonata for Violin and Piano, dedicated to pianist Ida Gamulin and violinist Goran Končar.
An important contribution to the editions of chamber works by Croatian composers is certainly Canzonetta in D major, Op. 8 by Dora Pejačević. Originally written for violin and piano, the composer later arranged it for flute and string orchestra, string orchestra, and symphony orchestra.
Among the orchestral scores, the humorous Variations on a Theme by Mozart for large orchestra by Josip Mandić has been published. This work was supposed to be performed by the Czech Philharmonic in 1956, during Mozart’s commemorative year, but for unknown reasons, the performance never took place. In addition to the Variations, attention is drawn to the release of Mandić’s monumental and dramatic Third Symphony, whose modern sheet music will see the light of day for the first time, seven decades after its creation!
In addition to Mandić’s works, an important contribution to the editions of orchestral compositions by Croatian authors is The Comedians, Suite for Small Orchestra with Reciter by Ivo Lhotka-Kalinski, inspired by The Ballads of Petrica Kerempuh, one of the greatest works of Croatian literature by Miroslav Krleža.
Another unjustly forgotten composer, who was renowned in international music circles as an exceptional cello virtuoso but whose work has yet to receive the attention it undoubtedly deserves from Croatian musicology, is Juro Tkalčić. Among Tkalčić’s works, the Croatian Music Information Centre has published Songs for Voice and Piano, as well as the score and piano reduction of the Concerto for Cello and Orchestra in A minor, Op. 10, described as Tkalčić’s “masterpiece” and “the first Croatian concerto for cello and orchestra” (Milan Nagy).
…Cecchini, Lhotka, Gotovac i Livadić…. Brkanović, Pejačević i Vancaš
Croatian sacred music has also received a well-deserved revival with the publication of two magnificent collections: Il terzo libro delle messe ariose… a tre, quattro, cinque e otto voci and Missae tribus, quatuor, quinque, et octo vocibus in organo concinendae, Op. 22 by early Baroque Italian composer Tomaso Cecchini, who had strong ties to Croatia. These editions were published as part of the Opera Omnia series (Volumes 7 and 8), a project undertaken by the Croatian Music Information Centre in collaboration with esteemed musicologists specializing in Renaissance and Baroque music and experts in musical paleography from Croatia, France, Italy, and Slovenia.
An important contribution to the editions of string quartet compositions by Croatian composers includes Concerto for String Quartet by Fran Lhotka, which renowned Croatian musicologist Krešimir Kovačević described as “a work full of freshness and vitality,” and The Invitation, Song, and Dance for String Quartet, Op. 16 by Jakov Gotovac, a kind of “musical collage” of fragments from folk songs and dances.
The guitar repertoire has been enriched with the publication of two Songbooks for three and four guitars by Željko Brkanović.
Piano works are represented by the impressive collection Complete Works for Piano by Ferdo Wiesner Livadić, a key figure in the Croatian national revival, and by a composition with an intriguing history: Vertige, Boston Waltz by Dora Pejačević. This piece was discovered purely by chance by Professor Darko Vađić in a Zagreb antique shop, where he purchased it “for just a few coins”!
Another piano work that can be performed as a two-hand or four-hand piano piece, or in an orchestral arrangement, is Four Slavic Dances, based on the famous dances by Antonín Dvořák. This work comes from the exceptionally talented Croatian composer Antun Vancaš, whose life was marked by tragedy.
Acknowledgment
The Croatian Music Information Centre of the Vatroslav Lisinski Concert Hall extends its gratitude to all collaborators who made invaluable contributions to these publishing projects, so important for Croatian culture. They are: Vincent Besson, Darko Domitrović, Ida Gamulin, Veljko Glodić, Daniel Ille, Sara Jakopović, Goran Končar, Ante Knešaurek, Domagoj Kresnik, Graham McMaster, Maja Oršić Magdić, Felix Spiller, Darko Petrinjak, Dario Poljak, Branimir Pustički, Borivoj Radaković, Ennio Stipčević, Lovro Stipčević, Rosanda Tometić, Pavle Zajcev, and the printing company Intergrafika.
Financial support was provided by the Ministry of Culture and Media, the City Office for Culture and Civil Society of the City of Zagreb, Zagreb County, and the City of Kastav.
Anamaria Ledinek / Davor Merkaš / Jelena Vuković
