Sacred Latin Songs

Ferdo Livadić (1799 – 1879) recieved his musical education in Graz. After graduation he settled at his family estate in Samobor (Croatia) and spent the rest of his life there, composing in his spare time. During the Croatian national movement (1835–48) he was a prominent supporter of its leader, Ljudevit Gaj. He composed numerous art songs in Croatian, Slovenian, and German, as well as marches, dances and scherzi for piano. Probably the best of these piano works is a Nocturne in F sharp minor (1820) written even before famous Chopin's nocturnes. „Livadić's compositions in Latin reflect the composer's readiness to create artistic music of higher value. They are based on the artistic prose of psalms, hymns and antiphons and their musical features surpass their historical frame and enable performance outside the (strictly defined) church spaces. Moreover, Livadić's sacral songs are full of cheerfulness and the lyrical character of early romantic music, almost as if the composer transferred secular solo songs into the sacral frame.“ (Rozina Palić Jelavić)