Songs for Voice and Piano / Organ / Violin

Dora Pejačević (1885 – 1923) is one of the most talentet female composers at the turn of the 18th and 19th centuries. She studied at the Croatian Music Institute in Zagreb then briefly in Dresden with Sherwood and in Munich with Courvoisier. For the most part, however, she was self-taught and developed her musical talents through contact with other artists and intellectuals, such as Karl Kraus. Her ancestral home was at Našice (near Osijek), but she also travelled extensively to Budapest, Munich, Prague and Vienna. After 1921 she lived mainly in Munich. Her works were performed most frequently outside Croatia; part of her Symphony, for example, was first given in Vienna (25 January 1918) and the complete work was performed later in Dresden. Her late Romantic idiom, enriched with Impressionist harmonies and lush orchestral colours, evolved as she strove to break free from drawing-room mannerisms and conventions... Dora Pejačević composed solo songs throughout her entire creative life. From the first songs composed in 1900 and 1901 to the cycle Tri dječje pjesme (Three Children’s Songs, Op. 56) which was written in 1921, less than two years prior to the composer’s death, Dora Pejačević always returned again to vocal miniatures which by their nature corresponded particularly well with the most concealed part of her being. Apart from Lieder for voice and piano, she composed two solo songs for a somewhat expanded and less usual ensemble: they were the songs Ave Maria and Verwandlung (Transfiguration), both for voice, violin and organ. The choice of song texts can be very characteristic to the Pejačević profile of a composer. What type of text attracted Dora Pejačević? Paul Wilhelm, Wilhelmine Wickenburg-Almásy, Anna Ritter, Ernst Strauss and the composer herself are the writers of the verses for her early vocal compositions. After Verwandlung to verses by Karl Kraus, she often selected worthwhile and distinctive poetic originals, so that her later vocal works were marked by encounters with the lyrics of Karl Kraus, Rainer Maria Rilke and Friedrich Nietzsche. It is obvious that the poetic form, language, symbolism and musical pliability of their poetry also enriched Dora Pejačević’s artistic expression and stimulated her to uncover a series of new musical nuances and details. On the other hand, the confrontation with the multi-layered poetic visions of these poets was a challenge to the composer, and speak of her daring and her aspirations to emerge from standardised schemes. Finally, the poet who wrote the verses for one of the last vocal opuses by Dora Pejačević was Karl Henckell (Zwei Lieder / Two Songs) whose verses were also used for Zwei Schmetterlingslieder for voice and orchestra. (Koraljka kos