Songs of Love for Women’s Choir and Piano

Joseph Hatze (1879 – 1959) completed his studies in composition in 1902 at the Rossini Conservatory in Pesaro with the operatic composer Pietro Mascagni. Returning home to Split, he worked as a choir teacher at the Central Technical School in Split and was the choirmaster at the choral society Zvonimir. During World War II Hatze became a refugee in El Shatt in Egypt. There he organized a camp choir. Hatze taught the basics of music to his grandson, Ruben Radica (b. 1941), who became a professional musician, teacher and composer. Hatze wrote up to 60 songs. He wrote the cantatas Night at Una (verses by Hugo Badalić), Exodus and Golemi Pan. Hatze's sense of drama was applied in both the orchestral work of the operas of The Return and Adel and Mara.