The Sorkočevićes. Aristocratic Musicians from Dubrovnik (book and CD)

„In a year in which we commemorate the 280th anniversary of the birth of Luka Sorgo (or Sorkočević as it has become customary to write his surname), it is possible to conclude that the more than half-a-century’s interest in his work and compositions has far from waned. On the contrary, since the symposium that was organised in 1980 by Stanislav Tuksar for the Osor Musical Evenings and the two-volume Proceedings that were published by the Music Information Centre in 1983, we can record further and recent results of research into the Sorgo family. Some of the works have been presented to the international audience, editions of the scores of previously neglected compositions have been published and, probably most important of all, recordings of new interpretations of the authentic compositions of this prominent Ragusan have been released. However, concurrently there have been advances in research into musical sources in Croatia, and knowledge about the music and the musicians who worked in the area has been deepened and arrived at maturity. In the new state of affairs in Croatia – now an independent state that is part of the European Union – it is possible to publish results of examinations of the musical culture of the 18th century, not diminishing the significance of local musicians, but not passing over the importance of the careers of those from abroad, who either temporarily or lastingly realised their potentials in the region and contributed to the advancement of local musical life as composers, teachers, interpreters and as implementers of new musical works, new genres, new ways of playing. It was in this atmosphere that the current book was devised and written. It covers and brings together previous research into the careers in music of Luka and Antun Sorgo (and one chapter is devoted to an associate member of the family, shown to have been “the first Croatian woman composer”, Jelena Pozza-Sorgo/Pucić-Sorkočević). At the same time their work has been placed in the context of the happenings of the time, their primary occupations and the domestic and international forces that affected them from the musical point of view. It is a fortunate circumstance that scholars from other disciplines, above all historians, have published their researches related to the period and cultural setting in question, which has filled in certain hiatuses and unknowns and enabled the creation of a more complete picture of their activity.“ (Vjera Katalinić)