Annual List of Works : SOKOJ-Music Information Center Serbia and Montenegro
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Title
Ja na Tvoj poziv ( I Go calmly at Thy Call ) – from Testament of P.P Njegosh the Bishop of Montenegro (the fifth movement)
Composer
Rajko Maksimovic, 1935, Serbian, Makenzijeva 35, 11000 Belgrade, Serbia
Genre
vocal-instrumental / oratorial
Instrumentation
mixed choir + Flute, Violin 1., Violin 2, Viola, Cello, Piano
Year of composition
1984 (version in Serbian – a cappella); 1986 – with orchestra;
2006 (version in English)
Duration
(not longer than 12 minutes!) 5 min.
Place of premiere performance
Kolaratz Hall, Belgrade, Serbia
Date of premiere performance
1986, 04,17
Performers
Zivan Saramandic, basso; Choir “Obilic-Krsmanovic”; Chamber orchestra “Dusan Skovran”, conducted by Darinka Matic-Marovic
Score
Publisher
Published by the composer, Makenzijeva 35, 11000 Belgrade
URL: http://www.rajko-maksimovic.net http://www.myspace.com/rajkomaksimovic
E-mail: maksimovicr@sbb.co.yu
Recording
Record company: Radio-Belgrade, Hilandarska 2, 11000 Belgrade
URL: www.rts.co.yu/muzicka
E-mail: muzicka.produkcija@rts.co.yu
Edition-No.: Private demo CD [It has not been published so far]
Performers: Choir “Obilic-Krsmanovic”; Chamber orchestra “Dusan Skovran”, conducted by Darinka Matic-Marovic
Motivation
Rajko Maksimovic is one of the best known Serbian composers specialised for choir. At the same time he continues the best Serbian vocal tradition and enriches it with modern sensibility. The fifth movement of Testament of P.P. Njegosh the Bishop of Montenegro in one of the best examples. This work has been successfully performed many times in USA, France, Russia, Israel, Bulgaria, former Yugoslav Republics and Serbia.
Programme note
Ja na Tvoj poziv (I Go calmly) is the last (5th) movement of the larger work – Testament of P.P. Njegosh the Bishop of Montenegro, for bass solo, choir and small orchestra (sung in Serbian). The text of the Testament is, in fact, Bishops letter to God prior to his death. This movement has been performed many times a cappella, but for this occasion the coposer propose 5 essential instruments + piano.
Biography
Rajko Maksimovi?, (b Belgrade, 27 July 1935) completed postgraduate studies in composition under Miloševic at the Belgrade Academy of Music (1965). On a Fulbright scholarship he spent a year at Princeton (1965-6) working mostly on electronic music with James Randall. He joined the staff at the Academy (now a faculty at the University of Arts in Belgrade) in 1963, and in 1975 he became professor of composition and orchestration. In his more technically accomplished works Maksimovic combines neoclassical elements with colouristic techniques associated with the Polish school. This combination is particularly evident in his dramatic works based on Serbian historical sources, for example Kad su živi zavideli mrtvima ('When the Living Envied the Dead', 1963) or Buna protiv dahija ('The Uprising against Dakhias', 1978). Other works showing Polish influence include Tri haiku ('Three Haiku', 1967), Musique de devenir (1965) and Diptych for orchestra (“Not to Be or to Be?” + “Eppur si Muove”, 1969-70). He has received several awards, among them the Stevan Hristic prize (1961), prizes from Yugoslav radio and television (1963, 1974, 1975), Mokranjac Prize (1984) and the October Award of the City of Belgrade (1989).
Works: (selective list)
Orchestra: Piano Concerto, 1961/2003; Musique de devenir, orchestra, 1965; Diptych: Not to Be or to Be?, orchestra, 1969; Eppur si Muove, orchestra, 1970;
Vocal: Kad su živi zavideli mrtvima [When the Living Envied the Dead] (epic partita, medieval Serb. texts), choir, orchestra, 1963; Three Haiku, female chorus, 24 instruments 1967; Iz tmine pojanje [Chants out of Darkness] (6 madrigals), choir, 1974-5; Buna protiv dahija [Uprising against Dakhias] (dramatic oratorio, P. Višnjic), 4 actors, children's & mixed choirs, orchestra, 1978; Za mirisom rascvetale trešnje [After the Scent of the Blossomed Cherry] (5 haiku), S, Chamber ens, 1981; Palabras en Piedra [Words in Stone] (Mexican Indians), choir + opt. perc. Testamenat [Testament] (P. Petrovich Nyegosh, Bishop of Montenegro), B, choir, orchestra, 1984-6; Pasija svetoga kneza Lazara [The St Prince Lazarus Passion] (Maksimovic, after 15th- and 16th-century texts), nar, 4 solo vv, 2 choirs, orchestra, 1989; Možda spava [She Sleeps perhaps] (Vl. Petkovi?-Dis), Mez, Chamber ens, 1992; Sudba [Fate] (M. Crnjanski), choir, 1993; Iskušenje, podvig i smrt Sv. Petra Koriškog [Temptation, Feat and Death of St. Peter of Korisha] (Theodosius of Chilandar), nar, T, Mez, S, choir, Orchestra, tape, 1994; Ovo i ono [This and That] (M. Be?kovi?), choir, 1995; Les Proverbes de Fénis, (mediaeval texts), S, A, T, B, ens of ancient instruments, 1995. Psalm 90, children’s and mixed choirs, flute, trumpet, horn, 2005.
Instrumental: Partita Concertante, violin and strings, 1965; Trialogue, clarinet, string trio, piano, 1968; Jeu à quatre, 2 piano 8 hands, 1977; Tenderly?, Chamber ensemble, 1979; Prélude à l’avant-midi d’un faune, flute and strings; Rosebud, strings; Rukovet [Garland], flute, violin and strings, 2003.
Principal publishers: Udruženje kompozitora Srbije, Autograph Edition (his own editing).
Bibliography: V. Pericic: Muzicki stvaraoci u Srbiji [Musical Creators in Serbia] (Belgrade, 1969) [incl. Eng. summaries]; M. Veselinovic: Stvaralacka prisutnost evropske avangarde u nas [The Creative Presence of the European Avant garde in Serbia] (Belgrade, 1983); D. Despic: 'Dva nova kosovska stuba: kompozicije Ivana Jevtica i Rajka Maksimovica na temu Kosovskog boja' [Two New Kosovo Columns: compositions by Jevtic and Maksimovic on the Battle of Kosovo], Zvuk, no.2 (1989), 31-8; I. Vuksanovic: 'Komunikacija kao imperativ stvaranja: Razgovor sa Rajkom Maksimovicem' [Communication as an imperative of creation: an interview with Maksimovic], Novi zvuk, no.6 (1995), 5-160; H. Medic: 'Semantica mita i muzike u Pasiji svetoga kneza Lazara Rajka Maksimovica' [The semantics of the myth and music in Maksimovic's Pasija svetoga kneza Lazara], Srpska muzicka scena: Belgrade 1993, 430-46