PERCUSSION EXPERIENCE

This time, as the last percussion concert, we are going to premier two pieces written by myself, apart from other works that will be performed for the first time in Croatia. Last time, the pieces I composed were only written for percussion: one duo focused on visual elements, almost choreographic, and the rhythm construction, and a quartet that was intended to explore the largest possible palette of percussion possibilities: more than 30 instruments, several sticks, hand percussion and effect tools (chains, tables, wooden boxes…), use of pre-recorded loops, use of audio and video… This time I wanted to preserve this beautiful cooperation we create with our friend and colleague Anita Primorac, and for it I wrote a small trio representing it with a shared timpani between us three, and each of us with one skin instrument (toms and timpani) and some other metal ones (dobachi, trash cymbal, break from a car, tamtam and the thunder machine). With this small amount of instruments (compared to my quartet) I develop a main theme that comes all the time and helps the audience to follow the piece. The second piece I wrote is for violin, cello and percussion. Is divided in 3 movements: Allegro-Andante, Lento, and Vivace. It is a very melodic and tonal piece with modernistic touches, with influences from rock and metal music (with the rhythmical fifths in the bass of the cello and marimba), French impressionism and modernism (augmented fifths, major sixths in minor chords, transposed mediant harmonies) and from some of my reference composers like Bartok, Messiaen or Ligeti, which marks the 100th anniversary of his birth this year.

The concept of the concert is a mix of many ideas like the promotion of music among young people, with the collaboration of the SiNKOPA ensemble; to give visibility to contemporary music; or showing the possibilities of the percussion as a soloist instrument.

The ensemble started in Rijeka as a duo with Osman and Pedro (violinist and percussionist) when we met in the orchestra of the Croatian National Theatre of Rijeka. We recorded in the Contemporary Art Museum a musical comment on an exhibition of David Maljkovic, and some chamber music pieces in the theatre during the pandemic, unfortunately without audience. After Golnar (cellist) came to Rijeka, she joined the ensemble and we started immediately looking for projects and repertoire for our uncommon ensemble. We were asked to compose the music for a documentary “Around About” by Swedish-Iranian director Behzad Khosravi Nouri, and for the theatre play “Fahrenheit 45” with director Ivan Penović, becoming both a big success. We are in process of other upcoming similar projects.

Our vision for the ensemble is to get an independent speech and language by creating new music with composers from all around the globe and doing our own arrangements of pieces originally written for other instruments and cooperating with other art disciplines, as dancing, drama or literature. We work with live electronics, electroacoustics, video and lighting to try to offer a “total current show” that we believe is interesting for the entire spectrum of the public.

Our repertoire includes composers like Peteris Vasks, Iannis Xenakis, Dave Maric, Arvo Pärt, Astor Piazzolla and others.