In 1988 a German critic wrote that Foretić, resorting to humour, has found an adequate exit from the difficulty created by “the age of lost obligatoriness”. If one accepted this claim unquestioningly, it might mean the risk of interpreting Foretić’s exit from difficulty according to popular saying, “Keep smiling”. However, we should also ask ourselves about Janus’s other face, the one which is not so cheerful. If one would really deal with two faces, one being independent of the other in its actions, it is quite difficult to imagine that music, which would result from such a defective duality, could be taken seriously. But, the additional problem with Foretić’s music lies in the fact that only two faces do not suffice when it comes to survey of his creative activity. His complex artistic physiognomy, in which the composer becomes interchangeable with the versatile performer (singer, pianist, actor, conductor) and lyricist, clarifies the relation between “burden” and “joy” in a distinctive way: “joy” is really a reaction to “burden”, but it comes as a conscious opposition. This explains the bitter taste of reality, which has been mocked at, in all that “joy” and humour pouring out of Foretić’s music.
This might be the best definition of Foretić’s involvement as a man, artist and composer, which permeates his whole opus and accumulates in the context of his specific creative poetics. This feature can also be noticed in his compositions presented on this CD. (Nikša Gligo)
HDS - Cantus, 2001.
988 984 9579 2
