Šimun Matišić: Five Short Stories, for flute and chamber string orchestra

Five Short Stories for flute and chamber string orchestra was composed in 2023 at the initiative of Matišić’s friend and long-time collaborator – the flautist Dani Bošnjak – who also gave the work its premiere with the Zagreb Soloists at the 50th Osor Musical Evenings on 19 July 2025. It is a five-movement, virtuoso concertante piece for flute and chamber string orchestra, which brings diversity and contrasts framed by a solid formal framework. By carefully shaping a fluid musical discourse into a compelling whole, Šimun Matišić creates a succession of contrasting dialogues between the soloist and the ensemble, enriching the work’s multilayered texture with an attractive spectrum of timbral colours and a striking rhythmic vitality.
The title, which – according to the author – is perhaps more appropriate for a literary piece, arose from his desire to approach composition in a different way, in order to arrive at unusual and interesting formal situations. As he explains: “Structurally speaking, each story features a principal and a secondary character (that is, the first and second theme, or a musical situation), who – throughout the stories (movements) – sometimes cooperate, sometimes enter into conflict, or simply exist independently of one another. Likewise, the relationship between the soloist and the orchestra is naturally associated with the relationship between an individual and a collective, the main and secondary character; so the title and structure of Five Short Stories thus imposed themselves on me.” Matišić also emphasises his particular enjoyment of composing for specific musicians, especially when they are close friends. In the case of Five Short Stories, the exceptional artistic and technical abilities of Dani Bošnjak afforded him complete creative freedom throughout the compositional process. For Five Short Stories, for flute and chamber string orchestra, Šimun Matišić was awarded the Croatian Composers’ Society Boris Papandopulo Award for original work in the field of classical music, for the year 2025.

(Bojana Plećaš Kalebota, translated by Mia Pleša)

HDS, Cantus, 2026.
Edition numbers: Can. ‭410-3831
ISMN 979-0-801363-83-1