Kuljerić, Igor: Croatian Glagolitic Requiem

Igor Kuljerić was presented with the award for “the most significant contemporary music achievement in 1996” by the jury of the Vjesnik (Croatian daily) award “Josip Slavenski”. In July 1997 Croatian Glagolitic Requiem was the official representative of Croatia at the European Month of Culture in Ljubljana. 

The title of the composition refers to the conscious intertwining of Glagolitic melismata of the entire Croatian Mediterranean circle, from Pazin to Kotor, with the architecture and form of the Latin requiem and its unique dramatic arch, as well as with all the fertile influences of the Croatian coastal region. Drawing upon the echoes and reverberations of musical modes, which reach us from the depths of history, and avoiding “quoting” and “copying” of the patterns of the available, familiar musical examples deriving from distant tradition, this composition listens attentively to some layers which have removed from the traditional courses and canons. 

 

The premiere was held on 27^th July 1996 within the Musical Evenings in Donat. Two days after the Zadar premiere in the old Glagolitic Church of St. Krševan, Kuljerić’s composition appeared at the Zagreb Summer Festival (the Atrium of Klovićevi dvori), and in autumn at the festival the Samobor Music Autumn. The jury of the Vjesnik (Croatian daily) award “Josip Slavenski” presented him with the award for “the most significant contemporary music accomplishment in 1996”. In July 1997 Croatian Glagolitic Requiem was the official representative of Croatia at the European Month of Culture in Ljubljana. The author himself conducted the performances in Zadar, Zagreb and Samobor, and from the guest performances in Slovenia onwards the conductor has been Tonči Bilić. The collaborators on the work have been somewhat changed - the alto singer Marika Juniku entered the team instead of Marija Klasić-Kajmar, and the Croatian Choir “Ivan pl. Zajc” has been reinforced. The Choir and Symphony Orchestra of the Croatian Radio Television as well as soloists Nelly Manuilenko, Janez Lotrič and Josip Lešaja have been involved in the project from the very beginning.

The audio recording of the concert performance on 15^th April 1999 at the Vatroslav Lisinski Concert Hall features the same artists. The recording exists as a permanent document on the new CD published by Cantus, Croatian Composers’ Society and Croatian Television.