Jakov Gotovac (; October 11, 1895October 16, 1982) was a Croatian

composer A composer is a person who writes music. The term is especially used to indicate composers of Western classical music, or those who are composers by occupation. Many composers are, or were, also skilled performers of music. Etymology and def ...

and

conductor Conductor or conduction may refer to: Biology and medicine * Bone conduction, the conduction of sound to the inner ear * Conduction aphasia, a language disorder Mathematics * Conductor (ring theory) * Conductor of an abelian variety * Cond ...

classical music Classical music generally refers to the art music of the Western world, considered to be #Relationship to other music traditions, distinct from Western folk music or popular music traditions. It is sometimes distinguished as Western classical mu ...

. His comedic

opera Opera is a form of History of theatre#European theatre, Western theatre in which music is a fundamental component and dramatic roles are taken by Singing, singers. Such a "work" (the literal translation of the Italian word "opera") is typically ...

, '' Ero s onoga svijeta'' (''Ero the Joker''), Croatia's best-known opera, was first performed in

Zagreb Zagreb ( ) is the capital (political), capital and List of cities and towns in Croatia#List of cities and towns, largest city of Croatia. It is in the Northern Croatia, north of the country, along the Sava river, at the southern slopes of the ...

in 1935.

Biography

Gotovac was born in

Split Split(s) or The Split may refer to: Places * Split, Croatia, the largest coastal city in Croatia * Split Island, Canada, an island in the Hudson Bay * Split Island, Falkland Islands * Split Island, Fiji, better known as Hạfliua Arts, enter ...

(then part of

Austria-Hungary Austria-Hungary, also referred to as the Austro-Hungarian Empire, the Dual Monarchy or the Habsburg Monarchy, was a multi-national constitutional monarchy in Central Europe#Before World War I, Central Europe between 1867 and 1918. A military ...

) and initially had little if any formal education in music. He was fortunate to be encouraged and supported by Josip Hatze, Cyril Metoděj Hrazdira and

Antun Dobronić Antun Dobronić (; 2 April 1878 – 12 December 1955) was a Croatian composer and pupil of Vítězslav Novák. He studied at the Prague Conservatory from 1910 to 1912. From 1922 to 1940, he served as professor at the Zagreb Academy of Music. ...

who instilled him with a nationalistic orientation in music. He started as a law student in

, but switched to writing music in 1920. In

Vienna Vienna ( ; ; ) is the capital city, capital, List of largest cities in Austria, most populous city, and one of Federal states of Austria, nine federal states of Austria. It is Austria's primate city, with just over two million inhabitants. ...

, he studied in the class of

Joseph Marx Joseph Rupert Rudolf Marx (11 May 1882 – 3 September 1964) was an Austrian composer, teacher and critic. Life and career Marx was born in Graz and pursued studies in philosophy, art history, German studies, and music at Graz University, earnin ...

. Back home, in 1922 he worked with Masaryk's Philharmonia Society Kolo founded in

Šibenik Šibenik (), historically known as Sebenico (), is a historic town in Croatia, located in central Dalmatia, where the river Krka (Croatia), Krka flows into the Adriatic Sea. Šibenik is one of the oldest Croatia, Croatian self-governing cities ...

by Vice Iljadica in 1899. In 1923 he moved to Zagreb, where he kept working both as conductor and composer until his death. Between 1923 and 1958, he was the opera conductor at the Croatian National Theatre (''Hrvatsko narodno kazalište''), and leader of an academic musical society Mladost, and of the choir

Vladimir Nazor Vladimir Nazor (30 May 1876 – 19 June 1949) was a Croatian poet and politician. During and after World War II in Yugoslavia, he served as the first President of the Presidency of the Croatian Parliament (Croatian head of state), and first ...

. His best-known work is '' Ero s onoga svijeta'' (a

libretto A libretto (From the Italian word , ) is the text used in, or intended for, an extended musical work such as an opera, operetta, masque, oratorio, cantata or Musical theatre, musical. The term ''libretto'' is also sometimes used to refer to th ...

written by

Milan Begović Milan Begović (; January 19, 1876 – May 13, 1948) was a Croatian novelist, playwright, translator, and lyricist. Biography Begović was born in Vrlika, Kingdom of Croatia-Slavonia, then a part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, in 1876, the so ...

) which has been performed on all continents except

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

, and has been translated into nine languages. It has been performed in more than 80 theatres in Europe alone. He also wrote numerous other works for orchestra as well as vocal music,

piano A piano is a keyboard instrument that produces sound when its keys are depressed, activating an Action (music), action mechanism where hammers strike String (music), strings. Modern pianos have a row of 88 black and white keys, tuned to a c ...

pieces, and others. In his works, Gotovac represents the late

national romanticism Romantic nationalism (also national romanticism, organic nationalism, identity nationalism) is the form of nationalism in which the state claims its political legitimacy as an organic consequence of the unity of those it governs. This includes ...

, with Croatian

folklore Folklore is the body of expressive culture shared by a particular group of people, culture or subculture. This includes oral traditions such as Narrative, tales, myths, legends, proverbs, Poetry, poems, jokes, and other oral traditions. This also ...

being the main source of ideas and inspiration. Musically, he prefers homophonic textures and fairly simple harmonic structures in keeping with the folk idiom he admired. Gotovac died at the age of 87 in

(then

SFR Yugoslavia The Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (commonly abbreviated as SFRY or SFR Yugoslavia), known from 1945 to 1963 as the Federal People's Republic of Yugoslavia, commonly referred to as Socialist Yugoslavia or simply Yugoslavia, was a country ...

). He is buried at

Mirogoj Cemetery The Mirogoj City Cemetery (, ), also known as Mirogoj Cemetery (), is a cemetery park that is considered to be among the more noteworthy landmarks in the city of Zagreb. The cemetery inters members of all religious groups: Catholic, Orthodox, M ...

Works

Orchestral works

* ''Simfonijsko kolo'' (''

Symphonic A symphony is an extended musical composition in Western classical music, most often for orchestra. Although the term has had many meanings from its origins in the ancient Greek era, by the late 18th century the word had taken on the meaning ...

kolo''), Op. 12 (1926) * ''Pjesma i ples s Balkana'' (''Song and Dance from the Balkans''), Op. 16 (1939) * ''Orači'' (''Men and ploughs''), Op. 18 (1937) * ''Guslar'' (''

Gusle The gusle () or lahuta (; related to English ''lute'') is a bowed single- stringed musical instrument (and musical style) traditionally used in the Dinarides region of Southeastern Europe (in the Balkans). The instrument is always accompanie ...

player''), Op. 22 (1940) * ''Dinarka'' (''Lady from

Dinara Dinara is a mountain range in the Dinaric Alps, located on the border of Bosnia and Herzegovina and Croatia. It has four major mountains or peaks, from north-west to south-east: * Ilica or Ujilica (1,654 m) * Sinjal or Dinara (1,831 m), epony ...

'') (1945) * ''Plesovi od Bunjevaca'' (''The dances from

Bunjevci Bunjevci ( sh-Latn-Cyrl, separator=" / ", Bunjevci, Буњевци, ; sh-Latn-Cyrl, label=, separator=" / ", Bunjevac, Буњевац, sh-Latn-Cyrl, label=, separator=" / ", Bunjevka, Буњевка) are a South Slavs, South Slavic sub-ethnic ...

'') (1960)

Choral works

* 2

Scherzo A scherzo (, , ; plural scherzos or scherzi), in western classical music, is a short composition – sometimes a movement from a larger work such as a symphony or a sonata. The precise definition has varied over the years, but scherzo often r ...

s (1916) * 2 pjesme za muški zbor (2 songs for men's choir) (1918) * ''2 pjesme čuda i smijeha'' (''2 songs of wonder and joy'') (1924) * ''Koleda'' (1925) * ''Dubravka'':

Pastorale Pastorale refers to something of a pastoral nature in music, whether in form or in mood. In Baroque music, a pastorale is a movement of a melody in thirds over a drone bass, recalling the Christmas music of ''pifferari'', players of the traditi ...

for

Choir A choir ( ), also known as a chorale or chorus (from Latin ''chorus'', meaning 'a dance in a circle') is a musical ensemble of singers. Choral music, in turn, is the music written specifically for such an ensemble to perform or in other words ...

Orchestra An orchestra (; ) is a large instrumental ensemble typical of classical music, which combines instruments from different families. There are typically four main sections of instruments: * String instruments, such as the violin, viola, cello, ...

, text from

Ivan Gundulić Dživo Franov Gundulić (; 8 January 1589 – 8 December 1638), better known today as Ivan Gundulić, was the most prominent Baroque literature, Baroque poet from the Republic of Ragusa (now in Croatia). He is regarded as the Croatian national ...

, Op. 13 (1927–28) * 3 momačka zbora (3 choruses for boys' voices) (1932) * ''Pjesme vječnog jada'' (''Songs of Eternal Sorrow'') (1939) * ''Pjesme zanosa'' (''Songs of Excitement'') (1955)

Vocal solo works

* ''Djevojka i mjesec'' (''A girl and the moon'') for

alto The musical term alto, meaning "high" in Italian (Latin: '' altus''), historically refers to the contrapuntal part higher than the tenor and its associated vocal range. In four-part voice leading alto is the second-highest part, sung in ch ...

& orchestra (1917) * ''Erotski moment'' za glas i glasovir (''Erotic Moments'' for voice & piano) (1929) * 2 Sonate za bariton i orkestar (2 sonatas for

baritone A baritone is a type of classical music, classical male singing human voice, voice whose vocal range lies between the bass (voice type), bass and the tenor voice type, voice-types. It is the most common male voice. The term originates from the ...

& orchestra) (1921) * Pjesme djevojčice za jedan glas i glasovir (Songs for girl's voice & piano) (1923) * ''Gradom'' za glas i glasovir (''Through the Town'' for voice & piano) * ''Rizvan-aga'' za bariton i orkestar (''Rizvan-aga'' for bariton & orchestra (1938) * ''Pjesme čežnje'' za glas i orkestar (''Songs of Passion'' for voice & orchestra) (1939)

Operatic works

* ''Morana'', Op. 14 (1928–30) * '' Ero s onoga svijeta'' (''Ero the Joker''), Op. 17 (1933–35) * ''Kamenik'', Op. 23 (1939–44; UA 1946) * ''Mila Gojsalića'', Op. 28 (1948–51; UA 1952) * ''Đerdan'', Op. 30 (1954–55) * ''Dalmaro'', Op. 32 (1958; UA 1964) * ''Stanac'', Op. 33 (1959) * ''Petar Svačić''. Opera-Oratorij (opera

oratorio An oratorio () is a musical composition with dramatic or narrative text for choir, soloists and orchestra or other ensemble. Similar to opera, an oratorio includes the use of a choir, soloists, an instrumental ensemble, various distinguisha ...

, Op. 35 (1969; 1971)

References

External links

Ero s onoga svijeta - in EnglishVatroslav Lisinski Music Hall - in Croatian
{{DEFAULTSORT:Gotovac, Jakov 1895 births 1982 deaths 20th-century Croatian classical composers 20th-century Croatian conductors (music) 20th-century male composers Croatian opera composers Croatian male classical composers Croatian male conductors (music) Members of the Croatian Academy of Sciences and Arts Musicians from Split, Croatia Burials at Mirogoj Cemetery People from the Kingdom of Dalmatia Vladimir Nazor Award winners