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Ljubica Marić (Љубица Марић , 18 March 1909 – 17 September 2003) was a
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 ...
from
Yugoslavia , common_name = Yugoslavia , life_span = 1918–19921941–1945: World War II in Yugoslavia#Axis invasion and dismemberment of Yugoslavia, Axis occupation , p1 = Kingdom of SerbiaSerbia , flag_p ...
. She was a pupil of
Josip Štolcer-Slavenski Josip Štolcer-Slavenski (Serbian Cyrillic: Јосип Штолцер-Славенски; 11 May 1896 – 30 November 1955 ) was a Croatia, Croatian composer and professor at the Music Academy in Belgrade. British musicologist Jim Samson descr ...
. She was known for being inspired by
Byzantine The Byzantine Empire, also known as the Eastern Roman Empire, was the continuation of the Roman Empire centred on Constantinople during late antiquity and the Middle Ages. Having survived the events that caused the fall of the Western Roman E ...
Orthodox church music. She was
professor Professor (commonly abbreviated as Prof.) is an Academy, academic rank at university, universities and other tertiary education, post-secondary education and research institutions in most countries. Literally, ''professor'' derives from Latin ...
at the Faculty of Music in Belgrade and a member of the
Serbian Academy of Sciences and Arts The Serbian Academy of Sciences and Arts (; , SANU) is a national academy and the most prominent academic institution in Serbia, founded in 1841 as Society of Serbian Letters (, DSS). The Academy's membership has included Nobel Prize, Nobel la ...
. Ljubica Marić is considered to be the most original Serbian composer of the twentieth century and musically the most influential one.


Life

Born in Kragujevac, Serbia to father Pavle and mother Katarina née Đorđević, a descendant of Vojvoda Čolak-Anta Simeonović, one of the leaders of the
First Serbian Uprising The First Serbian Uprising (; sr-Cyrl, Први српски устанак; ) was an uprising of Serbs in Orašac (Aranđelovac), Orašac against the Ottoman Empire from 14 February 1804 to 7 October 1813. The uprising began as a local revolt ...
. Ljubica traveled a huge artistic and intellectual journey in order to facilitate the advancement of
Serbian music Music of Serbia represents the musical heritage of Serbia, both historical and modern. It has a variety of traditional music styles, which are part of the wider Balkan musical tradition, with its own distinctive sound and characteristics. Musi ...
. She was the first Serbian to get a diploma in composition in 1929. At the State Conservatory in
Prague Prague ( ; ) is the capital and List of cities and towns in the Czech Republic, largest city of the Czech Republic and the historical capital of Bohemia. Prague, located on the Vltava River, has a population of about 1.4 million, while its P ...
, she attended postgraduate studies under Josef Suk. While she was a student, she received praise in festivals in Amsterdam, Strasbourg and Prague. She was described as a genially gifted woman, and her music was promoted by the great supporter of contemporary music, Hermann Scherchen. Her music was performed by the most important chamber ensembles and orchestras, and she was offered by
Alois Hába Alois Hába (21 June 1893 – 18 November 1973) was a Czech composer, music theorist and teacher. He belongs to the important discoverers in modern classical music, and to the major composers of microtonal music, especially using the quarter-to ...
a post of the associate professor at the Department for quartertone music at the Prague State Conservatory.
World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...
disrupted her international career so she spent most of her life in
Belgrade Belgrade is the Capital city, capital and List of cities in Serbia, largest city of Serbia. It is located at the confluence of the Sava and Danube rivers and at the crossroads of the Pannonian Basin, Pannonian Plain and the Balkan Peninsula. T ...
, where she focused on composing more works. She was also engaged in visual arts, wrote philosophical poetry, worked as a professor of Belgrade Music Academy and a member of the Serbian Academy of Arts and Sciences. Ljubica Marić was the first composer to use Byzantine church music in non-liturgical compositions. She synthesized medieval music with the avant-garde experience of
20th-century music The following Wikipedia articles deal with 20th-century music. Western art music Main articles *20th-century classical music *Contemporary classical music, covering the period Sub-topics * Aleatoric music *Electronic music *Experimental music *E ...
in her work, creating pieces with philosophical lyrics. Her music announced the beginning of
postmodernism Postmodernism encompasses a variety of artistic, Culture, cultural, and philosophical movements that claim to mark a break from modernism. They have in common the conviction that it is no longer possible to rely upon previous ways of depicting ...
and
minimalism In visual arts, music, and other media, minimalism is an art movement that began in the post-war era in western art. The movement is often interpreted as a reaction to abstract expressionism and modernism; it anticipated contemporary post-mi ...
, and she is regarded as a precursor of
Arvo Pärt Arvo Pärt (; born 11 September 1935) is an Estonian composer of contemporary classical music. Since the late 1970s, Pärt has worked in a minimalist style that employs tintinnabuli, a compositional technique he invented. Pärt's music is in p ...
and
John Tavener Sir John Kenneth Tavener (28 January 1944 – 12 November 2013) was an English composer, known for his extensive output of choral religious music, religious works. Among his best known works are ''The Lamb (Tavener), The Lamb'' (1982), ''The ...
. Towards the end of her life, Ljubica Marić's music was again enthusiastically received in big European music centers of
Netherlands , Terminology of the Low Countries, informally Holland, is a country in Northwestern Europe, with Caribbean Netherlands, overseas territories in the Caribbean. It is the largest of the four constituent countries of the Kingdom of the Nether ...
,
Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...
and
Great Britain Great Britain is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean off the north-west coast of continental Europe, consisting of the countries England, Scotland, and Wales. With an area of , it is the largest of the British Isles, the List of European ...
. In
Amsterdam Amsterdam ( , ; ; ) is the capital of the Netherlands, capital and Municipalities of the Netherlands, largest city of the Kingdom of the Netherlands. It has a population of 933,680 in June 2024 within the city proper, 1,457,018 in the City Re ...
a CD with her chamber music was published. The foundation KölnMusik commissioned her new composition, and publishing house Furore Verlag from
Kassel Kassel (; in Germany, spelled Cassel until 1926) is a city on the Fulda River in North Hesse, northern Hesse, in Central Germany (geography), central Germany. It is the administrative seat of the Regierungsbezirk Kassel (region), Kassel and the d ...
produced scores of all her compositions. A CD with her most representative compositions was published by Chandos. Ljubica Marić is regarded by some as one of the most original creators from the second half of 20th century.


Legacy

In 2009, the Permanent Delegation of the Republic of Serbia to UNESCO requested that UNESCO should be associated with the 100th anniversary of the birth of Ljubica Marić. “Ljubica Marić has used en entire arsenal of contemporary music in order to achieve a high goal. She speaks from the depth of her soul with clear and impressive language…” – this is how Dmitry Shostakovich has characterized Ljubica Marić's music. Her music and the originality of her expression were praised by numerous other great artists of 20th century, such as Bartok, Lutoslawski, Haba, Nicolas Slonimsky, Hermann Schrechen and Marius Flothuis. All of them have considered that Ljubica Marić's compositions are among the greatest music creations of 20th century.


List of compositions

* Sorrow for the Girl, for men choir (1928) * Sonata fantasia, for violin solo (1928/29) * String quartet (1930/31) – lost * Wind quintet (1931) * Music for Orchestra (1932) * Suite, for quartertone piano (1936/37) – lost * Trio, for clarinet, trombone and double bass (1937) – lost * Sketches, for piano (1944) – lost * Four improvisations and fugue's on the themes of Octoëchos, for piano (around 1944) – lost * Three Preludes and Etude, for piano (1945, rev. 1997) * Two songs, for mixed choir (1945) – lost(Romanija, The Mist) * Triumphal March, for symphony orchestra (probably 1945) – lost * Three folk songs, for mixed choir (1946) * Children's Choirs (1946/64)(Chicken's Worries, Nightingale and the Hunters, Enigmas, Violet's Shortcoming) * Song and Dance, for piano (1947) * Branko's Round Dance, for piano (1947) * Sonata for violin and piano (1948) * Verses from “The Mountain Wreath”, for baritone and piano (1951) * Songs of Space, cantata for mixed choir and symphony orchestra (1956) * Passacaglia, for symphony orchestra (1957) * Octoïcha 1, for symphony orchestra (1958/9, rev.1998) * Byzantine Concerto, for piano and orchestra (1959) * The Threshold of Dream, cantata for soprano, mezzo-soprano, narrator and chamber orchestra (1961) * Ostinato super thema Octoïcha, for piano, harp and string orchestra (1963) * Lament, Pastoral and Hymn, for mixed choir and instrumental ensemble, from the  * music for the speaking oratorio Words of Light (1962/66)(redaction Mirjana Živković, 2009) * The Enchantress, melodic recitation for soprano and piano (1964) * Song for the Flute (1976) * Invocation, for double bass and piano (1983, rev. 1998) * Monodia Octoïcha, for cello solo (1984) * From the Darkness Chanting, recitative cantata for mezzo-soprano and piano (1984) * Asymptote, for violin and string orchestra (1986) * The Wondrous Milligram, for flute and soprano (1992) * Archaia, for string trio (1992) * Archaia 2, for wind trio (1993, rev. 1998) * Torso, for piano trio (1996, rev. 1998)


References


External links


article from New Sound journal, THE LIFE AND WORK OF LJUBICA MARIĆ
2009.

(German language)
Faculty of Music in BelgradeOfficial website
of the Serbian Academy of Sciences and Arts
List of worksljubicamaric.com
{{DEFAULTSORT:Maric, Ljubica 1909 births 2003 deaths Musicians from Kragujevac Serbian classical composers Serbian women classical composers Microtonal musicians Academic staff of the University of Arts in Belgrade Members of the Serbian Academy of Sciences and Arts 20th-century women musicians Čolak-Antić family