Count Luka Sorkočević (; January 13, 1734 – September 11, 1789) was

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 the

Republic of Ragusa The Republic of Ragusa, or the Republic of Dubrovnik, was an maritime republics, aristocratic maritime republic centered on the city of Dubrovnik (''Ragusa'' in Italian and Latin; ''Raguxa'' in Venetian) in South Dalmatia (today in southernmost ...

. His music has been preserved, like other Sorkočević family possessions, in the archives of the

Dubrovnik Dubrovnik, historically known as Ragusa, is a city in southern Dalmatia, Croatia, by the Adriatic Sea. It is one of the most prominent tourist destinations in the Mediterranean Sea, Mediterranean, a Port, seaport and the centre of the Dubrovni ...

Franciscan The Franciscans are a group of related organizations in the Catholic Church, founded or inspired by the Italian saint Francis of Assisi. They include three independent Religious institute, religious orders for men (the Order of Friars Minor bei ...

convent A convent is an enclosed community of monks, nuns, friars or religious sisters. Alternatively, ''convent'' means the building used by the community. The term is particularly used in the Catholic Church, Lutheran churches, and the Anglican ...

. He is known as the first Croatian symphonist.

Biography

Luka (Lukša) Sorkočević was born in

and received an extensive education. His music teacher was the Italian composer

Giuseppe Valenti Giuseppe Valenti was a Sicilian sculptor who was active in the late 19th century. Valenti was born in Palermo, he was the son of , who was also a sculptor and wood carver. His work includes a seated statue of Saint Publius at St Paul's Cathedr ...

, who was ''maestro di cappella'' of

Dubrovnik Cathedral The Assumption Cathedral () is a Roman Catholic cathedral in Dubrovnik, Croatia. It is the seat of the Diocese of Dubrovnik. History The cathedral was built on the site of several former cathedrals, including 7th, 10th and 11th century buildings ...

in the 1750s. He continued his education in

Rome Rome (Italian language, Italian and , ) is the capital city and most populated (municipality) of Italy. It is also the administrative centre of the Lazio Regions of Italy, region and of the Metropolitan City of Rome. A special named with 2, ...

where he studied

musical composition Musical composition can refer to an Originality, original piece or work of music, either Human voice, vocal or Musical instrument, instrumental, the musical form, structure of a musical piece or to the process of creating or writing a new pie ...

with Rinaldo di Capua. Later, Sorkočević married a girl from the Luccari (Lukarević) family and held several posts in various branches of Dubrovnik politics and society. During his relatively brief stint 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. ...

as the ambassador to the imperial court he met several leading composers of his time, like

Gluck Christoph Willibald ( Ritter von) Gluck (; ; 2 July 1714 – 15 November 1787) was a composer of Italian and French opera in the early classical period. Born in the Upper Palatinate and raised in Bohemia, both part of the Holy Roman Empire at ...

and

Haydn Franz Joseph Haydn ( ; ; 31 March 173231 May 1809) was an Austrian composer of the Classical period (music), Classical period. He was instrumental in the development of chamber music such as the string quartet and piano trio. His contributions ...

, and the famous poet

Metastasio Pietro Antonio Domenico Trapassi (3 January 1698 – 12 April 1782), better known by his pseudonym of Pietro Metastasio (), was an Italian poet and librettist, considered the most important writer of ''opera seria'' libretti. Early life Met ...

– a valuable experience for his later life and work. With serious health problems, he committed

suicide Suicide is the act of intentionally causing one's own death. Risk factors for suicide include mental disorders, physical disorders, and substance abuse. Some suicides are impulsive acts driven by stress (such as from financial or ac ...

by throwing himself from the third floor of his palace in Dubrovnik in 1789, at the age of 55. Although he also wrote a few vocal pieces, his most interesting works are the eight symphonies, the

violin The violin, sometimes referred to as a fiddle, is a wooden chordophone, and is the smallest, and thus highest-pitched instrument (soprano) in regular use in the violin family. Smaller violin-type instruments exist, including the violino picc ...

sonata and the overture trio for the

flute The flute is a member of a family of musical instruments in the woodwind group. Like all woodwinds, flutes are aerophones, producing sound with a vibrating column of air. Flutes produce sound when the player's air flows across an opening. In th ...

. These instrumental works belong to the transitional period between baroque and classicism. They can neither be associated with the '' empfindsamer Stil'' – indicated by the fact that they are exclusively written in major keys – nor with the modernism of the

Mannheim school Mannheim school refers to both the orchestral techniques pioneered by the court orchestra of the Elector Palatine in Mannheim in the latter half of the 18th century and the group of composers of the early classical period, who composed for the or ...

. Nevertheless, Sorkočević's music contains traces of both styles. The ''Largo'' of the Symphony No. 7 shows the kind of expression which is associated with the ''Empfindsamkeit'' and the first movement of the Symphony No. 1 contains the crescendi for which the Mannheim school was famous. The Sonata in A-major for piano was written in 1754.

References

External sources

Biography in the Croatian EncyclopediaSorkočević and his instrumental worksBiography
(in Croatian) *

{{DEFAULTSORT:Sorkocevic, Luka Croatian Baroque composers Ragusan diplomats Luka People from Dubrovnik 1734 births 1789 deaths Classical-period composers Composers for cello Composers for violin Ragusan nobility 18th-century classical composers 18th-century male musicians Croatian male classical composers 18th-century Croatian nobility 18th-century suicides Early modern Croatian music

Biography

See also

References

External sources