Pavle Dešpalj (18 June 1934 – 16 December 2021) was a Croatian composer and conductor.

Biography

Pavle Dešpalj graduated from Music Academy in Zagreb where he studied composition with Prof. Stjepan Šulek. In 1961 he founded

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's festival, Music Evenings in St. Donat's, also the Zadar Chamber Orchestra. Between 1962 and 1967 he was the chief conductor of Zagreb Radio Television Symphony Orchestra. In 1968 he began conducting the Florida Symphony Orchestra, Orlando and the Orlando Opera, and between 1970 and 1981 he was their music director. From 1981 to 1986 he was the principal conductor of the Zagreb Philharmonic. From 1981 to 1983, he was the music program director of

Dubrovnik Summer Festival The Dubrovnik Summer Festival (; ) is an annually-held summer festival instituted in 1950 in Dubrovnik, Croatia. It is held every year between 10 July and 25 August. On more than 70 open-air venues of Renaissance-Baroque city of Dubrovnik a rich ...

, between 1987 and 1995 conducting professor at the Zagreb Academy of Music and between 1995 and 1998, conductor of the Tokyo Geidai Philharmonic Orchestra and professor at the Tokyo National University. Since 1998 he was the chief conductor of the Croatian Chamber Orchestra, since 2000 of the Split Chamber Orchestra and guest conductor of renowned Croatian orchestras as well as Croatian National Theatre's Opera and Ballet. Pavle Dešpalj led Zagreb's orchestras on numerous tours around Europe, America and the Far East. He was a guest conductor of many prestigious foreign symphonic orchestras in

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, Milan,

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, Salzburg,

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and

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. He also conducted the Royal London Philharmonic Orchestra, Moscow's Russian National Symphony Orchestra, Novosibirsk Philharmonic Orchestra,

Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra The Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra (PSO) is an American orchestra based in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. The orchestra is resident at Heinz Hall, located in Pittsburgh's Cultural District. Since 2008, the orchestra's music director is Manfred Ho ...

, Chicago Festival Orchestra, Tokyo Philharmonics, Tokyo Symphony Orchestra, and Tokyo and Yokohama Operas. He recorded for

Croatia Records Croatia Records is a record label in Croatia owned by AUTOR d.o.o., based in Zagreb. Summary Croatia Records d.d. is a joint-stock company currently led by the chief executive officer Želimir Babogredac, a sound engineer. It releases mostly (but ...

, Cantus and Opus (Bratislava), as well as for Croatian, Slovenian and Hessischer Runfunkt (Frankfurt) radio stations. Dešpalj's most often played and recorded works are ''Passacaglia and Fugue'' for piano and strings, ''Three Choral Preludes'' for Chamber Orchestra, ''Variations for Orchestra'', ''Concerto for Violin and Orchestra'', ''Concerto for Alto Saxophone and Strings'', ''Concerto for Cello and Strings'' and ''Two Fiddlers' Whims''. Pavle Dešpalj was a member of international juries for conducting competitions 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 ...

, and Tokyo. He was the honorary guest conductor of Zagreb Radio Television Symphony Orchestra, lifetime honorary principal conductor of the Croatian Chamber Orchestra, honorary conductor of the Zadar Chamber Orchestra and the Varaždin Chamber Orchestra, an honorary citizen of Dayton Beach, professor emeritus at the Tokyo National University, regular member of

Croatian Academy of Sciences and Arts The Croatian Academy of Sciences and Arts (; , HAZU) is the national academy of Croatia. HAZU was founded under the patronage of the Croatian bishop Josip Juraj Strossmayer under the name Yugoslav Academy of Sciences and Arts (, JAZU) since its ...

and its vice president (since 1 January 2004). He died in Zagreb on 16 December 2021, at the age of 87.

Awards

Pavle Dešpalj won numerous awards: The City of Zagreb Award (1965), Central Florida Council's award for achievement in science and art (1978), Milka Trnina Award (1980), Josip Štolcer Slavenski Award (1990),

Vladimir Nazor Award The Vladimir Nazor Award () is a Croatian prize for arts and culture established in 1959, and awarded every year by the country's Ministry of Culture. Named after the writer Vladimir Nazor (1876–1949), the prize is awarded to Croatian artists ...

(1992), Orlando Award (1993), Special recognition by the Croatian Ministry of Culture (1994), Porin Award (1997, 2002, 2005), Ivan Lukačić Award (1999), Croatian Ministry of Culture Award (2002), The Vladimir Nazor Lifetime Achievement Award (2005), Judita Award (2005) and The City of Zadar Lifetime achievement Award (2006). In 1996 Croatian President

Franjo Tuđman Franjo Tuđman (14 May 1922 – 10 December 1999) was a Croatian politician and historian who became the first president of Croatia, from 1990 until his death in 1999. He served following the Independence of Croatia, country's independe ...

presented him with the Order of Danica Hrvatska with the effigy of

Marko Marulić Marko Marulić Splićanin (; ; 18 August 1450 – 5 January 1524), was a Croatian poet, lawyer, judge, and Renaissance humanist. He is the national poet of Croatia. According to George J. Gutsche, Marulić's epic poem '' Judita'' "is the first ...

Selected works

* ''Concerto for alto-saxophone and string orchestra'' (1963) * ''Concerto for violin and orchestra'' (1960) * ''Concerto for cello and strings'' (2000) * ''Passacaglia and Fugue'' for piano and strings (1956) * ''The Ceremonial Parade'' for French horn ensemble and symphony orchestra (2001) * ''Three Chorale Preludes'' for chamber orchestra (1957) * ''Variations'' for orchestra (1957)

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Despalj, Pavle 1934 births 2021 deaths 21st-century conductors (music) 21st-century male musicians Academy of Music, University of Zagreb alumni Arbanasi people Croatian male conductors (music) Members of the Croatian Academy of Sciences and Arts People from Blato, Korčula 21st-century classical composers 20th-century Croatian conductors (music) 20th-century Croatian classical composers 20th-century male composers Croatian male classical composers Burials at Mirogoj Cemetery