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Benito Bersa : Tragic Symphony Op.25 "Four Memories of My Life"



Benito Bersa*¹ (1873-1934)

Sinfonia tragica "Quattro ricordi della mia vita" (Tragic symphony - Four memories of my life) in C-minor, Op.25

I. Ouverture drammatica (Dramatic Overture), Op. 25a
II. Idillio "Il giorno delle mie nozze" (The Day of my Wedding), Op. 25b
III. Capriccio-Scherzo, Op. 25c
IV. Finale "Vita nuova" (New Life), Op. 25d (unfinished*², piano sketch)

*² later orchestrated, along with other unfinished works, by Bersa's student Zvonimir Bradić following Bersa's oral instructions and Bersa's handbook "The Principles of Modern Instrumentation" (which Bradić had completed as well)
*¹ Benito Bersa (known as Blagoje Bersa), son of Filomena de Medici and Giovanni Rifembergo-Bersa de Leidenthal

Not in my part of the World, it's ahead of yours haha.. 

It's today!

Now on YouTube
Dora Pejacevic (1885-1923) : Overture for Large orchestra (1919)

[Pejacevic-Klavierkonzert]

Today I found about a past performance of her PC by..

Sinfonietta dell'Arte

Ursprünglich "Internationales Jugendorchester" - mit Recht: Die Mitglieder kommen aus Ungarn, Bulgarien, Moldawien, Deutschland, Italien, Rumänien, Polen, China und Japan. Seit 2007 nennt sich das Orchester "Sinfonietta dell'Arte" und erreicht nun die Größe bis zu 60 professionellen Musikern. Neben Werken berühmter Komponisten wie Mozart, Beethoven, Brahms, Bach, Schubert, Haydn usw. finden sich außerdem Kompositionen weniger gespielter Komponisten im Repertoire. Schon vor Jahren wurden Raritäten wie Boccherini-Sinfonien, Mendelssohn-Streichersifonien, Stamitz und Spohr-Klarinettenkonzert, Pejacevic-Klavierkonzert u. a. im Programm aufgenommen.

A G-Translator translation (without my interventions)
Originally "International Youth Orchestra" - and rightly so: The members come from Hungary, Bulgaria, Moldova, Germany, Italy, Romania, Poland, China and Japan. Since 2007, the orchestra called "Sinfonietta dell'Arte" and is now reaching the size up to 60 professional musicians. In addition to works by famous composers such as Mozart, Beethoven, Brahms, Bach, Schubert, Haydn, etc. They also find compositions less played composers in the repertoire. Years ago, rarities such as Boccherini symphonies, Mendelssohn Streichersifonien, Stamitz and Spohr Clarinet Concerto, Pejacevic Piano Concerto have been included in the program, among others

Dora Pejačević's "Verwandlung" and Arnold Schönberg

SOURCE LINK
«Heute war Schönberg bei mir. Er findet natürlich, dass eine Frau keine Schöpferin von Musik sein kann, lobte aber ihre Komposition". So berichtete der österreichische Schriftsteller Karl Kraus über das Urteil von Arnold Schönberg zu einem Werk von Dora Pejacevic.

SOURCE LINK
Croatian composer Dora Pejačević (1885-1923) wrote 1915 an occasional composition Verwandlung for alto, violin and organ or piano on verses by Karl Kraus for the wedding of her friend Sidonija Nádherný von Borutin which eventually didn't take place. Kraus planed to have performed the piece on one of his literary readings on 4th of December 1916 in Vienna and he showed the work Arnold Schonberg who praised it and especially commented one place in the score. Three strophes of Kraus's poem are the foundation for an extensive lyrical scene with instrumental interlude between the second and the third strophe which has a special place in the whole work. Late romantic harmony with labile tonality carries the emphasis of the expression. Kraus's verses evidently pushed the composer towards free musical flow and original harmony.

SOURCE LINK
Als Karl Kraus ihre Vertonung seines Gedichts "Verwandlung" für Singstimme, Violine und Orgel Arnold Schönberg vorlegte, fand er sie so gut, dass er eine öffentliche Aufführung in Wien vorschlug, aber, so Kraus: " Er findet natürlich, dass eine Frau keine Schöpferin von Musik sein kann, lobte aber ihre Komposition".

SOURCE LINK
Arnold Schönberg lobte ihre Werke, blieb angesichts der ,,komponierenden Frau" aber skeptisch. Sie war mit Karl Kraus und Rainer Maria Rilke befreundet und vertonte deren Gedichte: Dora Peja?evi? (1885-1923) aus dem Altösterreichischen Hochadel war nicht nur eine ,,komponierende Frau". Sie war eine ernst zu nehmende Komponistin, deren Werk neben dem ihrer Kollegen bis heute bestehen kann.

SOURCE LINK
Schönberg revela al público vienés su Verwandlung, para voz, violín, y órgano, sobre el poema homónimo del creador de Die Fackel, y Oskar Nedbal interpreta en 1918, al frente de la Tonkünstlerorchester de Viena, dos movimientos de su única sinfonía.

[Verwandlung]

(excerpts, 1 minute each. Mp3 audio format)

Songs for voice and orchestra (1915 – 1920)

Verwandlung for voice, violin and orchestra, op.37b, (text: Karl Kraus)
LINK

Liebeslied, op.39, (text: Rainer Maria Rilke), (dedicated to her sister Gabrielle Kochanovsky)
LINK

Zwei Schmetterlingslieder, op.52
No.1
Gold'ne Sterne, blaue Glöckchen, (text: Karl Henckell)
LINK
No.2
Schwebe du Schmetterling, schwebe vorbei, (text: Karl Henckell)
LINK

Katja Markotić, mezzo-soprano
Croatian Radio-Television Symphony Orchestra
Mladen Tarbuk, conductor

I'd have to listen to them, evaluate the attractiveness and interestingness, and decide if -just my opinion of course- it is strange or not that they 'aven't been quite present on repertoire

In the summer of 2013, in a little birch grove on the Pejačević manor, pianist Yoko Nishii placing flowers on Dora's grave 



..and a wonderful view of town Našice from there

You mean could someone famous have produced something that nowadays wider audiences are unfamiliar with? Yes, of course

Croatian Radio-Television (located in Zagreb)
3rd Radio ("serious programme")
STREAM LINK


One would never even imagine that the Croatian Radio in-fact emits as much unsung music as sung.. So many names have I heard that I wasn't aware are composers of unsung status, and it was only since I started hanging here it became known to me..! I could have recorded so much by now, though I still wouldn't be sure is a composer that unsung for me to have meaning recording it. If there was only a list of the ones of status critical..
That's the primary reason why I've been posting exclusively Croatian and Slovenian composers so far, as I know exactly which of them are totally unknown, and not so far ago the statistics was all of them LOL

By the way, almost every piece of Croatian music (including many Slovenian), was recorded during the period from the foundation of the Radio Club Zagreb (in 1924) till the disintegration of Yugoslavia, in their studios or Lisinski concert hall.
The thing that confuses people outside Zagreb and Croatia is how is this possible, when almost none of these works have ever been published? Well, it's because the tradition here in music institutions (orchestras) is playing music from the manuscripts (composer's autograph or hand-copied manuscript). And it is the reason why this music rarely found it's way outside the city of Zagreb

Biographic drama about Vatroslav Lisinski, 19th century Croatian composer and the author of the first Croatian opera.

Movie review at IMDb (International Movie Database)

Full length movie at destreamovie.com FREE FULL MOVIE
Lisinski - Video Length 1 Hour 25 minutes - Quality: HD 1080p

The only downfall of the movie is that some pieces of Lisinski's music featured in the film were altered (completely, that is their instrumentation) by a mediocre Croatian Jewish composer Boris count Papandopulo.

Famous Croatian composer and violinist Mária Theodóra Paulina Sófia countess Pejácsevich de Virovitica was born on September 10, 1885 in Budapest, Hungary, where her father Dr. of Law Theodor count Pejacsevich often went by political affairs.

Dora began to compose when she was 12. She studied music privately in Agram (Zagreb), Dresden and München and also received lessons in instrumentation (from Dragutin Kaiser and Walter Courvoisier), and composition (from Percy Sherwood). She was largely self-taught, however.

She left behind a considerable catalogue of 58 opuses (106 compositions), in late-Romantic, Art Nouveau (early Hollywoodian) and early 20th ct. Modernist style, ranging from songs, piano works, chamber music, and several compositions for large orchestra.

She married officer Ottomar von Lumbe (b. 1892 in Vienna, Austria) in 1921. Dora died on March 5, 1923 in Munich, Bavaria, Germany, from complications following a difficult childbirth (of her son Theo), and is buried near the family cemetery in Našice, Osijek-Baranja, Croatia.

Sir, I really don't get why you hate me that much because I post about Pejačević.. I honestly apologize, but I have never raised a question without giving context/explanation. I thought one should contact a moderator only if one intends to create a new topic about a composer or his particular work one is not certain if it falls within the Forum's scope. Ultimately, you're not obliged to answer either.

Besides, I've never asked that very question before, it must have been someone else

Peace, and a thanks XX
Eternalorphea

Could an aria of a baroque composer therefore meet the forum's parameters if it let's say sounds romantic..?