Igor Kuljerić


Igor Kuljerić was an important Croatian composer and conductor. His large opus has followed the stylistic changes and evolutions of 20th and 21st century music.

Biography

Born in the coastal city of Šibenik on the Adriatic Sea, Kuljerić graduated in composition from Zagreb Academy of Music and received a grant from the Italian government to study opera repertoire at La Scala in Milan, Italy. Attracted by the new movements in contemporary music, he participated in the experiments held in the Studio di fonologia musicale at RAI with Luigi Nono and in Monte Carlo with Igor Markevitch. From 1960 to 1967 he served as the rehearsal and assistant conductor of the Opera of Croatian National Theater in Zagreb and later became a member of the famed I Solisti di Zagreb ensemble as harpsichordist and assistant to the director Antonio Janigro. His conducting debut in 1967 during the Zagreb soloists' tour in the United States, followed by positive reviews in the New York and Boston press led to his permanent appointment as conductor at Croatian Radiotelevision. From 1968 till the early '80s he served as the conductor of Croatian Radio Television Chorus and the Croatian Radio Television Symphony Orchestra. Kuljerić has held many important positions in Croatian cultural institutions, including music directorships of Dubrovnik Summer Festival, Croatian National Theatre, Vatroslav Lisinski Concert Hall Series and Music Biennale Zagreb festival of contemporary music. Kuljerić was also active giving performances abroad in such countries as the United States, the former USSR, Spain, Italy, and Austria.
He established himself early as one of the most frequently performed Croatian composers, his pieces becoming part of the repertoire of many orchestras, chamber ensembles, and soloists.
His student works, Symphonic Variations, Concert Ouverture, Concerto for French Horn and Orchestra, and Two Ballet Suites... owe much to academic influences while speaking of the young composer's particular talents and inventiveness.
After graduation Kuljerić felt intrigued by the new expressive and experimental musical tools that had become available. At that time Zagreb Biennale Music Festival of Contemporary Music was at the forefront of international avant garde movement hosting all of the important composers, musical writers, and performers. Some of the works from that period include Figurazioni Con Tromba for trumpets and orchestra, Solo-Tutti for piano and orchestra, Impulsi II for string quartet, Ballads of Petrica Kerempuh for orchestra and choirs, Folk-Art tape music, Les Echos I for chamber orchestra, and Les Echos II for jazz band and symphony orchestra.
Kuljerić felt definitive limitations of the avant-garde movement in the beginning of the '80s with its aesthetics not allowing him further development of his musical ideas. He investigated the deeper layers of his musical heritage with many references—direct and indirect—to Croatian folk music and tradition, trying to incorporate the positive experiences of musical avant-garde. Since then his output demonstrated a desire to write in a more direct and communicative style, reflecting the questioning of modernist theories and practice.
Many of these features can be found in his Risuono Di Gavotta and Chorale Ouverture for symphony orchestra, Alleluia and Pater Noster for piano trio, the Waltz for chamber ensemble, Concertpiece for Flutes and Orchestra, Chopin Op. 7 No. 4 for vibes and flute, Concerto for Marimba and Orchestra, Barocchiana for marimba and strings, Riky Levi, a ballet that premiered in 1991 in Sarajevo, with a later orchestra suite version, Five Movements from the Ballet Riky Levi).
A special part of Kuljerić's opus references national musical roots and religious practice, Croatian glagolitic heritage, and historical artistic practice and can be found in Quam Pulchra Es, Sea for a girls choir, Song for string quartet, Cross Give Us Mercy for men's choir, Kanconijer for voices and instruments, and Croatian Glagolitic Requiem a monolithic work for soloists, choir, and orchestra written on an ancient Croatian glagolitic text of the Catholic mass and Croatian Mass.
Kuljerić composed a great deal of film and incidental music, arrangements and crossover projects with famous Croatian pop and rock stars, music for sport events, and television jingles and commercials. He insisted on the freedom to explore various musical styles and forms, searching for a fusion that would reach the contemporary audience and communicate the present human situation. Thus he was attracted to stage drama and authored three operas:
Kuljerić's most recent works include Pop Concert for trumpet and orchestra, Folk Art for marimba and string quartet, and Milonga Para Victor Borges for cello ensemble.
Kuljerić was the recipient of UNESCO Award and many important Croatian awards. In 2004 he was admitted in the Croatian Academy of Arts and Sciences.
;Death
Kuljerić died in April 2006, only three weeks following the completion and premiere of his Hrvatska Misa , a monumental composition scored for soloists, chorus, and orchestra. The work on his new opera, Catherine of Zrin featuring the heroine in a historical drama on love and politics, is unfinished.