Two Orients in Rudolf Bruci's opera Gilgamesh

Abstract

The theme of this article is the ancient Orient as imagined by the Serbian composer Rudolf Bruci (1917-2002). The finale of his monumental opera Gilgamesh (1986; libretto by Arsa Milošević), makes display of heterogeneous musical material based on different oriental scales. The modernity of the opera is affirmed through the usage of varied techniques of 20th century composition. It is hard to explain why Bruci introduced the well-known medieval church melody "Ninja sili nebesniye" ("Now the celestial powers") into the finale of his opera. The melody was signed by kir Stephan the Serb and has been preserved in a 15th century manuscript. The quotation of "Ninja sili" in the finale of Gilgamesh could be interpreted as an attempt at bridging the many centuries that divide the ancient times that gave birth to the Assyrian myth and our contemporary world, by making reference to the heritage of medieval Serbia when that state was a part of the Byzantine world stretching from the middle East to the Balkans. That compositional gesture of Rudolf Bruci seems to have the meaning of questioning the historical and cultural place and identity of the Serbs through the centuries. If that is correctly interpreted, the composer thus gave his own contribution to the often discussed question of the Serbian belonging to both the East and the West. The "two Orients" in the title of the article are an allusion to the pagan and the Christian Orients, but they can also provoke a discussion of the contemporary divisions between the East and the West.

Tema o srpskoj muzici između Istoka i Zapada proučena je na delu Rudolfa Bručija i jednoj od poslednjih monumentalnih opera izvedenih na našem tlu operi Gilgameš. Dotičući istočnjačke teme u svetskoj operi, Bručijevo delo se analizira s obzirom na sam finale dela, njegove poslednje tri scene koje predstavljaju idejnu i dramaturšku sintezu u libretu Arse Miloševića, u tekstualnom predlošku, Epu o Gilgamešu, kao i u Bručijevoj operi. Argumenti su potraženi u činjenici da su u muzičkom jeziku na samom kraju dela ujedinjeni prividno nesrodni elementi istočnjačkih, orijentalnih lestvica modernog muzičkog pisma, u vidu brojnih klastera i koralne duhovne pesme Kir Stefana Srbina "Ninja sili". Preplitanje različitih ideja, ishodišnih na svetskom planu, integrisanih u sam jezik i izraz autora na kraju njegovog najznačajnijeg ostvarenja, čini se da veoma doprinosi razumevanju odnosa Istoka i Zapada na planu operskog žanra u srpskoj muzici. Preplitanje različitih istorijskih vremena, interesantno koliko i sam postupak i jezik autora, otvara nove perspektive za naučna promišljanja.