In the Orbit of Shostakovich : Vasilije Mokranjac's Symphonies

Abstract

Born into a famous Serbian musical dynasty, Vasilije Mokranjac (19231984) emerged as a distinctive talent on his own and became one of the most renowned Serbian/Yugoslav composers of the second half of the twentieth century, a distinguished professor of composition at the Faculty of Music in Belgrade and a Fellow of the Serbian Academy of Sciences and Arts. Mainly lauded as a symphonist, he also wrote piano music, as well as music for radio, film and theatre. He won the most prestigious awards in the former Yugoslavia, including the Lifetime Achievement Award. However, his output is virtually unknown outside the former Yugoslav region. An introverted man, who was not keen on self-promotion, Mokranjac did not seek international recognition and rarefy ventured out of the country. Moreover, his career was tragically cut short when, aged 60, he committed suicide. In this article I will argue that the symphonies of Dmitrii Shostakovich (1907-1975) provided a possible model for Mokranjac's symphonic conception. Arguably the greatest twentieth-century symphonist, Shostakovich proved that it was possible to successfully merge "realist" iconology with the nineteenth-century symphonic models and yet create compelling and relevant music. But while it is widely recognised that Shostakovich influenced generations of Soviet/Russian composers, the impact of his symphonies outside of the Soviet Union - especially in the countries such as Yugoslavia that did not belong to the Eastern Bloc and thus stood outside of the immediate Soviet cultural sphere - has rarely been investigated...