- Dora Pejačević
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Dora Pejačević
Dora Pejačević (September 10, 1885 – March 5, 1923) was a Croatian composer, a member of Pejačević noble family.
Contents
Biography
Dora Pejačević (in old documents also Pejacsevich) was born in Budapest, a daughter of Croatian ban Teodor Pejačević and Hungarian Countess Lilla Vay de Vaya, herself a fine pianist. Her mother gave her first piano lessons. Paternally, she descended from the old Croatian noble Pejačević family, one of the most distinguished noble families in Slavonia, eastern region of Croatia.
Dora began to compose when she was 12. She studied music privately in Zagreb, Dresden and Munich and also received lessons in instrumentation (from Dragutin Kaiser and Walter Courvoisier), and composition (from Percy Sherwood). She was largely self-taught, however. She married Ottomar von Lumbe in 1921. Although Pejačević led a lonely life, she met many prominent musicians and writers, and befriended Austrian journalist and writer Karl Kraus and Czech aristocrat and patroness of arts Sidonie Nádherná. Dora died in Munich in 1923, a result of complications following a difficult childbirth (of her son Theo), and is buried at the cemetery in Našice, Croatia.
Dora Pejačević should be considered a major Croatian composer. She left behind a strong catalogue of 58 compositions, mostly in late-Romantic style, ranging from songs, piano works, chamber music, and several compositions for large orchestra, arguably her best. Her Symphony in F-sharp Minor is considered by scholars the first modern symphony in Croatian Music. Most of her music has yet to be published and released on compact disc, although concerted efforts have been made recently to rectify this situation. For example, the Croatian Music Information Centre has published some of her scores, including three of her orchestral works (Piano Concerto, Symphony, and Phantasie Concertante). In 2008, the Centre also published a bilingual monograph (in English and Croatian), written by the Pejačević scholar Koraljka Kos, accompanied by a first all-Pejačević CD of piano and chamber music.
Her life is a subject of a Croatian biographical film Countess Dora (1993), directed by Zvonimir Berković and starring Alma Prica and Rade Šerbedžija.[1]
Selected works
- Piano Quartet in D Minor, Op. 25
- Violin Sonata in D Major, Op. 26 (published 1995, ISBN 9536090058)
- Piano Concerto in G Minor, Op. 33 (1913; published by Izdanja Muzikološkog Zavoda Muzičke Akademije in 1982)[2]
- Cello Sonata in E Minor, Op. 35
- Piano Sonata in B-flat Minor, Op. 36 (published by Hrvatsko muzikološko društvo in 2002) [3]
- Piano quintet in B Minor, Op. 40 (published by the Croatian Music Information Centre in 2007)
- Symphony in F-sharp Minor, Op. 41 (1916/20) [4] (published by the Croatian Music Information Centre in 2009)
- Phantasie Concertante in D minor, op. 48, for piano and orchestra (published by the Croatian Music Information Centre in 2007)
- Piano Sonata in A-flat major, Op. 57.
- Piano cycle "Život cvijeća", op. 19: Visibabe, Ljubica, Đurđica, Potočnica, Ruža, Karanfil, Ljiljani, Krizanteme.
References
- ^ http://www.film.hr/bazafilm_film.php?film_id=321 (Croatian)
- ^ "Persistent link to record of concerto 2-piano score at Northwestern University Library". http://nucat.library.northwestern.edu/cgi-bin/Pwebrecon.cgi?BBID=982123. Retrieved 2007-01-09.
- ^ "Persistent link to record of sonata at Northwestern University Library". http://nucat.library.northwestern.edu/cgi-bin/Pwebrecon.cgi?BBID=3606505. Retrieved 2007-01-09.
- ^ "Concertzender Netherlands broadcast performance". http://www.concertzender.nl/programmagids.php?month=-34&date=2004-01-03. Retrieved 2007-01-09.
Recordings: CPO CD#777-418-2 Symphony in F# minor op41, Phantasie Concertante op48 for Piano & Orchestra in D minor CPO CD# Chamber music ( to be released late 2011) Croatia Records CD #5783374 Piano Pieces: Flowers' Life op19,Intermezzo 1&2 op38,Six Fantasy Pieces op17,
" " " Piano Quintet in B minor op40. " " CD #5558910 String Quartet in C major op58 (1922)( plus String Sextet by Papandopulo) " " CD #5872221 Violin Sonata no1 in D major op26 (plus works by Kunc,Papandopulo & Slavenski)
Bibliography
- Kos, Koraljka. Dora Pejacevic. Zagreb: The Croatian Music Information Centre, 2008.
- Kos, Koraljka. Dora Pejačević: Leben und Werk. Zagreb: Musikinformationszentrum Konzertdirektion, 1987.
External links
- The composer's official website hosted by the Croatian Music Information Centre
- Free scores by Dora Pejačević at the International Music Score Library Project
- Free scores by Dora Pejačević on Mutopia Project Site
Music videos
- Piano cycle Blumenleben Op. 19: Rose performed by Zeljko Vlahovic, piano
- Walzer-Capricen, Op. 28 performed by Tamara Gal, piano
- Project "Tajni svijet Dore Pejačević" ("The secret life of Dora Pejacevic")
- Song "Preobrazba", performed by Goranka Tuhtan, soprano
- Song "U lovu je mjesec na sunce", performed by Goranka Tuhtan, soprano
Categories:- 1885 births
- 1923 deaths
- 19th-century Croatian people
- 20th-century Croatian people
- 20th-century Hungarian people
- Austro-Hungarian people
- 20th-century composers
- Croatian composers
- Women classical composers
- Romantic composers
- Croatian nobility
- Hungarian nobility
- Croatian Austro-Hungarians
- Hungarian people of Croatian descent
- Croatian people of Hungarian descent
- German people of Croatian descent
- People from Budapest
- Deaths in childbirth
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