Đuro Živković, (1975, Serbia) studied composition with P. Lindgren, B. Sørensen, M. Lindberg, M. Davidowsky, E-P. Salonen, J. Dillon, M. Obst, etc. He has written numerous pieces of soloist, chamber and choral music, as well as several electroacoustic works. His compositions have been performed throughout Europe and in Canada, and broadcast on radio and television. His works have been commissioned and performed by ensembles and musicians such as Trio Fibonacci (Montreal-Brussels), SAMI Sinfonieta, pre-art ensemble (Zurich), Klangforum Wien, Stockholm Wind Orchestra, Sonanza Ensemble, SONEMUS (Sarajevo), Swedish Chamber Orchestra Musica Vitae, Ensemble for New Music (Belgrade), Anna Larsson (alt), Stefan Wirth (piano), Matthias Arter (oboe); conductors Stefan Schreyer, Michael Bartoch, B. Tommy Andersson, Biljana Radovanović, Jan Risberg, etc. The composition Le cimetière marin was commissioned, performed and recorded for Sonanza Ensemble‘s CD, with soloist Anna Larsson.
Đuro Živković is also active as a soloist and chamber ensembles player. Until now he has had performances in many European cities. His repertoire embraces a large number of classical music works, the pieces belong to the music of 20th and 21st centuries, and compositions dedicated to him.
He has received several grants, recognitions and awards, among others at the First International Composition Competition pre-art in Switzerland for piece Eclat de larme.
Le cimetière marin II (2008/09)
Symbolism is an aesthetic of atmosphere. Đuro Živković’s Le cimetière marin II, the setting of Paul Valéry’s poem with the same title, can also be described as an atmospheric piece. The sea is close to the first person voice of the poem; the dead rest under the gravestones.
Živkovic causes time to cease. This takes place through the seldom-resting glissandi, as slow as long waves on the surface of the sea. But it also takes place thanks to his use of the movements that were in vogue around the turn of the 20th century, where the diction and lines of a Gabriel Fauré or an Ernest Chausson can be found in the alto soloist, while the musical atmosphere is of a later date – there is a path that runs from the sound experiments of the 1960s to the subtle worlds of the spectralists. An improvisational attitude towards composing gives rise to an ever-changing colour spectrum.
The three strophes create the foundation of an ABA form where a triplet motion is the central motive of the A sections—a greatly shifting sonorous room is built up around this motion. The B section hints at the break in the calm that happens in the poem: the narrator changes, though the heavens are unchanging. – Erik Wallrup