Aleksandar Simić

The opus of Aleksandar Simić (b. 1973, Serbia) encompasses a large body of works for all standard ensembles – from music for solo instruments, duos, trios, quartets, choral music, music for string and symphony orchestras, to piano concerto and pieces for SATB choir, soloists and symphony orchestra. He is known to general public as a social activist in the fields of human rights, inter-religious dialogue and charity work, but also by the fact that much of his music was created as a result of his multi-decennial work with such institutions as the United Nations, Russian Federation, NASA, The State of Vatican, US State Department or Israel’s Yad Vashem.

About the piece

I wrote the Uncanny Pact some 3 years ago, as a commission from a violinist friend, who wanted the piece to be an homage “to the greatest of all violin masters in history”, the famous and infamous Niccolo Paganini. Hence, the title, which clearly alludes to the well known and sensationalist speculations on the sinister source of Paganini’s talent and demonic virtuosity. This is why, as you will notice, the piece opens with a verbatim quotation of the most ominous of all the plainchants from the collection of Pope Gregory The Great – or, if we are to cite the evermore current and distressingly up-to-date lyrics – “Solvet saelclum in favilla.” With this in mind, I hope you manage to also enjoy the music and its premiere performance.