Programme:
Mirko Polič:
If to the Fields (J. Murn – Aleksandrov)
Like the Whisper of Zephyrs (S. Sardenko)
I Have No More Palms (D. Kette)
Lullaby (V. Jeraj)
I Feel Like It (O. Župančič)
Our Cat (S. Jenko)
Quietly the Dusk Comes (O. Župančič)
Hey, Catkins (O. Župančič)
And Already the Day Bowed (R. Romanov)
Romance (G. Koritnik – Griša)
Overnight (O. Župančič)
Quiet and Dark (C. Golar)
Homage to the Hostages (K. Destovnik – Kajuh)
I Wasn’t Mown Down by the Scythe (A. Gradnik)
Swallow – Armenian Patriotic Romance (G. Dodokhian, translated into Serbian by Ž. M. Paunović)
Aria of Manica and Duet of Manica and Lovro from The Tenth Brother

The Art Song Cycle is a traditional concert series organised by the Glasbena Matica since 2002, with thoughtfully designed programmes that reveal the endless wealth of the world’s treasury of art songs while simultaneously highlighting the important role played by the art song in the development of Slovene music. The sung word was, in fact, one of the most powerful means available to express inner feelings and disseminate the nationally conscious ideas of the nineteenth century. As the nineteenth century turned into the twentieth, the genre gradually lost the “reading room” spirit associated with national awakening and remained a popular form with Slovene composers for many decades.
Composer and conductor Mirko Polič, one of the most prominent figures in Slovene musical life in the first half of the twentieth century, left an important mark on the activities of the Glasbena Matica. Active in various cities including Trieste, Osijek, Zagreb, Belgrade and, above all, Ljubljana, where he was for many years a leading figure at the Ljubljana Opera, he also made a significant contribution to the development of the Yugoslav musical culture of his day.
A man of considerable artistic powers, he was driven by a keen desire to establish an original Slovene form of musical creativity. His progressive views helped give a more modern orientation to operatic and concert practice in the 1920s and 1930s, in this way familiarising Slovene audiences with contemporary aesthetic principles. His own compositions were based on Neo-Romantic foundations, enriched by modern harmonic devices and a more contemporary aesthetic understanding. Although he was most drawn to opera, he composed in a range of genres and his oeuvre included several art songs and choral works.
The programme of this concert, entirely dedicated to Polič, lifts the veil on a forgotten composer whose works will be reawakened, in an intimate dialogue of voice and piano, by three established performers: soprano Aleksandra Radovanović and pianist Igor Vićentić (the composer’s great grandson), musical and life partners who have also curated a new edition of Polič’s art songs; and Gregor Ravnik, a classically trained tenor who is also a successful pop singer.

Before the start of the concert there will be a discussion with Veronika Brvar and editors of the publication Samospevi Aleš Nagode and Igor Vićentić at 7.00 pm.