| More than is the case with
other instrumentalists, guitarists often compose for their instrument.
But only a small percentage go beyond the minor genre of idiomatic solos
to broader horizons such as scores for full orchestra, or string quartet. |
| Classical guitar’s history
is full of ‘great’ composers who wrote only for solo guitar,
using short simple forms. Guitarists universally acclaim Tarrega and
Barrios as great composers, despite the fact that they never wrote beyond
the guitar. Here is a case for musicological study: how much does the
fact that the composer was a guitarist affect the style of his works?
For example, could we tell from his orchestral scores that Berlioz was
a mediocre guitarist? Composers who use the guitar, not the piano, as
a means and not an end are in a separate category. Giuliani, from his vantage point as a virtuoso guitarist, was able to control a chamber orchestra, and surely it’s to this kind of musician we must refer when considering contemporary composers who have also expanded their world, guitar in hand. Unlike those of us whose concerns end with the writing of the last note on the staff, Dusan is not at peace until he can create an example for others to follow. He feels compelled to compose as well as perform, so that others might understand and appreciate his works. The reason for this happy compulsion is, to quote him, because his music is ‘complex’. I prefer to say ‘elaborate’, since he achieves a unity of style from a rich variety of sources. The interpreters of such ‘elaborate complexity’ have yet to appear on the horizon, and the good intentions of the pioneers have to be guided by example. Bogdanovic performs his duties with a rare dedication, pursuing the development of a unique philosophical system through performance and composition, which is clearly expressed in his works. Angelo Gilardino |
| “My music
follows in my footsteps. Sometimes like a ghost, sometimes like the
bloody trail of an emotional massacre.” With this characteristically
dramatic statement Dusan sums up the process of composing which is both
physically and emotionally exhausting, yet ultimately fulfilling. All
of the works in this recording reflect multi-layered human 'motifs':
thought, memory and feeling. Musical motifs or 'cells' are the foundations
for Dusan's compositions, producing works with unique identities, and
in this sense his music is a true fusion of elements. “Who owns these questionable brains?” asks Crow in Ted Hughes' powerful poem which he began writing in 1966. In it Hughes created his own folk-mythology with a god whose nightmare produced the mythical trickster figure who questions: “Who begat God?”. The sequence of poems challenges traditional interpretations of the story of Creation. Crow finds nothing more powerful than death, except: “Me, evidently.” For Dusan, Hughes' poem is about survival, and the endurance of life: “a black rainbow bent in emptiness over emptiness, but flying”. Hughes wanted to “just write the songs that Crow would sing. In other words, songs with no music whatsoever, in a super simple and super ugly language.” Crow's unusual combination of instruments, with a kind of insouciant ‘Balkan blues’ blending Gospel, a touch of Charlie Mingus and Dusan's recurring African and Balkan rhythms, creates an emotionally complex soundscape. Commissioned and premiered in 1990 by the Pacific Dance Company, this ballet-poeme included nine dancers, who were choreographed by Gilberte Meunier, the musicians were James Newton on flute, Nmon Ford-Livene vocals, Denise Briese on bass, and Dusan Bogdanovic on guitar. The set at the Los Angeles Theater Center included large stage sculptures by Steve Freedman. Two Legends introduces the wretched, black, horrible little nothing which God finds upon waking. This musical theme is developed in Lineage, where the ensemble builds on the opening statement almost symphonically, by using the compositional technique of additive phrases. Dusan's music often combines the static with the dynamic, as in the flowing and ‘utterly clear’ How Water Began To Play. The playful dialogue between guitar and flute in the Prelude to Examination at The Womb-Door precedes the climax of the work which arrives with the following Examination, in which Dusan uses the opposite compositional technique to Lineage, that is, subtractive phrases. Here, the flute is the driving force, building to the climax with written-out improvised lines, while the voice, bass and guitar act as one organism. After arguing with God as to the adequacy of his creation and finding man's ‘occasional wakefulness’ inadequate, the Crow poem sequence concludes in Littleblood, where God finally invites Crow: “grown so wise, grown so terrible” to “sit on my finger, sing in my ear, O littleblood”. Quatre pièces intimes (1979) is an early example of Dusan's synthesis of distinct styles, he combines Levantine music with the rhythms and pentatonic melodies of the Bibayak pygmies of Gabon. Today, Dusan regards with nostalgia the youthful enthusiasm embodied in these pieces dating from what he likes to refer to as his 'early period' – the days of the Geneva Con-servatoire where he met and worked with cellist Walter Despalj, for whom these delicate pieces were written. País de la ausencia (1991) 'Land of Absence' by the Chilean poet and Nobel prize winner Gabriela Mistral, expresses the deep melancholy of one who misses her homeland and for whom a homeland is missing. When Vismaya Lhi introduced the poem to Dusan, he found the words 'Y en país sin nombre me voy a morir' (In a land without name, I shall die) carried the same meaning as the Diamond Sutra: 'Cosmos is merely a figure of speech'. The immediate empathy he felt with the poem, regardless of cultural or linguistic barriers, meant this composition came: “without any effort whatsoever”. Canticles was commissioned in 1998 by the Gruber-Maklar duo. Each Canticle is an elegant transformation of themes inspired by Byzantine, Hebrew and Gregorian chant. The same vocal theme is present throughout, transformed by rhythmic and modal permutations including African polyrhythmic 2:3 proportion, which often sounds improvised. Almost entirely polymetric, the multitude of voices intertwine yet preserve their identity within a harmonious whole. Written in 1994 The Native American Songs weave an atmospheric sound fabric. The animistic beliefs of the Modoc and Omaha people are evident in I the Song which transports the singer to embody the song, while the Omaha fragment of a ritual In The Midst of The Paths speaks of the inanimate rock as an analogy to human wisdom. Dusan reinforces the irony of The Agaya Crab, a saucy dance from the Carib people of the island of Dominica, by separating the syllables of the words for an angular, crab-like rhythm. Here as in many of these songs, the guitarist has to imagine he's playing a drum rather than plucking a string. Balkan Mosaic was originally called Six Balkan Miniatures (published by Guitar Solo Publications), written for William Kannengiser in 1991. Of his arrangement, Claudio Morbo said: “As a composer, I was interested in Dusan's music and I recognised its strength and incredible refinement. I thought these pieces would sound good for orchestra. All I did was colour a black and white photo.” Clearly based on Folkloric dances and tunes from Dusan's 'neighbourhood', these works date from a time when the war in the ex-Yugoslavia led him to dedicate the Balkan Miniatures to World Peace. In their new identity as a Balkan Mosaic, they come even closer if that's possible, to embodying the rich and unique culture rooted in this painfully castigated part of the world. © 2000 Emma Martínez Hockley |
