Page 315 - Weiss, Jernej, ur./ed. 2026 Skladateljska društva nekoč in danes.../Composers’ Societies Past and Present...

The Slovene Composer Ivo Petrić and Društvo slovenskih skladateljev
elaborate and lead to effects that are not always melodically audible as such.
The synchronization of melodic elements is sometimes precise, as in Dia-
logues concertants for cello, but usually – as in the outstanding Trois imag-
6
es for violin and orchestra (1973) – is only approximate, tied to a system of
primary and secondary conductor’s cues. Wind instrument works such as
Episodes lyriques (1973) for oboe and Jeux concertants (1978) for flute rely on
kaleidoscopic textures that play with melodic focuses.
After composing a number of concertante works in a freely coordi-
nated aleatory style during the 1970s, including Trois images, Ivo Petrić re-
turned to metrically barred notation for his concertos from the middle of
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the 1980s, such as the Concerto for Trumpet and Orchestra (1986) and
Moods and Temperaments (1987), which nevertheless retain the melodic
processes characteristic of the 1970s. Of solo works with orchestra from
this time, the Trumpet, Saxophone and Horn Concertos and the Concerti-
no for percussion (Pomladni concertino) are particularly notable. The newer
concertos were composed as single-movement multi-section works which
nevertheless reveal an underlying traditional movement structure. The in-
strumental character defines the tone of the works. The composer aimed to
take advantage of traditional compositional values, something that a close
investigation of details reveals to be the case. However, the lessons learned
from his aleatory works have been most effectively applied to the newer
works.
To sum up, Ivo Petrić made a really valuable contribution to music in
Slovenia in his long and fruitful life. Beginning as an orchestral oboist, he
soon moved into the field of composition, including studies with Lucijan
Marija Škerjanc, and conducting with Danilo Švara, but always acknowl-
edging the influence of Slavko Osterc. In order to have an ensemble capable
of performing these works and similar music, he assembled selected players
into a flexible group called the Slavko Osterc Ensemble (Ansambel Slavko
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Osterc) which he conducted with distinction for many years. It is a tribute
to his organising and conducting abilities that the number of advanced piec-
es championed by this group is very large. Equally significantly, he and sev-
eral of his like-minded composer colleagues grouped themselves together

6 Niall O’Loughlin, “Concertante Techniques in Trois images by Ivo Petrić,” Musico-
logical Annual 37, no. 1 (2001): 103–12, https://doi.org/10.4312/mz.37.1.103-112.
7 Niall O’Loughlin, “A Return to Old Techniques in Recent Concertos by Ivo Petrić,”
Musicological Annual 47, no. 1 (2011): 167–76, https://doi.org/10.4312/mz.47.1.167
-176.
8 Rijavec, “Skladateljska skupina okrog ansambla ‘Slavko Osterc’,” 260–9.

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