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Vasilije MOKRANJAC (1923-1984) Piano Works
Vladimir Gligorić (piano)
rec. 2017, Hans-Rosbaud-Studio des SWR, Baden-Baden, Germany CPO 555 221-2 [59:48]
By way of preparing for this review I listened to an old file I acquired some time ago of Vasilije Mokranjac’s acerbic, biting first symphony of 1961. I can’t pretend the experience provided any help – the symphony could have been written by a completely different composer; it’s virile and stormy, it spits and stomps and makes its brusque point and although the brief lyrical episodes strike home too they seem quite out of place. It seems to put two fingers up to the world and I don’t mean in triumph– I absolutely loved it and on the strength of it will do my best to seek out accounts of the four remaining symphonies to which my colleague Rob Barnett referred in his review of the present disc. Rob has also reviewed this issue’s obvious direct competitor, a twofer on the Grand Piano label containing all of Mokranjac’s extant piano works (it includes a sonata and a couple of sonatinas although I haven’t heard it as yet).
Despite the obvious expressive and stylistic contrasts with the symphony I found that I also responded most positively to the elegantly crafted piano pieces on this disc too, not least because Vladimir Gligorić ’s playing is accomplished, tactful and persuasive whilst the CPO sonics are outstanding; the instrument’s authentic timbre is complemented by a sympathetically warm ambience. If most of these pieces prove to be far more contemplative and restrained than the symphony Mokranjac certainly isn’t averse to the occasional massive fortissimo – most frequently in the bass register of the instrument – these have been caught most realistically by the engineers.
The programme is arranged in broadly chronological terms according to the dates of composition. In his most helpful booklet note, Stefan Cvetković identifies three discrete stylistic phases in Mokranjac’s abruptly curtailed career, although these are not so easily distinguished in the repertoire presented here, despite the fact that it encompasses the entire span of the composer’s creativity. Whilst impressionistic and folkloristic flavours are clearly to the fore there is nothing slavish or derivative about their application. Mokranjac has thoroughly absorbed his influences which permeate a style which is both individual and fluent. All the music here is pleasing to the ear (and I imagine most rewarding to perform); it certainly rewards repetition.
The early Menuetto with which the recital begins is refined, Ravelian and gently rocking. It’s only five minutes long but easily the most extended single movement on this disc. The idea at its centre seems more emotionally distant than the lilting impressionism that encases it but paradoxically that seems to add to its attraction.
The rest of the album with a single exception consists of cycles or sets of miniatures. The nine minute sequence Fragments from 1956 comprises half a dozen teasing miniatures. Imaginative rhythmic unpredictability stalls the flow of the first three pieces. The fourth fragment is a terse, gloomy affair with an unexpectedly emphatic shift in dynamics in its second half. The fifth panel is characterised by pianistically clever repeated note patterns and segues into the sixth and longest fragment; this incorporates a more extended workout for Mokranjac’s jagged rhythmic games. Gligorić projects the conflicted agitation which underpins the set splendidly.
The set of Dances emerged just a year later, yet Mokranjac here seems more preoccupied with folkloristic influences, the second dance even emits a whiff of middle-eastern exoticism. The sea change again occurs at the half-way point of the cycle; the fourth dance is gruff and sardonic and reminded me a little of Erwin Schulhoff. It yields to a fifth piece which adopts an even more sinister tone, whilst the rapid finale invites comparisons with Mosolovian constructivism. Vladimir Gligorić again finds substance in this music which goes way beyond the notes, not least in communicating a sense of adventure and fun which is detectable even in the terser stylings of the last three Dances.
The disc includes three of Mokranjac’s set of seven Études which emerged in 1952. No 2 is a nostalgic affair based on a delicious melody formed from repeated notes which seem calculated to impede the flow of what is possibly a painful recollection. No 3 is unambiguously folksy and fantastical, whilst the fourth study seems to fall especially gratefully under Gligorić’s fingers; in this Mokranjac borrows a melody from his great uncle Stevan, the most important early pioneer of the Serbian nationalistic style.
Stefan Cvetković reveals that the suite Intimate Voices marked the composer’s return to piano music during the early 1970s, which was possibly a reaction to his intensive quest for the compact expressionism which apparently characterises his later symphonies. The first three movements seem to be waterscapes of different hues, they are neo-impressionistic in style and immediately appealing to the ear, whilst the fourth is homophonic and chorale-like. The crashing chords at the outset of no 5 provide an abrupt contrast, the harsh, sustained dissonances that follow ultimately put to flight by a tipsy dance. The sixth piece is much quieter, its melody subtly tinged by Gregorian (or Orthodox) chant. It’s also rich in the bell sounds which would continue to preoccupy Mokranjac during his final decade. No 7 involves a couple of presentations of a rather jazzy phrase before a finale which tumbles around unpredictably, resonant and animated, oscillating between quietude and din.
In 1975 Mokranjac compiled a sequence of five tiny Preludes. In the odd-numbered examples slivers of melody attempt to disentangle themselves from agitated patterns of repeated notes – the gentle tintinnabuli of the fifth prelude are contrived most pianistically. Nos 2 and 4 seem more dislocated and improvisatory. The chord sequence of the second prelude might seem familiar. The composer’s last piano work was a single Prelude written during the final year of his life. It projects an appealing sense of serenity and acceptance. There is seemingly no hint of the composer’s imminent suicide.
Vladimir Gligorić’s fine Mokranjac portrait concludes with what Stefan Cvetković implies is this composer’s piano masterpiece, the uniquely styled ‘suite-poem’ Echoes. Written in 1973, it marks the culmination of the composer’s journey towards a more concise yet enigmatic form of expression. It is scented, mysterious and rather inscrutable, The chimes and stasis of its first fragment give way to the insistent trillings of its second, ornaments which intensify and turn back into bells. Each subsequent panel inhabits its own unique mood – although none seem underpinned by unalloyed joy, and I detect something closer to unease rather than triumph throughout. The suite concludes on a note of carillon resignation which is strangely touching. Echoes is a work which I suspect requires some familiarity in order to unpick it; to my ears it is the most intriguing offering on this deeply rewarding issue.
Vasilije Mokranjac proves very clearly to be a figure worthy of much deeper investigation. One suspects there must be other as yet unfamiliar Serbian composers of similar stature; let’s hope CPO ‘discover’ them at some point. For now, we should be grateful for their advocacy of Mokranjac whose chamber music (a string quartet and a violin sonata) has also been featured on the label (CPO 777 893-2 - review).
Fragments (1956)
02. I. Allegro [1:27]
03. II. Andante ma non troppo [1:04]
04. III. Presto, molto ritmico e articolato [1:06]
05. IV. Lento, quasi cantato [1:51]
06. V. Prestissimo possibile [1:10]
07. VI. Grave [3:01]
7 Études for Piano (excerpts) (1951-52)
14. No. 2, Andante [2:08]
15. No. 3, [1:43]
16. No. 4, [1:40]
Intimate Voices - Suite (1973)
17. I. Largo [1:42]
18. II. Andante ma non troppo [1:09]
19. III. Moderato [0:49]
20. IV. Calmo, quasi cantato [1:28]
21. V. Piu mosso [1:54]
22. VI. Lento [1:57]
23. VII. Allegro [0:28]
24. VIII. Adagio [1:24]
Echoes (1973)
31. I. Lento, quasi improvisato [2:01]
32. II. Allegro [2:17]
33. III. Largo [0:40]
34. IV. Andante [0:53]
35. V. Allegro [0:23]
36. VI. Presto [0:26]
37. VII. Andante maestoso [0:26]
38. VIII. Adagio [1:12]
39. IX. Moderato [0:40]
40. X. Adagio [1:30]
41. XI. Lento [1:43]
