Bibliografija Predraga Miloševića

Predrag Milošević (1904–1988) was a composer, conductor, pianist, professor, music writer and organizer. A multitalented and versatile creative music figure, he enriched and contributed to the musical life in Serbia in the inter-war and post-war periods in many ways. His compositional oeuvre – although relatively small – represents a valuable milestone in the history of Serbian music, most no-tably with the genres of chamber and symphonic music. The monograph Predrag Milošević – Portrait of the Music Artist, highlights all of his versatile artistic ac-tivities. Milošević was born in Knjaževac, Serbia in 1904. He started piano studies at the Academie der Tonkunst in Munich (with Professor Eduard Bah) from 1922– 24, then continued studies of piano, and also composition and conducting at the State Conservatory in Prague, where he studied with professors Jaroslav Křička (composition) and Pavel Dědeček (conducting). Milošević mastered composi-tion with Josef Suk at the Meister School in Prague, and also attended a master class in conducting with Nikolai Malko. The central position in his professional trajectory was occupied by con-ducting, which lasted for several decades and gave fruitful results. He started as a choir conductor already in his student days in Prague, leading the choir “Hlahol” which was quite famous and internationally recognized at that time. After returning to his homeland, Milošević was engaged as the Opera conductor in the Belgrade National Theater (from 1932 to 1941), conducting over twenty opera and ballet premieres of both international and domestic works. He was the only Serbian conductor of that time who had five of the most important Mozart’s operas on the repertoire (The Magic Flute, Cosi fan tutte, Don Giovanni, The Abduction from the Seraglio , Le nozze di Figaro). At the same time, he also acted as the choir-leader of the Belgrade Singing Society (Beogradsko pevačko društvo), performing well known cantatas, oratorios and church choir music by Dvořák, Handel, Verdi, Mokranjac and others. This important domain of his work is presented in a separate chapter (III. PERIOD OF RISING – VERSATILE CONTRIBUTIONS TO THE MUSIC LIFE OF BELGRADE 1932–1941, III.1, III.2. III.3) and documented with many excerpts from reviews published in daily newspapers and periodicals from the inter-war period. During the Second World War, Milošević was imprisoned in camps in Warburg, Nürnberg and Hamelburg in Germany. In difficult times and condi-tions, he still managed to organize quite a rich music life, establishing a “Music Section” with a choir, chamber orchestra, giving performances, organizing lec-tures in various fields of music theory. A separate chapter of this book is dedicated to this period of hardship in Milošević’s life, based on the memoirs that he published in a joint collection of memories Muzika iza bodljikavih žica / Music behind Barbed Wires. After the war, Milošević continued with his engagement as the opera con-ductor at The National Theater in Belgrade (1945–55), then at the Serbian National Theater in Novi Sad (1955–60), where he acted also as the director for two years. From 1945, Predrag Milošević was employed as the professor of com-position at the Music Academy; from 1948 he also led a class of conducting, and from 1960–67 was the Dean of this institution. Among his versatile activities, the book also gives an insight to Milošević as a pianist, lecturer and music writer. For many years, he published music reviews in periodicals. Being the most long-standing and central area of his artistic career, conduct-ing was perhaps the reason why Milošević did not manage to compose more. Namely, Sonatina for piano, String Quartet and Symphonietta – which he com-posed during his studies, are his only three significant works, but their quality positions Milošević as an important figure in the history of Serbian music. The value and significance of these three compositions are not only historical in the sense of documenting a period in Serbian music history; these works are highly professional, showcasing a skillful compositional technique, individually round-ed, fresh in ideas, expression and sound even today. As such, they rightfully de-serve to be thoroughly analyzed and that is why the sixth chapter is the longest and most important part of this monograph. The encompassing results of precise analytical interpretation of his compositional oeuvre – presented here – are the first of this kind in our musicological-theoretical literature. The interesting point in Milošević’s compositional expression is that he start-ed with impressionism in the Sonatina, and then stylistically turned to neo-ba-roque and neoclassicism in the String Quartet and Symphonietta. Like many of his fellow composers who studied in Prague (known as The “Prague Group”) and brought some of the new, contemporary tendencies from Prague back home – thus enriching Serbian music, Milošević turned to these new tendencies, but they were filtered through his own artistic prism. Thus, the stylistic turn from impressionism to neoclassicism in such a short period (1926–30) and within only a few compositions, was even more compact and strikingly successful. The main characteristics of Milošević’s compositional style are: a distinc-tive linear-melodic flow paired with skillful transformations of motifs, leading to thematic unity; polyphonic textures, also displaying his mastery in counter-point techniques; well-orchestrated rhythmic and harmonic ostinatos, and spe-cific sense for rhythmic movement and metric diversity. Harmonic features in the Sonatina show impressionistic obscuring of tonal functions, which evolve to free tonality in the Quartet and atonality in Symphonietta with dissonant chordblocks built of fourths, bi-chords, and “mini-clusters”. Milošević’s treatment of form, on the one hand, shows a traditional starting point (sonata form, rondo, fugue, ternary forms), but it is enriched with individual interventions on the other hand, which lead to merging of different formal patterns. The sonata cy-cle of the String Quartet introduces baroque forms of each movement: Preludio, Passacaglia, Fugue, merging a compressed sonata form of the first movement with imitative and fugato-like sections; the third movement is a rondo form but in a manner of the fugue. The polyphonic texture as being logical in the neo-baroque Quartet, is linked not only to this composition; it is also present in Symphonietta as the result of various counterpoint techniques which Milošević masterly employs, and can be observed as one of the defining characteristics of his own compositional style. The use of block-type ostinatos and static ostina-tos with a resulting coloristic effect, the emerging of thematic material from the mutual core, the “synthetic” principle in section building, along with the harsh and dissonant harmonic structures, fourth-chord blocks, bi-tonal and poly-tonal plains – all these combined stand as the most significant features of Milošević’s compositional style in Symphonietta. Sonatina, String Quartet and Symphonietta, despite being his student (and graduation) compositions, show all the attributes of a mature author. Characterized by the richness of thematic ideas, original melodic profile, undu-lating metro-rhythmic sculpting and compositional proficiency, these composi-tions stand not only as his personal creative peak, but represent exemplary pieces in the anthology of Serbian music.Kompozitor, dirigent, pijanista, muzički pisac, pedagog, redovni profesor i dekan Fakulteta muzičke umetnosti, prevodilac, organizator muzičkog života, društveno angažovan poslenik, sve su to bila profesionalne okupacije vezane za ime samo jedne ličnosti – Predraga Miloševića, čije je sveukupno stvaralačko zračenje ostavilo dubokog traga u izgrađivanju srpske muzičke kulture i umnogome ga na osoben način obogatilo. Predrag Milošević rođen je 11. februara 1904. godine u Knjaževcu, malom mestu istočne Srbije; preminuo je januara 1988. godine u Beogradu. Autorka ove monografije imala je čast i zadovoljstvo da lično upozna Predraga Miloševića 1986. godine. Susreti sa njim su se odvijali u prijatnoj poslovnoj atmosferi u njegovom domu u Gogoljevoj ulici na Banovom Brdu. Pričao je o svojoj mladosti i dolasku u Beograd, evocirao sećanja sa školovanja, studija, putovanja, o vremenu provedenom u logoru za vreme Drugog svetskog rata. Govorio je o dirigentskoj i pedagoškoj karijeri. Iako sa izuzetno raznolikim i bogatim životnim i profesionalnim iskustvom, pripovedao je skromno ali sa žarom, zanimljivo i živo, sa puno duhovitih dosetki. U to vreme, iako u poodmaklim godinama, Milošević je radio na svojoj knjizi „O drugima – o sebi”. Nažalost, u delu zaostavštine Predraga Miloševića, poklonjenom Fakultetu muzičke umetnosti u Beogradu, nije nađen trag o ovom rukopisu i nije poznato da li ga je završio. U to vreme je i dalje aktivno pisao i prevodio, i sa budnom pažnjom pratio sva značajnija događanja u svim oblastima kulturnog života, često uzimajući i sam učešća u njima. Iako tako mnogostranog umetničkog profila, celokupna delatnost Predraga Miloševića nije do sada bila predmet šireg, sveobuhvatnog sagledavanja, koji po značaju svakako zaslužuje, te ova monografija ima za cilj da osvetli stvaralački doprinos i ostvareni kvalitet u svim domenima njegovog delovanja