Živković, Mirjana
Živković, Mirjana
- Ivana Medić
Updated in this version
death date added
(b Split, May 3, 1935; d Belgrade, April 27, 2020). Serbian composer. She studied composition with Stanojlo Rajičić at the Belgrade Music Academy (graduated in 1964) and literature at the Faculty of Philology, University of Belgrade. She continued her studies with Olivier Messiaen and Nadia Boulanger in Paris (1967–8), and then completed postgraduate studies with Rajičić in 1974. She was appointed professor of harmony and music pedagogy at the Belgrade Music Academy (now Faculty of Music). She wrote a number of textbooks for music students (Harmony, Instrumental Counterpoint), didactic essays, and analytical studies of works by 20th-century Serbian composers. She was a leading specialist in Josip Slavenski’s oeuvre. She won numerous awards, including the Stevan Hristić Prize for her Sinfonia polifonica (1964), first prize of the Conservatorie in Fontainebleau for Basma [Incantation] for mezzo soprano and 4 timpani (1964), and the Lifetime Achievement Award from the Association of Serbian Music and Ballet Pedagogues.
Her early works are freely atonal, with a highly charged emotional tone verging on expressionism. Later, she returned to the concept of extended tonality. She was a master of polyphonic writing: works such as Zaboravljeni kontrapunkt (‘Forgotten Counterpoint’, 1980) show a great economy of musical means. A composer with a particular affinity for strings, she wrote numerous solo and chamber works for string instruments.
Works
(selective list)
Wind Quintet, 1962 |
Sinfonia poliphonica, orch, 1964 |
Passacaglia, vn, 1965 |
Symphonic Torso, orch, 1967 |
Basma [Incantation], Mez, 4 timp, 1968 |
Koncertantne metamorfoze [Metamorphoses Concertante], pf, orch, 1974 |
4 pohvale [4 Praises], Mez, pf, 1975 |
Zapis [Inscription], v pfn, pf, 1975 |
Glasovi [Voices], hpd/pf, 1979 |
Zaboravljeni kontrapunkt [Forgotten Counterpoint], S, A, T, B, 1980 |
Sonatina, vn, pf, 1983 |
Tri narodne [Three Folksongs], female chorus, 1985 |
Iz ničije zemlje [Out of Nobody’s Land], Mez, pf, 1991 |
Duo, vn, vc, 1992 |
Ballad no.1, pf, 2001 |
Letnja noć [Summer Night], accdn, 2004 |
Adagio, ob, str orch, 2008 |
Ballad no.2 Fragmenti sećanja [Fragments of Memories], pf, 2009 |
Kružna melodija [Circular Melody], ob, 2010 |
Sonata, vc, pf, 2011 |
Agitato, vn, hp, 2013 |
Nove folklorne intonacije [New Folklore Intonations], 2fl, 2013 |
