Aleksandar Obradović

Symphonic music occupies the most important place in the oeuvre of Aleksandar Obradović, considered one of the most significant Serbian symphonicists during the second half of the 20th century. Obradović composed eight symphonies, Prelude and fugue for string orchestra (1954), Ascesis for large string orchestra and celesta, suite Through the universe, and Epitaph H for symphonic orchestra and tape. Among his notable orchestral works are also: Concerto for clarinet and strings, Concertino for piano and strings, Symphonic scherzo in D, Scherzo-Overture, and the Komitaji dance (Komitska igra). He composed music for ballet the Spring reveille; two cantatas, A Symphonic epitaph (in two versions, for string and wind orchestra, each with choir and soloists) and Sutjeska; a solemn, commemorative spectacle The Student days Šumarica (Đačko doba Šumarica); and several song cycles (The Wind of Flame (Plameni vjetar) for voice and orchestra being the most extensive among them, and Stradun, the three musical pastels after poetic impressions entitled The Green Knight (Zeleni vitez) by Miroslav Belović). Obradović's body of works also includes chamber pieces (Quintet for flute, clarinet, violin, viola, and cello, Intermezzo for string quartet, and Scherzo for string quintet), piano pieces (Little variations and Sonatina), choral works (Little choral suite, Marika, and An Ohrid impression (Ohridska impresija)), and music for film and radio-dramas. An important place in his work belongs to the editing and instrumentation of the Cantata to Dositej Obradović by Josif Marinković and the Heroic oratorio by Vojislav Vučković. Obradović's Electronic toccata and fugue from 1967 is one of the first works of Serbian music realized in electronic medium.

The musical language and creative poetics of Aleksandar Obradović could be interpreted as dominantly modernist, whereas the composer covers the stylistic realm from neoclassicism (The First symphony) to neo-expressionism (Microsymphony). One of the main features of Obradović's craft is his sense for clear and perspicuous form and structural architectonics, grounded in traditional formal schemes. These forms, replete with harmonies based on expanded tonality and chromaticism, nonetheless imply certain clearly discernible tonal anchors. The complex counterpoint evident in many of Obradović's works often impels polytonality, with apparent clusters, elements of twelve-tone technique, Aleatory, and parallel motions of convoluted chord structures. Obradović's music is also characterized by rich and multifarious orchestral sound and utilization of electronic medium. The composer's tendency toward broadening and enhancing traditional forms is evident in his Second symphony (1964) and Epitaph H (1965) that feature the twelve-tone technique, or in the Microsymphony (The Third symphony, 1967) enriched by the use of electronic medium.

Epitaph H is conceived as a symphonic inscription on an imaginary tomb in the wake of a vast catastrophe of mankind. As a unique motto for this composition Obradović chose verses from Lucretius’ epic poem On the Nature of Things. The contrast between the twelve-tone row, varied intricate rhythms, and polytonality on one side, and a recording of Beethoven’s Symphony no. 9 that “symbolizes a compassionate humanistic message from the past” on the other, serves as an unequivocal admonition to mankind.

Obradović's Concerto for Piano and Orchestra (1999) also offers a similar programmatic background. The bold musical means that fringe on atonality, especially in the tempestuous first and third movements, reinforce ideological references from the concerto's subtitle Pro libertate. In the opening part, marked by tempo and character Allegro risoluto e con colera, prominent are complex clusters, which, according to the composer represent “a reverberation of tumultuous micro-polyphony.” In context of the 1999 NATO bombing of Serbia during which this work was contrived, noteworthy seems the inspiration for the concerto's slow second movement Obradović found in a melody from Mokranjac's Octoechos. The melody's modal structure insofar effectuated tonal and modal centricity of this movement and the quasi-improvisatory treatment of the adopted melody-theme. The ultimate revelation of the composer's pursuit of freedom emerges in the final movement, in the theme delivered by trumpets, in which Obradović in Morse code conveys the word libertas–freedom.

In Ascesis, composed on occasion of the 70th anniversary of the Belgrade Philharmonic, Obradović, as indicated by the work's title, utilizes minimalist compositional techniques. The entire composition unfolds rendering reduced musical material—that is—until the appearance of a lilting theme in the violin, only eight measures before the work's end. The employment of such sharp contrasts underscores yet another characteristic of Obradović's musical language and could be interpreted in the context of his continual search for new expressive solutions.

The last work of Aleksandar Obradović, Passacaglia for strings (2001) also reveals a certain aspect in use of contrasts. Composed after the tune Crni goro (from the Mokranjac's song-wreath), the Passacaglia is based on a combination of a simple folk tune and complex counterpoint, mixtures, and copious orchestration. Given the fact that the folk-originated themes were not the focus of Obradović's attention and affinities, this work, completed only several months before the composer's death represents a somewhat unexpected shift in his oeuvre.

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• Marinković, Sonja, “The Two diptychs by Aleksandar Obradović”, The New Sound 18, Belgrade, 2001, 89-99.
• Marinković, Sonja, “Understanding the beginning and the end—An Interview with the composer Aleksandar Obradović”, The New Sound 10, Belgrade, 1997, 5-17.
• Mikić, Vesna, “The Neoclassical tendencies”, in: A History of Serbian music, Belgrade: Zavod za udžbenike, 2007.
• Peričić, Vlastimir, Composers in Serbia, Belgrade: Prosveta, 1969.
• Radić, Zorana. The Symphonicism of Aleksandar Obradović, Belgrade: CAS, 1987, 193-200.
• Radić, Zorana, “The Relationship of the traditional and contemporary in symphonies by Aleksandar Obradović,” The Sound 2, Sarajevo, 1984, 5.
• Sabo, Anica, “Concerto for violin and strings and Music for piano and strings”, New Sound 3, Belgrade, 1994, 85-96.
• Sabo, Anica, “The last Largo elegico e espressivo of Aleksandar Obradović”, Mokranjac 3, Negotin 2001, 51.
• Sabo, Anica, “Writings about Aleksandar Obradović”, Mokranjac 9, Negotin, 2007, 32-35.
• Louis-Mark, Suter, “The Four concertante pieces by Serbian composers”, Belgrade: SASA, 1989, 135-48.
• Stambolić, Olivera, “Sonata form in the first movements of Aleksandar Obradović’s symphonies”, Music Theory and analysis 2, Belgrade: Singature, 2005, 278-89.
• Stojanović-Novičić, Dragana, and Marija Masnikosa, “Orchestral music” in: A History of Serbian music, Belgrade: Zavod za udžbenike, 2007.

• Faculty of Music in Belgrade
• Aleksandar Obradović as a Rector of the University of Arts in Belgrade
• Biography at Muzička centrala website