Page 404 - Weiss, Jernej, ur. 2017. Glasbene migracije: stičišče evropske glasbene raznolikosti - Musical Migrations: Crossroads of European Musical Diversity. Koper/Ljubljana: Založba Univerze na Primorskem in Festival Ljubljana. Studia musicologica Labacensia, 1
P. 404
glasbene migracije: stičišče evropske glasbene raznolikosti
poser and how the relationship between the cultural centre and the periph-
ery influenced the composer’s curriculum vitae.
As a teenage pupil of the secondary music school “Slavenski” in Bel-
grade during the 1970s, Damnianovitch showed a marked interest in learn-
ing as much as possible and was attracted to different kinds of music. He
was then introduced to avant-garde ideas by a rebellious group of students
of composition studying at the Belgrade Faculty of Music. The group, which
became known as “The New Generation”, later called “Opus 4”, was mostly
interested in the music of John Cage and the American minimalists. Dur-
ing that period, Damnianovitch began to learn conducting in the private
class of the renowned maestro Borislav Pašćan and, whilst in that class, he
also initiated the foundation of the first Serbian philharmonic orchestra of
young people. He was also drawn to old Serbian and Byzantine music, to
which he was introduced by Dimitrije Stefanović, a fellow of the Institute
of Musicology in Belgrade, who had studied neumatic notation with Egon
Wellesz in Oxford. Even before applying to study at the Belgrade Facul-
ty of Music, Damnianovitch had decided that he would study somewhere
abroad. While waiting to get a visa, he began to study in the class of Vasili-
je Mokranjac, who was known to be tolerant as a teacher, inclined to stim-
ulating young people to broaden their artistic horizons. He himself was an
outstanding composer, whose works were marked by refined modal har-
monies and a lyrical character of an individual type. However, young peo-
ple at the time were looking for something quite novel and daring and he
had a full understanding of their strivings. Damnianovitch admits today
that he was not interested enough in the lessons in Mokranjac’s class during
the first and only year he spent there, being aware today that he could have
learned a lot from such an exquisite composer and person.2 Before leaving
Belgrade, he composed several works that demonstrate his interest in do-
decaphony and minimalism (Terry Riley, Philip Glass), and the works of
Messiaen, Xenakis, Boulez and many others. While still in the country, he
had a conversation with Enriko Josif, a distinguished composer and profes-
sor at the Music Academy, who warned him, in a fatherly way (as recalled
by the young student), “to be on his guard against the foreign world and
the strong Western civilisations that are powerful enough to swallow and
convert people, to usurp their personality”, and who advised him to fol-
low his intuition first and foremost3. Damnianovitch thinks today that the
2 Mail to the author of this article, sent on February 3, 2016.
3 Ibid..
402
poser and how the relationship between the cultural centre and the periph-
ery influenced the composer’s curriculum vitae.
As a teenage pupil of the secondary music school “Slavenski” in Bel-
grade during the 1970s, Damnianovitch showed a marked interest in learn-
ing as much as possible and was attracted to different kinds of music. He
was then introduced to avant-garde ideas by a rebellious group of students
of composition studying at the Belgrade Faculty of Music. The group, which
became known as “The New Generation”, later called “Opus 4”, was mostly
interested in the music of John Cage and the American minimalists. Dur-
ing that period, Damnianovitch began to learn conducting in the private
class of the renowned maestro Borislav Pašćan and, whilst in that class, he
also initiated the foundation of the first Serbian philharmonic orchestra of
young people. He was also drawn to old Serbian and Byzantine music, to
which he was introduced by Dimitrije Stefanović, a fellow of the Institute
of Musicology in Belgrade, who had studied neumatic notation with Egon
Wellesz in Oxford. Even before applying to study at the Belgrade Facul-
ty of Music, Damnianovitch had decided that he would study somewhere
abroad. While waiting to get a visa, he began to study in the class of Vasili-
je Mokranjac, who was known to be tolerant as a teacher, inclined to stim-
ulating young people to broaden their artistic horizons. He himself was an
outstanding composer, whose works were marked by refined modal har-
monies and a lyrical character of an individual type. However, young peo-
ple at the time were looking for something quite novel and daring and he
had a full understanding of their strivings. Damnianovitch admits today
that he was not interested enough in the lessons in Mokranjac’s class during
the first and only year he spent there, being aware today that he could have
learned a lot from such an exquisite composer and person.2 Before leaving
Belgrade, he composed several works that demonstrate his interest in do-
decaphony and minimalism (Terry Riley, Philip Glass), and the works of
Messiaen, Xenakis, Boulez and many others. While still in the country, he
had a conversation with Enriko Josif, a distinguished composer and profes-
sor at the Music Academy, who warned him, in a fatherly way (as recalled
by the young student), “to be on his guard against the foreign world and
the strong Western civilisations that are powerful enough to swallow and
convert people, to usurp their personality”, and who advised him to fol-
low his intuition first and foremost3. Damnianovitch thinks today that the
2 Mail to the author of this article, sent on February 3, 2016.
3 Ibid..
402
