Petar Bergamo’s symphonic compositions: Perspectives of the 1960s and 1990s

Simfonijske kompozicije Petra Bergama - sa gledišta šezdesetih i devedesetih godina XX veka

Abstract

This article deals with the orchestral opus of Petar Bergamo, a Croat composer whose most productive period was linked to Beograd, Serbia where he lived and worked at the time. In four works: First Symphony overture-phantasy Navigare necesse est, Musica Concertante and Second Symphony, all conceived in just four consecutive years (1960 - 1963), the matter being treated through author’s technical tools includes authentic materials, autoquotations, quasiquotations, quotations, and the ‘fund’ mode (fundus). Fragments of musical history embedded in the newly established structure, void of tonal components and orchestrated in great detail to achieve the coloration which may prevail the actual form, introduced to Serbian practice a new respect for the old. Since it was new, Bergamo’s contribution could not have been determined at that time in all of its significance. Laying his agenda on the dead-end street of what was considered modern art, Bergamo earned an attribute of post, regarding his respect for the past. The reception of Bergamo’s opus is viewed here through various articles and critiques from the time of its inception as well as thirty years later. From the viewpoint of the 1990s it appears that his language or at least some of its elements had become the impetus for one particular stream of local compositional teaching. As such, this strengthens his position as a fundamental innovator, and labels him as the one who imposed the post in modern Serbian music.