Đuro Živković


Đuro Živković, also rendered as Djuro Zivkovic, is a Serbian-Swedish composer and violinist. Since 2000 he lives in Stockholm, Sweden.

Biography

Živković was born in Belgrade, where he studied violin at the Music Academy, and then composition at the same school with Vlastimir Trajković; later he studied at the Royal College of Music in Stockholm under Pär Lindgren.
His musical style is characterized by fantastic narration, virtuoso instrumentation and stylistic highly profiled sound. He has developed a variety of compositional techniques such as polyrhythmic, improvisation, special harmony based scales, microtones, layer-polyphony and heterophony. His "harmonic field" technique was a topic for academic research at the University of Music and Performing Arts in Graz in Austria and can be found in several of his works, including "Le Cimetière Marin" and "The White Angel." He has composed a wide range of works including chamber, orchestral and vocal music, music for solo instruments and choral music.
Živković is also a professional violinist and violist, performing new music, as well as improviser on violin and piano. He has received many international scholarships and prizes for his work, including the most prestigious Grawemeyer Award in 2014. He worked as a teacher of composition, music theory and aural training, violin and chamber music, but the last years he devoted him only to writing music. Some of his key-works have been composed on the countryside in the middle of Sweden, in Gagnef.
Živković’s music is regularly commissioned and performed across the world by the leading musicians and orchestras, such as New York Philharmonic, Royal Concertgebouw Amsterdam, Chicago Symphony Orchestra, Sydney Symphony Orchestra, Seattle Symphony Orchestra, Klangforum Wien, Asko|Schönberg, Ensemble Modern, among others.

Selected works

''Metaphysical Poem'' (1997–1998)

Sonata for violin and piano is a 37-minutes long monolithic oration in five movements. The sonata is entitled metaphysical, stressing thus the composer’s need for meta-levels in music and his thoughts. All movements are played attacca and both instruments have very little time to rest. The sonata is a step forward from its precedents in both sound and technique, and is indeed a very serious and complex work of young Zivkovic. The last movement, Ison, is based on Zivkovic’s early piano improvisations, where he added here the violin part. The sonata was written during Zivkovic’s studies at the Music Academy in Belgrade, in the class of Vlastimir Trajković.

''The White Angel'' (2006)

The emotion and expression of the music is extremely unusual and original, because it doesn't allude in any way to human emotion, or anything formed by the nature. Sighs, sound phrases, wide vibrato, glissandos... everything in this music is in a function of some unusual fascination, spiritual and intuitive onomatopoeias and brave identification of the world of angels. It seems that Zivkovic finds the right theme for the music that he is long in it, but above all - it has given a strong original term for his unusual and supernatural inspiration, stands almost alone in its over-sense beauty.
The score of The White Angel is a musical shaping of elements of dynamics, radiation, kinetic and other categories that actually explain the energy, love and moving - the three characteristics of angelic existence. "The White Angel", inspired by Mileshevo's fresco, is in fact the spiritual, moral, aesthetic and technical composing sublimate of all previous intentions and interests of the composer. Formed in a clear form that does not inhibit pure energy of the music, the duration is in a balance of the content and can be said—is well measured and it represents a valuable achievement of the Serbian, Swedish and European music in the 21st century. If nothing else, we couldn't find anything similar and nothing comparable in the modern music that we know.

''Le Cimetière Marin'' (2008)

Paul Valery's poem with the same name inspired Zivkovic for the piece commissioned and dedicated to famous mezzo-soprano Anna Larsson and chamber ensemble Sonanza who gave its premiere. The piece is recorded on the label "Phono Suecia", among other pieces by Swedish composers, and has won the Swedish Grammy award as the best classical CD of year 2009.

''[On the Guarding of the Heart]'' (2011)

is commissioned and dedicated to Das Klangforum Wien. The premiere was led by British conductor Clement Power. The piece represents Zivkovic's highest achievement in his compositional technique, complexity and musical accessibility. For this work, the composer was awarded the 2014 Grawemeyer Award for Music Composition.

''Ascetic Discourse'' (2012)

Commissioned and dedicated to Carina Vinke, New European Ensemble and Christian Karlsen. The piece earned the "Mokranjac Award 2012", the Serbian Culture State Prize for the best piece.
The Award Committee writes the following:

''Unceasing Prayers'' (2013)

Concerto for cello and orchestra, commissioned by Swedish Radio. The premiere was given by cellist Hanna Dahlkvist and conductor Shi-Yeon Sung, together with Malmö Symphony Orchestra. The music is inspired by book "The Way of a Pilgrim", a 19th-century Russian work, recounting the narrator's journey as a mendicant pilgrim across Russia while practicing the Jesus Prayer. Musical elements which Zivkovic include in the concerto are: numerous repetitions, plain chant from the Russian north, church bells, Syrian Orthodox church song, etc. The piece is strongly associated with "Ascetic Discourse" in which the concerto has its roots. The first movement is entitled "Ich ruf zu Dir, Herr Jesu Christ", as a spiritual reminiscence of Bach's chorale prelude BWV 639.
The concerto has received "Lilla Christ Johnson Award" in 2019, by the Swedish Royal Music Academy.

''The Mystical Sacrifice'' (2016)

A part of a larger passion project for solo tenor, chorus and orchestra; commissioned and written for the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra who premiered the work in April 2017, with Jeffrey Lloyd-Roberts - tenor, the Netherlands Radio Choir and Martyn Brabbins - conductor.
The work is sung in the Church-Slavonic and has drawn on the Orthodox Easter liturgy, of which forgiveness and redemption are the key focus. "The Mystical Sacrifice" covers the end of "passion" with Good Friday and Saturday. Zivkovic plans to complete the full passion week including the resurrection.

''Bogoluchie'' (2018)

Is a liturgical drama for solo voice, solo guitar, monk choir and large ensemble. The work is commissioned by the society for new music KammarmusikNU and is dedicated to the conductor Christian Karlsen who made the premiere. The piece utilizes the various instrumental and vocal types including orthodox monk choir, amplified and with added effects of acoustic guitar, vocal soloist playing percussions, numerous doublings including a large amount of bell-like instruments. Zivkovic's idea for the work is to create a space and time between ritual and concert, thus the regular applause doesn't occur. The work premiere was staged by Aleksi Barrière.
Fr. Ierotheos commented the concert with this words:

Awards