Le travail du compositeur slovène Vito Žuraj, né à Maribor en 1979, se caractérise par des compositions puissantes et méticuleusement élaborées, qui intègrent souvent des éléments théâtraux et des concepts sonores spatiaux.
Sa musique a rapidement été appréciée dans les salles de concert et a été interprétée par des forces musicales renommées telles que le New York Philharmonic, le BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra, le Helsinki Philharmonic Orchestra, l'Ensemble Modern et le Klangforum Wien.
Il a, entre autres, reçu des commandes de l'Orchestre philharmonique de Berlin (Anemoi), de l'Opéra de Francfort (Blühen, nommée « Première mondiale de l'année » en 2023 par le magazine Opernwelt), et de l'Ensemble intercontemporain (Ubuquité). L'orchestre symphonique de la radio bavaroise lui a commandé l'œuvre orchestrale Automatones, qui a été dirigée par Sir Simon Rattle en 2023.
Vito Žuraj puise souvent son inspiration dans des sources non musicales : en tant que joueur de tennis passionné, il canalise les expériences vécues lors de matchs spécifiques dans une série croissante d'œuvres - dont Changeover for instrumental groups and orchestra, qui a reçu le premier prix lors du 57ème prix de composition de la ville de Stuttgart en 2012.
D'autres œuvres s'inspirent de la vie de l'alchimiste Johann Friedrich Böttger, l'inventeur de la porcelaine européenne (Der Verwandler), des contes de fées siciliens (Alavò) et des rituels culinaires (Hors d'œuvre pour cuisinier-interprète et orchestre).
Vito Žuraj a reçu de nombreuses distinctions, notamment le prix de composition Claudio Abbado, de l'Académie Karajan, de la Philharmonie de Berlin, un prix de reconnaissance de la Fondation Art Mentor de Lucerne et le prix du Fonds Prešeren, la plus haute distinction slovène pour les artistes. Il a également été boursier de l'Académie allemande de Rome Villa Massimo, de la Maison internationale des artistes Villa Concordia et de la Fondation Civitella Ranieri.
Vito Žuraj a étudié la composition à Ljubljana, à Dresde et à Karlsruhe avec Wolfgang Rihm.
Depuis 2016, il est professeur de composition et de théorie musicale à l'Académie de musique de l'Université de Ljubljana.
Texte traduit de l’Anglais
In ancient Greek religion and mythology the Anemoi were eight wind deities, subject to the god Aeolus, the ruler of all winds, and each assigned a direction from which their winds came and each associated with different seasons and weather conditions, influencing among other things the changing of the climate, the spreading of diseases and the outcome of wars – all subjects that should be addressed by world leaders. In his book “Heaven‘s Breath: A Natural History of the Wind“ the author Lyall Watson describes the wind as a “combination of a force that cannot be apprehended, but nevertheless has an undeniable existence“ – his quote could just as easily apply to music. In the symphonic work Anemoi each of the eight ancient Greek wind gods Boreas, Kaikias, Apeliotes, Eurus, Notus, Livas, Zephyrus and Skiron (depicted in this succession on the Tower of the Winds, an octagonal marble clocktower in the Roman Agora in Athens built around 50 BC and still standing) is characterised by various instrumental formations within the orchestra, including allusions to ancient Greek musical instruments such as the lyre and aulos, the latter's harsh sound being reminiscent of either the howling of wolves or the siren warning of an impending missile attack.
Vito Žuraj, 2024
The Automatones were animated metal statues of animals, humans, and monsters crafted by the divine blacksmith Hephaestus and the Athenian craftsman Daedalus. The boldest of these self-acting creatures—including Caucasian eagles, golden mermaids, and bronze bulls—should be able to think and feel like humans. In one myth, when Herakles was visiting Daedalus' workshop, he smashed one of the statues, mistakenly believing he had been attacked by a real person. So a veteran of artificial intelligence, a topic that is now shaping the world like never before. Behind the AI is extremely delicate "self-learning" computer programming and this stimulated me to research sound about illusions of the seemingly endlessly lasting ascending tone sequences or rhythmic accelerations, as well as to use different types of motor skills in general. But should artificial intelligence also be able to "feel" - or is it just a matter of time?*
*No AI was used in the compositional process of Automatones.
Notice of the work by Vito Žuraj
A photon in the dark – like an atom of sound in silence. In the novel “Of Human Bondage” by British author William Somerset Maugham, the protagonist Philip Carey feels a deep affection for Mildred Rogers, his femme fatale, but she does not reciprocate his emotions. The resulting apparent love affair completely destroys Philip emotionally. I happened to meet “my own” Mildred Rogers. It seemed to me as if all my thoughts revolved only around the Unattainable. Better a painful end than pain without end – I had to say goodbye to her. Then I wandered aimlessly through the woods, searching for sound, for I heard no music in myself at all — only silence in the dark. During this seemingly endless journey, my first sonic flash struck me: a short, soft, high frequency that sounded in time with my heartbeat. I notated this sound impulse in the form of a muffled beat on a bass drum, joined by a short bow stroke on crotales, and I used this sound for the very beginning of my cello concerto.
Thus the composition has autobiographical features, including the fact that I played the cello myself when I was younger. As one of the recurring motifs in the composition, I captured the sonic image of the church bells of the German city of Bamberg, where I was an artist in residence at the Villa Concordia at the time of writing. Are the bells a metaphor for salvation? Among the percussion instruments, I included two church bells, such as those used by Hector Berlioz in his Symphonie fantastique. Another recurring motif is the melancholy reminiscence of the main theme from my chanson setting of Sonnet No. 128 by William Shakespeare, which I dedicated to the Unattainable. The cello concerto is thus a metaphor for the unveiling of my personal world.
Vito Žuraj (translated to English by Neville Hall)