Nikola Fabijanić – soprano saxophone, Gordan Tudor – alto saxophone, Goran Jurković – tenor saxophone, Tomislav Žužak – baritone saxophone
Elegant entertainment in the form of divertimento was particularly common in 18th-century Austria, but Mozart showed that even such, in principle, ephemeral music can be original and invigorating for the spirit. He wrote his divertimenti either for string quartets or for smaller chamber ensembles, which occasionally included wind ensembles. The beauty and depth of Mozart's thoughts are sometimes revealed even more beautifully when they are presented in a new sound "alloy" - the virtuoso, rapid movements of the strings Divertimenta in F major, KV. 138, quick questions and answers interspersed with sections of ethereal string harmony, take on a whole new quality in the light, sparkling, fluid four-part saxophone (arranged by Gordan Tudor), especially in the distinctively soft and virtuoso playing of the Papandopulo Quartet. The second movement, with its sustained notes and appoggiaturas, does not betray the speed at which the sixteen-year-old Mozart wrote this piece in 1772, upon returning to Salzburg from a tour of Italy. The three divertimentos he composed at that time are sometimes called Mozart's "Salzburg symphonies", due to their elaborate and harmonically rich writing. The last movement is a carefree rondo, the theme of which, after the dissonance of the second movement, seems comfortingly familiar, and the second episode, in which Mozart does not hesitate to add more wit, is somewhat clownish, entertaining, just as a divertimento should be.
Leading Croatian avant-garde artist and one of the most performed Croatian composers, Dubravko Detoni, born in Križevci in 1937, is the author of an exceptionally diverse opus of chamber, solo, orchestral, vocal and electronic music. His exceptional sensitivity to color, harmony of form, which he manages to reinvent and reformulate in a new but acceptable and musically justified way, makes him one of the most important writers of recent Croatian music. His Quartettino, according to Gordan Tudor, is a masterpiece for saxophone quartet. Detoni wrote it for the Papandopulo Quartet, which premiered it at the Osor Music Evenings in 2023. It consists of twenty variations that resemble a musical reflection of his "enthusiastic, enigmatic, astonishing and entertaining short diary entries, which he published as a writer in several volumes. In them, each individual in the quartet stands out in their own way, the composition also includes musical humor and whistling, and it is the interpreters who make the final contribution to the outlines of the composition". (as Karolina Rugle writes in Glazba.hr on the occasion of the premiere in 2023.)
Jean Denis-Michat (1971) is one of the most prominent contemporary saxophonists, and at the same time the composer of a large number of works for the saxophone (solo and in various ensembles, and with an orchestra), which are performed by professional ensembles around the world. For composition The dark side he wrote: "it was an opportunity to introduce improvisation into my writing, asking at the same time how to delegate the freedom of invention, without relying solely on the talent of others?" The dark side was also an opportunity to dare to affirm my taste in popular music. At forty, it is no longer a question of who influenced me, but simply that I want to embrace those who truly attract me: Stravinsky and Keith Jarrett, David Oistrakh and Michael Brecker, Mozart and Puccini, Franco Corelli and James Brown, Dire Straits and Brassens. I like thirds, I don't like semitones and quartertones... but I don't like the fact that I like thirds and I like the repulsion that quartertones cause me...
So what do I want to say with this music? To have a good time? I hope so, but that's not enough. Do you feel like dancing? If it comes to that... To change the world? I want to! To be interesting? Anything but that - pfff... Who knows!” (From the booklet of the Möebius Quartet's L'Actuel CD).
The dark side is a commission from the Habanera Quartet, which was premiered by the quartet with the participation of klezmer clarinetist David Krakauer at the Carpentras Jewish Music Festival.
Fernande Breilh-Decruck (1896-1954), better known simply as Fernande Decruck, was born in 1896 and completed her musical education at the Paris Conservatory. She dedicated the bulk of her compositional oeuvre to the French saxophone pioneer, Marcel Mule, some forty works, including the often performed Sonata in C sharp minor for alto saxophone (or viola). Her husband, Maurice Decruck, was also a saxophonist, as well as a clarinetist and double bassist. She spent part of her life in the United States, and later taught at the Toulouse Conservatory.
Pavana for saxophone quartet in 1933 for the Republican Guard Saxophone Quartet, founded by Marcel Mule. It was her first composition for saxophone quartet, and after it gained considerable popularity, she adapted it for other wind ensembles.
Saxophonist and composer Gordon Tudor, born in Split in 1982, has occupied a special place in the spectrum of reproductive artists for many years, since his studies in Zagreb, Amsterdam and Paris, as an interpreter of incomparable energy and unlimited interpretative invention and imagination. As a composer, he quickly established himself equally strongly. His inspirations seem diverse and familiar, but his compositional language is original; in it one can find both melody and familiar rhythm, touches with popular music as well as with the classical tradition, but they are always inserted into a framework, into his unique sensibility that does not hesitate to step outside the framework and arouse a musical, sound, and energy experience that has not yet been experienced.
Composition Almost Three Sketches, which the Papandopulo Quartet premiered in 2018 at the Archaeological Museum in Zagreb, was created from, as its name suggests, sketches, thoughts, which took the form of three movements. According to the composer, the first sketch was conceived as a fanfare, similar in character to an overture. In the second sketch, he tried to achieve the fluidity of musical thought, although it is full of irregular measures (which may sabotage it from within), and its character is similar to a rondo or scherzo. The third sketch has the role of a slow movement in the character of a chorale. The composition is rounded off by the repetition of the second sketch and a small coda at the end.
The atmosphere surrounding the composer Dora Pejacevic (1985-1923) is romantic and intriguing, and is almost as much a part of her artistic identity as her music itself. Her unusual life path and premature death, however, have long been in the foreground, overshadowing the objective qualities of her music. Only recently, through research and an increasing number of performances and audio releases, has her music itself become what the musical public is interested in. Within her 58 opuses, compositions built according to the forms of classical models stand side by side with those more intimate, more freely conceived instrumental and vocal-instrumental miniatures, which are more the fruit of a moment of surrender to feelings and momentary inspiration. Perhaps, as the most reliable researcher of the composer's oeuvre, Koraljka Kos, notes, these compositions reveal her true nature more, but her large-format compositions reveal her supreme professionalism.
String Quartet in C major, Op. 58 is among her last compositions, the premiere of which she did not experience. It reveals a sovereign command of this genre, in which the author surrenders to deep musical reflection, the characteristic composition of the quartet, and an intriguing discussion led equally by four instruments. In this quartet, she concentrates on thematic and motivic elaboration, achieving a complex, interesting style. The string quartet is matched by the saxophone quartet, which arranged by Tomislav Žužak, performs the first movement in the original key, Allegro ma not tanto. The first theme is an expressive melody that is heard at the beginning in the cello section and then passes to other instruments, and is transformed, perhaps only for a moment, into a brief reminiscence of a march (perhaps a wedding one), after which follows the second theme that seems to flow slightly from the ideas of the first theme. The development is filled with a series of diverse, characterful images and episodes, which lead on an intriguing journey, moving away from the initial thoughts, only to reveal close connections with the main theme towards the end of the movement, which is forcefully recapitulated at the very end.
Since its founding in 2008 Papandopoulo Quartet creates its own musical story based on the legacy of one of the most famous Croatian composers, Boris Papandopulo.
A dynamic and award-winning ensemble, firmly established as one of the leading quartets of its generation, the Papandopulo Quartet has been described as “the best thing that can happen to composers” (Zarez) with performances that balance “superior musicality” (Jutarnji list) and “extraordinary dedication” (Treći program Hrvatskoga radio).
The Papandopulo Quartet has performed throughout Europe and the USA in an extraordinary series of more than 300 performances and has guested in some of the world's most important concert halls such as Carnegie Hall in New York and the Berlin Philharmonic in Berlin.
The quartet is the winner of numerous national and international awards at some of the most prestigious chamber music competitions and festivals (First Prize and Grand Prix at the Third Berliner International Music Competition (Berlin), Gold Medal at the Vienna International Music Competition, First Prize and Grand Prix at the Sixth Manhattan International Music Competition (New York City), Orpheus Award (Vienna), Orlando Award for musical performance at the 75th Dubrovnik Summer Festival, Milka Trnina Diploma, Danijel Marušić Award, Porin Award, Jastrebarsko City Award, etc.).
As champions of new music, the Papandopulo Quartet has premiered more than 40 new works dedicated to them.
Their discography consists of four albums, three of which were recorded for Croatia Records: Papandopulo (2013), Per Quattro (2015) and Scherzo (2017).
Their debut album won the Croatian record award Porin and is considered the best-selling Croatian classical music album in recent times.
Their latest album, titled Scenes, with music dedicated to and written for the quartet, was released by Cantus Records in June 2022.
The Quartet's diverse activities have included numerous international radio and television shows, theater productions, and together they founded the Jaska Saxophone School, a highly successful international spring masterclass for saxophone students that won the annual City of Jastrebarsko Award.
The members of the Quartet are also engaged in pedagogical work, successfully leading chamber music and instrument courses at the Universities of Zagreb and Split, and at the Music Schools in Zagreb and Jastrebarsko.
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WA Mozart: Divertimento in F major K.138 (arrangement for saxophones by G.Tudor)
D. Detoni: Quartettino
JD Michat: The Dark Side
F. Decruck: Pavane
Mr. Tudor: Almost Three Sketches
D. Pejačević: String Quartet in C major, op.58 (arrangement for saxophones by T. Žužak)
