Guitar Music from Serbia Alberto Mesirca

• Vlastimir Trajkovic (1947 - 2017): 10 Preludes for Guitar, Op. 10 (1980):
• 1 Trajkovic: 10 Preludes for Guitar, Op. 10 (1980): I. Moderato 02:22
• 2 Trajkovic: 10 Preludes for Guitar, Op. 10 (1980): II. Vivo con Impeto 01:40
• 3 Trajkovic: 10 Preludes for Guitar, Op. 10 (1980): III. Andante ben tenero e senza Rigore 03:23
• 4 Trajkovic: 10 Preludes for Guitar, Op. 10 (1980): IV. Vivo ben Ritmico 02:22
• 5 Trajkovic: 10 Preludes for Guitar, Op. 10 (1980): V. Adagio molto Grave 02:23
• 6 Trajkovic: 10 Preludes for Guitar, Op. 10 (1980): VI. Allegretto Piacevole 01:19
• 7 Trajkovic: 10 Preludes for Guitar, Op. 10 (1980): VII. Con Brio 01:44
• 8 Trajkovic: 10 Preludes for Guitar, Op. 10 (1980): VIII. Liberamente e quasi Improvvisando 01:43
• 9 Trajkovic: 10 Preludes for Guitar, Op. 10 (1980): IX. Andantino Semplice 02:41
• 10 Trajkovic: 10 Preludes for Guitar, Op. 10 (1980): X. Affetuoso non Mosso 03:54
• Isidora Zebeljan (1967 - 2020): 3 Pieces for Guitar (1999):
• 11 Zebeljan: 3 Pieces for Guitar (1999): I. Bathing 02:42
• 12 Zebeljan: 3 Pieces for Guitar (1999): II. The King 01:15
• 13 Zebeljan: 3 Pieces for Guitar (1999): III. Traveling 02:03
• Dusan Radic (1929 - 2010): Vignettes, Op. 3 No. 2bis for Guitar (Ca.2000):
• 14 Radic: Vignettes, Op. 3 No. 2bis for Guitar (Ca.2000): I. No. 1 01:49
• 15 Radic: Vignettes, Op. 3 No. 2bis for Guitar (Ca.2000): II. No. 2 01:07
• 16 Radic: Vignettes, Op. 3 No. 2bis for Guitar (Ca.2000): III. No. 3 01:08
• 17 Radic: Vignettes, Op. 3 No. 2bis for Guitar (Ca.2000): IV. No. 4 01:06
• 18 Radic: Vignettes, Op. 3 No. 2bis for Guitar (Ca.2000): V. No. 5 00:46
• 19 Radic: Vignettes, Op. 3 No. 2bis for Guitar (Ca.2000): VI. No. 6 01:07
• Veljko Nenadic (b.1998): Festa na Lua:
• 20 Nenadic: Festa na Lua (2023) 04:03
• Dragana Jovanovic (b. 1985): Pushc Y Me:
• 21 Jovanovic: Pushc Y Me (2023) 04:36
• Dusan Bogdanovic (b. 1955): Preamble and Ricercare:
• 22 Bogdanovic: Preamble and Ricercare (2019) 04:23
• Vuk Kulenovic (1946 - 2017): Toccatina:
• 23 Kulenovic: Toccatina (Ca.1990) 01:57
• Milos Raickovic (b. 1956): Without You:
• 24 Raickovic: Without You (2022) 05:17
• Milos Petrovic (1952 - 2010): Averröes Dances:
• 25 Petrovic: Averröes Dances (1996) 06:19
• Dragana Jovanovic (b. 1985): Pushc Y Me:
• 26 Jovanovic: Pure Energy (2010) 04:20
• Miroslav Tadic (b. 1959): Macedonian Girl:
• 27 Tadic: Macedonian Girl (1997) 03:26
• Isidora Zebeljan: Intimate Letter from Judean Desert:
• 28 Zebeljan: Intimate Letter from Judean Desert (2018, Arr. By Zoran Marković - Alberto Mesirca 2023) 03:29
• Total Runtime 01:14:24

Info for Guitar Music from Serbia

Vlastimir Trajković (1947–2017) studied with Olivier Messiaen and was the first Serbian composer to – from the early 70s – structurally apply elements of minimalism to what was a primarily impressionistic harmonic idiom in his music. His 10 Preludes for guitar is a work of refined melodies and subtle harmonies containing the composer’s musical reminiscences of Serbian, Brazilian and Spanish traditional music, as well as jazz.

Isidora Žebeljan (1967–2020) possesses a musical originality that is the product of an exceptionally authentic capability to organically fuse musical elements from various spheres of influence (from old Balkan folk traditions to rock and pop music) into new, as yet unknown sonic contexts. Her 3 Pieces for guitar are tender and filigreed, like a children’s guide through a world of fairy tales, with delicious echoes of the Balkan and Mediterranean. The Intimate Letter from Judean Desert, with its lonely, distant and almost endless melody, was written as chorale for any combination of instruments or voices.

Dušan Radić (1929-2010) studied with both Milhaud and Messiaen and created an authentic integration of musical elements from folk and popular music, together with modal chant and jazz. His joyful Vignettes are derived from his earlier choral music, reusing some old, funny, almost childish folk tunes.

Veljko Nenadić (b.1998) is the recipient of multiple international awards. He studied composition as a child prodigy with Isidora Žebeljan and writes music characterised by powerful energy, surprise, humour and emotional delicacy. His Festa na lua (Portuguese for ‘Party on the Moon’) pays homage to Brazilian composer and multi-instrumentalist Hermeto Pascoal and the generations of musicians who created post-bossa nova Brazilian jazz.

Dragana Jovanović (b.1963) composes in an eclectic, postmodern idiom, often with baroque motoric rhythms and virtuosic display. Pushc Y Me (‘Let me go’) is her arrangement for double bass and guitar of an old traditional song from North Macedonia. Her composition Pure Energy evokes the energy in tenderness, slightly coloured by elements of blues.

Dušan Bogdanović (b.1955 has developed a personal style combining classical music, folk musical traditions, Byzantine chants and jazz. For his Preamble and Ricercare for violin and guitar he opted for the musical ambiance of the early baroque and renaissance music for lute, with its delicate modal harmonies.

Vuk Kulenović (1946–2017) combines Balkan folk musical elements with minimalism, as well as the Byzantine modes which he also placed into the minimalistic musical context. His energetic, moving music uses the Balkans’ aksak (irregular, additive) rhythms combined with repetition. Toccatina is a virtuosic miniature with a motoric and restless musical flow.

Miloš Raičković (b.1956) studied with Olivier Messiaen and at the City University of New York. Minimalism had a crucial influence on him, and he became one of the style’s foremost Serbian representatives. He uses postmodern idioms to combine repetition with elements of classicism. His Without You is written as a reminiscence of Schubert’s Fantasia in F minor D.940.

Miloš Petrović (1952–2010) wrote mostly piano music, chamber music and multimedia works, often using ancient Byzantine music for inspiration and composing in a pseudo-Baroque idiom. This is beautifully combined with folk music traditions from the Balkans and Spain in his Averröes Dances, named for the 12th-century Andalusian polymath.

Miroslav Tadić (b.1959) fuses musical materials and influences from baroque music, Indian classical music, flamenco, various other folk music traditions, jazz, blues and rock. Macedonian Girl is his arrangement of a very popular North Macedonian traditional song.

Alberto Mesirca, guitar
Daniel Rowland, violin
Maja Bogdanovic, cello
Zoran Markovic, double bass

Alberto Mesirca
The American Record Guide praised his Scarlatti as “The best Scarlatti I’ve heard on solo guitar”, and Classical Guitar Magazine wrote: “Superb recording from the prodigiously talented Mesirca”.

The 29 year-old guitarist Alberto Mesirca was born in Italy in 1984. He completed his Bachelor and Master of Arts at the Conservatory of Castelfranco Veneto, in the class of the eminent teacher Gianfranco Volpato, ending them with highest score, “Summa cum laude” and special honor mention. Further studies were made at the Music Academy of Kassel, in Germany, with Wolfgang Lendle. His Konzert-Examen was praised with highest Honors. He won for two times the “Golden Guitar”, for best recording in 2007 and as Best Upcoming Artist of the Year in 2009.

With the collaboration of Hopkinson Smith and Franco Pavan he published the previously unknown and unpublished compositions by Francesco Da Milano which appeared in the Castelfranco Veneto 1565 Lute Manuscript, distributed now by Orphee Editions. The re-discovery led Dusan Bogdanovic to write a composition for Alberto on a theme of Da Milano called “Tre Ricercari sulla Compagna”.

He was nominated in 2009 assistant of the Guitar Class at the Conservatory of Castelfranco Veneto. In hundreds of concerts he had the chance to work with excellent musicians such as Dimitri Ashkenazy, Vladimir Mendelssohn, Martin Rummel, Daniel Rowland, Domenico Nordio, Marco De Santi, Andras Adorjan, Peter and Jonas Giger, Mirko Satto, the Enesco, Ardeo and Acies string quartets, Quartetto d’Archi di Venezia, ChamberJam Europe and Ex Novo Ensemble.

The past two years have been characterized by an intensive period of performances, lectures and masterclasses which brought him at the Auckland University (New Zealand), at the Guitar Foundation of America Convention (Georgia, USA), at the Kuhmo Chamber Music Festival (Finland), playing the national premiere of a composition of György Kurtàg, after the recent collaboration with the composer, and for the Stradivari Foundation, at the Silesian Guitar Autumn in Tychy (Poland) and the Festival Classique in The Hague, at the Beethoven Festival in Melbourne (Australia) among many others, as well as performances at the Concertgebouw in

Amsterdam, Teatro La Fenice in Venice, Teatro Regio in Parma, Auditori Nacional in Valencia, Kunsthalle Wien, and for the Italian Insitutes of Culture of Paris, Oslo, Helsinki, Stockholm, and Barcelona.

In collaboration with Marc Ribot he recorded the complete guitar works of the Haitian composer Frantz Casséus; for this recording he is candidate for “Best Solo Performance” at the 2012 Grammy Awards in Los Angeles. In december 2011 Alberto was responsible of the digitalization and creation of the Musical Archive of the Beyazit Library in Istanbul, Turkey.

Alberto Mesirca has premiered a composition at the 2013 Kuhmo Chamber Music Festival composed for him by Leo Brouwer.

In 2013 his recording British Guitar Music, published by Paladino Music OG, has won the Golden Guitar for “Best Recording of the Year”.

Booklet for Guitar Music from Serbia