Serbian composer Igor Andrić, born in 1996, is achieving international recognition at an enviable pace. His music has been presented at festivals and concerts in Serbia, France, Germany, Russia, Bulgaria, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Italy, Hong Kong and Cyprus. He studied under the guidance of the esteemed Prof. Isidora Žebeljan at the Faculty of Music in Belgrade, where he is currently pursuing his doctoral studies as well as lecturing. The recent world premiere of his innovative composition "Triple Goddess", written for the Sound of Change project, revealed his showcased a bond to Balkan tradition yet contemporary spiritas did the Ljubljana International Orchestra’s historic first performance of the piece.
Word of the Composer
“For Triple Goddess, I focused on discovering orchestral sounds that would represent the sounds of nature and the synergy of man with it.
In addition to the pagan theme, I chose for the name of the piece, the musical material also creates a sound that is reminiscent of pagan sounds and is associated with pagan beliefs. The first movement strives for peace and spirituality, but at the same time certain points in the movement suggest a breach of the peace and in a way foreshadow the events of the next two movements. If the first part tends to depict virgins on the basis of a peaceful and tranquil sound, the second part brings changes in terms of atmosphere, but also changes in the musical flow, which also happens while living in harmony with nature. The very end of the second movement is entrusted to solo woodwind parts, which channel the sound of ancient wooden flutes.
Towards the end, the mood, with its melody and harmony, approaches the beginning of the third movement. Heterophony, which is widespread in the tradition of our (Balkan) regions, was the inspiration for the last movement of this piece. It was most widespread in mountainous regions, where it was mainly sung in this way by elderly women, hence the musical material associated with the work's name. With this composition I want to raise awareness of the presence of the female figure as divine in the beliefs of ancient people. This belief has been neglected over the centuries and the balance has been unbalanced by the constant emphasis on the male figure as divine. My idea was to compare the Christian God, represented by the figures of father, son and holy spirit, with the triple goddess.”
