Studia Polensia, Vol. 14 No. 1, 2025.
Original scientific paper
https://doi.org/10.32728/studpol/2025.14.01.02
The Stylisation of Istrian – coastal Musical Motifs in Slavko Zlatić’s Work Pazinska zvona (The Bells of Pazin)
Branko Radić
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* Corresponding author.
Abstract
Pazinska zvona (The Bells of Pazin) is a symphonic orchestral piece
from Slavko Zlatić's late compositional phase. The stylistically pluralistic
twentieth century also left its mark on Zlatić's creativity, which is visible
not only in his compositional procedures but also in his new, fresh and
specific treatment of the Istrian mode. Zlatić examines this mode in order
to determine how much sound enhancement it can encompass without
remaining sonically recognisable. A complete break with Istrian minor,
major fifth chords on an undetermined tonal basis, a combination of two
symmetrical scales with different tonal centers, bimodality, the wholedegree
scale, the interpolation of chromatics into the Istrian mode; all these
are procedures that in Zlatić's case can be termed as an “experiment”, yet
understanding this term very conditionally. Although some parts of the
composition are on the very edge of expressionism, the final note still has
a firm foothold in an archaic source and expression, and between these
footholds a free musical texture appears marked by the characteristics of
traditional music, which are still somewhat aurally noticeable, depending
on the elaboration of the thematic material. The processes of tonal
decomposition and the highlighting of colour are in a cause-and-effect
relationship; they are never an end in themselves, but rather arise from
the composer's desire to evoke the spirit of Istrian folkloric expression as
strongly as possible.
Keywords
Slavko Zlatić; harmony; Istrian mode; modality; tonal sequence
Hrčak ID:
340344
URI
Publication date:
5.12.2025.
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