![\"Juri\u0161](\"http:\/\/ico.bukvic.net\/main\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/08\/Oton-Ivekovi\u0107-Juri\u0161-Nikola-\u0160ubi\u0107-Zrinskog-iz-Sigeta.jpg\" "\\"Juri\u0161")
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\u00a0Sziget <\/em>(1997)\u00a0is my first large-scale choral piece. A 12-minute predominantly tonal work for\u00a0a capella choir, percussion, and narrator\u00a0mixes\u00a0explores orchestra-like passages with a more traditional homophonic and polyphonic passages. Sziget\u00a0<\/em>focuses on a depiction of what internet refers to as one of “the most insane military last stands in history<\/a>” that took place in 1566 in the former Austro-Hungarian empire, today’s Hungary. The\u00a0Sziget\u00a0<\/em>citadel was defended by a Croat count Zrinski (Zriny) from Ottoman’s overwhelming army whose primary goal was to conquer Vienna, the gates of Europe. Even though\u00a0Sziget\u00a0<\/em>eventually fell, there were no prisoners, and every last person fought defending until they died. Being well aware of Ottoman’s cruelty, Zrinski and his men killed their own families before going out for the final sortie, to spare them the torture that awaited should they fall in enemy’s hands.\u00a0Due to unforeseen Ottoman’s death during a protracted siege, the conquest of Vienna was thwarted and the course of the history of the Western Europe irrevocably changed. I was fascinated by this story and its relative anonymity in the Western history and hence decided to celebrate it through music. As a result, the work also incorporates Croatian traditional tune\u00a0Rajska Djevo<\/em> (Heavenly Virgin)\u00a0by Petar Perica<\/a>\u00a0(a victim of yet another historical massacre<\/a> in Dubrovnik in post-WWII Yugoslavia).<\/p>\n The work was premiered in 1998 by the late John Leman, a magnificent person, an artist, and an administrator, who at the time served as the professor\u00a0of the world-class Deterle Vocal Arts Center<\/a> at the College-Conservatory of Music (CCM<\/a>), University of Cincinnati<\/a>, my alma mater. The recording below is of the premiere John masterfully conducted. What makes this feat even more impressive is at the time John already suffered from an advanced stage multiple sclerosis\u00a0that required of him to conduct from a chair using a single hand. Despite all the obstacles and the fact the piece is amazingly difficult (consider after 12 minutes of a capella tour de force, the piece ends with a basso profundo line, so, if the choir goes flat, something that is not uncommon even for the most professional a capella ensembles, this really puts basses in a bind), John did an amazing job of leading CCM’s Chorale, and even though our paths crossed several times since, I feel like I have never thanked him enough for his willingness to premiere a piece this hard composed by a mere undergrad. I was deeply\u00a0saddened when I learned of John’s passing<\/a> in 2007.<\/p>\n