Branimir Blogging

In the gloomy nineties – which were gloomy to me because of the war and then the post-war desperation in my home-country at that time – my compositions had a special meaning to me, as they were acts of creation among all the destruction surrounding me. Among the compositions, the guitar solo works have enjoyed a privileged status. They were to be performed by me, their creator, and this enabled them to be the most immediate reflections of what mattered to me musically, intellectually and emotionally. Interestingly enough, the style I was developing in works for other instruments was not lending itself easily for presentation in guitar solo works. I believe it was then that I started learning how to extract details from a large work and turn them into main ideas in my works of a smaller scale. Obviously, all of that (and more) was a lot for a mainstream music scene then – which was supposed to have been more open to new ideas than today’s – and most of the people found my music rather d...

The bow of Maestro after the premiere of his successful Cello Concerto in Cologne is the first of many encounters I had with Johannes Fritsch.  The year was 1990 and this concerto has intrigued me ever since. In the years to follow, I became acquainted with many more of his works and my respect for him has grown along with my knowledge and composing skills. Johannes Fritsch passed away this last spring at the age of 68 and I will remember him as a captivating, kind, and generous composer. He was my principal mentor during my composition studies in Cologne. I always enjoyed showing him my new works, learning about his latest compositions, and analyzing the works of other composers.  He felt most comfortable teaching in his Feedback Studio (Belgisches Viertel, Cologne), where I have heard most of his opinions. He was very inspired in that environment surrounded by scores he held dear, recordings on tapes and cassettes, along with studio equipment. He was always prepared ...