Songs for Voice and Piano / Organ / Violin Dora Pejacevic

Dora Pejacevic composed solo songs throughout her entire creative life. From the first songs composed in 1900 and 1901 to the cycle Tri djecje pjesme (Three Children's Songs, Op. 56) which was written in 1921, less than two years prior to the composer's death, Dora Pejacevic always returned again to vocal miniatures which by their nature corresponded particularly well with the most concealed part of her being. Apart from Lieder for voice and piano, she composed two solo songs for a somewhat expanded and less usual ensemble: they were the songs Ave Maria and Verwandlung (Transfiguration), both for voice, violin and organ. The choice of song texts can be very characteristic to the Pejacevic profile of a composer. What type of text attracted Dora Pejacevic? Paul Wilhelm, Wilhelmine Wickenburg-Almásy, Anna Ritter, Ernst Strauss and the composer herself are the writers of the verses for her early vocal compositions. After Verwandlung to verses by Karl Kraus, she often selected worthwhile and distinctive poetic originals, so that her later vocal works were marked by encounters with the lyrics of Karl Kraus, Rainer Maria Rilke and Friedrich Nietzsche. It is obvious that the poetic form, language, symbolism and musical pliability of their poetry also enriched Dora Pejacevic's artistic expression and stimulated her to uncover a series of new musical nuances and details. On the other hand, the confrontation with the multi-layered poetic visions of these poets was a challenge to the composer, and speak of her daring and her aspirations to emerge from standardised schemes. Finally, the poet who wrote the verses for one of the last vocal opuses by Dora Pejacevic was Karl Henckell (Zwei Lieder / Two Songs) whose verses were also used for Zwei Schmetterlingslieder for voice and orchestra. (Koraljka kos)