“Let it be drawn from the people or let what is newly created be created in the spirit of our nation… Ljudevit Gaj”
“At the beginning of the 19th century, revolutionary France initiated new social processes of affirming citizenship and awakening national consciousness in European history. It brought new ideas of freedom and awareness of the right of all nations to political and cultural independence.”
“We encounter the same aspirations in music of the 19th century. It is a century of great musical changes and exceptional creative wealth. Through the democratization of music, the circle of music enthusiasts from the bourgeois environment becomes wider, numerous music associations are founded, and public musical life becomes more intense.”
“Music, through romanticism and the explosion of emotionality, discovers the simplicity and originality of folk art and folklore, discovers nature. This opens the way for the creation of national schools and the first national operas in which music is inspired by folk elements, characters, and events from legends, folk history.” The era of romanticism witnessed a strong influence of national music and the rise of patriotic sentiments, which served as an inspiration for artistic creation. This period saw the emergence of shorter musical forms such as piano miniatures, choral compositions, and solo songs or ballads that effectively conveyed fleeting emotional states. The French Revolution gave rise to thousands of popular songs, highlighting the significance of music in expressing political and social ideals.
While the first half of the 19th century featured renowned composers such as Beethoven, Schubert, Mendelssohn, Weber, and Schumann, who represented the dominant musical traditions of Italy, France, and Germany, the second half of the century witnessed a significant shift. Great Russian and Czech composers began creating elaborate works that incorporated elements of folk music, unusual intervals, new harmonies, and rhythms. These national music cultures enriched the European art music scene with contributions from relatively lesser-known nations such as the Czechs, Poles, Russians, Norwegians, Finns, and Spaniards. Like an echo of these changes in Europe, changes are also happening in Croatia, thanks to the Croatian National Revival which gives literature and music a special socio-political role: awakening national consciousness by making the Croatian language and song heard in public places, stages, and concert halls. The music of that time adopts European music models that best align with these tasks. These are musical forms in which words are present: opera, choral compositions, and solo songs written to the texts of well-known patriotic and folk songs.
In this revival atmosphere, in just a few years, there is a awakening in all musical fields. With youthful enthusiasm and fighting spirit, the revivalists blend poet’s words and composer’s musical ideas, collect folk songs and melodies, and create new works with the characteristics of national treasures. With enthusiasm and passion, they overcame the obstacles of limited knowledge of music theory.
Through the revival of their own tradition and language, and the idea of restoring their own cultural and national heritage, they sought to achieve a spiritual and intellectual liberation of the people. In the XIX century, the Croatian people were in the midst of a true cultural renaissance: the first national operas were created, hundreds of solo songs, the first music magazines and textbooks in the Croatian language, the first music institutions, singing societies, and music schools.
Among the Croatian musicians, driven by national spirit and passionate about creative cultural work, we can highlight three giants who, with their work, created or paved the way for the professionalization of music in Croatia. Their contribution is evident in the work of many composers who later created in a folk spirit and sought inspiration in Croatian folklore and folk creativity.
Ferdo Wiesner Livadić
Born on May 30, 1799, in Celje, he moved with his family to Samobor in 1809.
After graduating from law school, he wanted to go to Vienna to continue his musical education, but according to his father’s wishes, he returned to Samobor and took over the care of the estate.
As one of the leaders of the Croatian National Revival, Livadić created in the spirit of that revival period, collecting folk treasures and incorporating them into his compositions.
Therefore, my poems are attempts of a naturalist.
He was the first among the revivalists to dare to compose Croatian verses. One winter evening in 1833, he composed music for the first and most famous Croatian reveille “Još Hrvatska ni propala” on the lyrics by Ljudevit Gaj in his own home.
The song was first performed publicly and
Under the influence of European Romanticism, Livadić composed some of the most beautiful examples of piano miniatures and solo songs. The most famous piano miniature is Nocturne in F-sharp minor, written in 1822, which belongs to the early European contributions to this genre. It was created after the first nocturnes by John Field and before Chopin’s in 1827.
His solo songs are well known: Kamena dieva, Samobor, Uspavanka, Udaljenoj ljubi, Prelja, Ružica. All of these solo songs were written to the verses of famous poets Ivan Kukuljević-Sakcinski, Antun Mihanović, and Petar Preradović.
He composed for over forty years, mostly solo songs and piano music. There is a preserved opus of one hundred and forty Croatian solo songs, ten Slovenian, forty-five German, thirty-two church songs, forty piano marches, twenty dances, and about twenty various other compositions.
In his later years, Livadić withdrew from the music scene. He died on January 8, 1879, and was buried in the cemetery in Samobor.
Livadić, in his castle in Samobor, was a host to all distinguished individuals of the cultural life of that time, foreign artists, and leaders of the Croatian national revival. Thanks to his activism, Samobor became an oasis of Croatian cultural development in the first half of the 19th century.
With his work, he paved the way. in the Croatian national music of Vatroslav Lisinski and Ivan Zajc.