"A journey home"
Ballades of the East, a piece of original music by singer-songwriter Marina Trisic Martris and in collaboration with the pianist Rudjer Glavurtic, is a World Balkan music with piano and voice. In Ballades of the East through her poetry and melodies, through her writings and art, Martris is searching for identity and belonging. A deeper belonging that explores its culture of origin while at the same time questioning it in order to transcend its boundaries in the search for universal truth and understanding.
“A mystical musical journey through myths and tales”
Ballades of the East is a multifaceted project that in its starting idea wishes to capture the essence of the culture and the music of the Balkan region. In exploring the “traditional” and moving further away from it, Marina and Rudjer are creating a unique twist of their personal interpretations and styles.
“Fairytales like songs with Eastern European melancholy”
Marina: “People usually think of happy wedding music when they think about Balkan music here in Western Europe so this might come as a bit of a surprise. Our music has the flavor of classical and film music, sad gypsy songs, ballads, jazz improvisations, and fairytales. It can be sad and deep at times as Fado and invigorating and intense as life in the Balkans…there is a lot of East European melancholy in it”
Rudjer Glavurtic began his musical journey by studying piano in Serbia. In Croatia, he graduated from the Department of Organ; In the Nederlands, he graduated with a degree in Composition at the Conservatorium in Utrecht in 2009. He is a member of New Geneco – The Dutch Professional Association for Composers. In his compositions, he often leads a listener towards surprising and unexpected conclusions, connecting seemingly unrelated elements into a meaningful whole. His compositions are varied and include a wide spectrum of commissioned works that are often performed publicly like the composition for BBC singers performed in Maribor (Slovenia) at the International Society for Contemporary Music, a composition for 15 solo strings performed in Zagreb on Osorske Glazbene Veceri (Croatia), and his piano compositions performed by Damir Greguric on Zagreb Summer Fest (Croatia). In the Ballades of the East, he is inspired by the rich poetic imagery of Marina’s texts and melodies, striving to paint them sonically with his compositions and interact with them in new and surprising ways.
1. By the River / Kraj reke
4. Seagulls / Galebovi
