BOGOLUCHIE by Djuro Zivkovic

A liturgical drama for solo voice, solo guitar, monk choir and large ensemble. The work is commissioned by the society for new music KammarmusikNU and is dedicated to the conductor Christian Karlsen who made the premiere. The piece utilizes the various instrumental and vocal types including orthodox monk choir, amplified and with added effects of acoustic guitar (solo), vocal soloist playing percussions, numerous doublings including a large amount of bell-like instruments. Zivkovic's idea for the work is to create a space and time between ritual and concert, thus the regular applause doesn't occur. The work premiere was staged by Aleksi Barrière.

For this large musical work Djuro Zivkovic takes his inspiration from Hymns of Divine Love written by St. Symeon The New Theologian. Radical for his own time, the monk’s ideas and writings challenged his readers to embrace Christ as a personal and individual experience to fully internalize the spiritual and mystical quest, seeking an inner divine proximity to the eternal.

»A sensory musical encounter – BIT20 Ensemble (Norway) together with The Kovilj Monastery Choir (Serbia) performs the stage oratorio BOGOLUCHIE written by Djuro Zivkovic,
which is presented as a musical, abstract and spatial
meditation on artistic spirituality of our time.«