This musical journey traverses various cultures and musical periods, named after the concluding piece of the concert, Claude Debussy's "Salut Printemps." Additionally, on the eve of International Women's Day, the Women's Choir of HNK Split will perform independently for the first time in recent history.
The program opens with a sacred block, featuring Johannes Brahms' youthful composition "Ave Maria" op. 12, originally written for the Hamburg Women's Choir in 1859. This is followed by Giuseppe Verdi's a cappella "Laudi alla Vergine Maria" from a series of spiritual compositions he created in the later years of his life, paying homage to Dante and Palestrina, the origins of Italian language and music. Psalm 23, "Gott ist mein Hirt" ("The Lord is my Shepherd"), is a composition for women's choir by Franz Schubert, laying the foundation for future composers. The choir performs this piece with the piano accompaniment of Ivan Violić. Special piece for women's choir and harp follow, Gustav Holst's "Choral Hymns from the Rig Veda." Demonstrating his affinity for Hindu culture, Holst combines the melodic richness of English vocal tradition with the inflection of specifically tempered Indian ragas. These short hymns in Sanskrit are envisioned as ritual invocations to dawn, water, and other manifestations of the One or Brahman. The choir performs this piece with harpist Edita Topić Kopeczky providing instrumental accompaniment.
The final section is of a secular nature, featuring "Love Poems," well-known and popular songs by Split native Josip Hatze, who set the verses of his fellow citizen Rikard Katalinić Jeretov to music. Hatze's unique signature of Mediterranean-Slavic warmth and cheerfulness is subtly overshadowed by a modernistic awareness of the transience of youth and love's enchantment.
A similar character is found in Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky's song "Nature and Love," one of the true gems of choral composition. Members of the choir, Maja Andrijolić and Đina Vučković, perform as soloists. The concert concludes with Claude Debussy's "Salut Printemps," featuring soloist Branka Pleština Stanić and piano accompaniment. Debussy's youthful composition from 1882 is inspired by the beloved theme of spring awakening.