Dalmatica

Famous mixed vocal ensemble Dialogos, led by Katarina Livljanić, and male vocal ensemble Kantaduri, led by Joško Ćaleta, perform numerous liturgical chants from the traditional singing in local (both urban and rural) areas of Croatian coastal, insular and hinterland region. This kind of singing was mostly orally transmited from one generation to another therefore it is closely related to secular popular singing in this region. The most archaic chants are those from Supetarska Draga at the island of Rab (God Was Born in Vitliomi, recorded in the so called Parisian Codex from the end of 14th century), Vrbanja at the island of Hvar (stanza from the procession Following the Cross) and Zagvozd near Imotski (chanting of Virgin’s crying). There are also chants from the Zadar hinterland and Neretva valley. Other chants according their harmony are similar to these today, tempered ways of singing. The tradition of a cappella (klapa) singing as we know today was formed in the mid 19th century when cultural and musical identity of small Mediterranean towns at the Croatian coast and islands, especially in Dalmatia, was profled.

Since 1997 when Dialogos, a mixed vocal ensemble, was founded by Katarina Livljanić, it has developed into one of the most excellent and original medieval musical ensembles of the new generation. Its projects connect new musicologist researches with innovative performance of medieval music characterized by extraordinary musicality completed by theater dimension. Katarina Livljanić, singer and musicologist, is one of the leading international specialists for medieval music performance. She is from Zadar, Croatia, and very early in her life decided to become performer of medieval music. She graduated at Zagreb Music Academy and later studied singing with Guillemete Laurens and Glenn Chambers and musicology with Marie Noel Colete in France. She has been leading vocal ensemble Dialogos, paying a special atention to medieval chants and liturgical theater of Glagolitic tradition. Joško Ćaleta, an ethno musicologist from Trogir, music educator and conductor, graduated music at Split Music Academy, did his master class in ethno musicology at University of British Columbia in Vancouver (Canada). Both practically and theoretically Ćaleta has been related in his researches mostly to vocal music tradition of Dalmatian coastal and hinterland region, thus rich cooperation with numerous Dalmatian “Klapas” (Trogir, Radovan, Kairos, Jelsa…) as well as performing at some ten CDs. When Ćaleta founded klapa Kantaduri and later met Katarina Livljanić and her Dialogos it was the beginning of another dialogue-cantors cooperation where old and local chants have been transmited to all global corners of the world with incredible easiness and in an interesting way.