Igor Krivokapič
Igor Krivokapič was born on 10 November 1965 in Ljubljana (Slovenia). He first studied tuba at the Academy of Music in Lubljana and then perfected his abilities at the New England Conservatory of Music in Boston under Toby Hanks (tuba), Caleb Morgan (electronic composition), Bob Ceely (classical composition) and Malcolm Peyton (orchestration). After his studies Igor Krivokapič was first appointed solo tubist at the RTV Slovenia Symphony Orchestra from 1985 to 1995. He was forced to quit tuba playing due to consequences of a car accident in 1995. He then worked as an editor for classical music at the Slovenian Radio from 1996 to 1999. From 1999 to 2009 he was a free lance composer. Since 2009 Igor Krivokapič is professor for tuba and chamber music at the Conservatory for Music and Ballet in Lubljana and also teaches partly at the Academy of Music in the same city.
In the early 2000s Igor Krivokapič invented a new family of instruments based on the tuba which consists of 6 instruments of different sizes. They are called the New Helicons and first examples were produced by the German instrument manufacturer Meinl-Weston. Performances with these New Helicons were given at meetings of the International Tuba Euphonium Association in 2004 (Budapest), 2008 (Cincinnati) and 2014 (Bloomington). Professional performances have been also given at several music festivals in Europe and North America.
As a composer Igor Krivokapič was delegate at the UNESCO International Rostrum of Composers in 1996 and 1997. And he was awarded twice for his compositions at the Concorso Internazionale per Giovani Strumentisti in Povoletto (Italy) in 2000 and 2001. The compositions by Igor Krivokapič are published through Edicije DSS, Sloway music editions, Edition Reift, Edizioni Musicali Wicky, HoneyRock Publishing, Saxtet Publications and ITEA Publications.
His compositions include 4 symphonies, concertos for electric violin, piccolo flute, bassoon and tenor helicon, several compositions for concert band, sonatas for cello, flute and horn, a clarinet quartet and a clarinet sextet as well as further compositions for brass instruments and especially for helicons. Igor Krivokapič also composed electroacoustical works like "Mir, for bass flute, tape and three narrators" plus choral compositions and songs.
Concerto for electric violin and orchestra
The Concerto for electric violin and orchestra by Igor Krivokapič was composed in 1993 and is accompanied by a large orchestra with such unusual instruments like bass flute, contrabass clarinet, piccolo trumpet or octobass. The reason for this unique orchestral setting lies in the history of the concerto. The composer Igor Krivokapič describes the creation of the work with the following own words:
"The story about my Concerto for electric violin and orchestra started in 1993 as a commission from Zeljko Haliti, a violinist and luthier, who worked at that time in Figueras (Spain) as a concertmaster of a chamber orchestra. It was supposed to be a nice "little" work for violin and orchestra. Just before starting it, a turbulent event happened, which totally disillusioned me about many things I considered sacred before in my life. Today, through the prism of a time distance, these events might look easier, however at that time I was crushed down completely. If I want to say it in poetic way - I've gone through the fate of a king Marke (from Tristan and Isolde). Of course the real story didn't have any noble and romantic background, no chivalry, no cruel games of destiny, but only the simple and ruthless deceit of those, you had loved and trusted the most before.
These events put the essential mark on composing my Violin concerto, which suddenly became a mirror of everything, what was happening with me at that time, from deep sorrow, despair, furious rage to sudden peace, silence and serenity, just like it happens after the hurricane, fire or any cataclysmic event. In the musical sense, it means that the Concerto was composed from back to beginning with first movement being composed at the end. From compositional point of view, it means that I let myself to be completely free to express myself as directly as one can do it without any reservations or pragmatic thought in the sense of future performance of that music. It also means, that the initial concept of a nice work for violin and chamber orchestra couldn't work anymore. Although there is a very difficult and in every sense a dominant solo violin role, the orchestral part became also very important in portrayal of my inner turbulences at that time. So in the middle of the composing process, I started to think about the electric violin as a solo instrument. In my early childhood, I deeply admired this instrument listening to Eddie Jobson and Darryl Way and their bands Curved Air and Wolf. I was also listening over and over again to the legendary King Crimson's LP's with David Cross (Larks' Tongue in Aspic and Starless and Bible Black) and to Jean-Luc Ponty. However, there is almost no direct or even subconscious influence of that music on my Concerto. Just three years before I composed this music, I was also studying electronic music composition in the class of Prof. Bob Ceely at New England Conservatory of Music in Boston and I got acquainted with recent developments in the field of electric violin. So I didn't choose electric violin solely for getting the sheer power in decibels. But also to compete the "orchestral beast", I was planning to use as an accompanist in this music, with the whole array of sonic cosmos you can add."
Beside this very personal and touching story behind the composition, the work has a special place in the history of the violin concerto for a second reason. Although electric violins already appeared in the 1920s it is mainly used in jazz, folk, metal, new age or country music since then. In classical music the electric violin concerto is a rare composition. Since the 2000s this kind of work became more popular, but there are only a handful of electric violin concertos from the decades before. Notable examples are those by Charles Wuorinen (from 1972), Michael Sahl (1974), Daniel Kobialka (1991) and the one by Igor Krivokapič.
For this reason I am delighted to present here the full score of this important electric violin concerto from the 20th century. Due to the extraordinary instrumentation of the orchestra the concerto remains unperformed so far and is awaiting its premiere with pleasant anticipation.
