STUDIES AND RESEARCH
The Film Music of Ivo Tijardović
Composer Ivo Tijardović worked
intensely on the music scene, but, while doing this, he
did not limit himself to exclusively composing music. He
also tried his hand at writing librettos, at designing
costumes and sets, and at painting and caricature art.
His operettas Splitski akvarel (A Split Watercolor)
and Mala Floramye (Little Floramye) are not
only well known in Croatia, but in the world as well.
Going from operetta to film music is a very
small step, and for a versatile composer like Ivo Tijardović,
writing film scores was something completely logical. According
to encyclopedic information, the music from the documentary
film Koraci
slobode (The Footsteps of Freedom) by Radoš
Novaković in 1945 was his first in a series of film scores.
However, Tijardović actually began working in the field
of film music before World War II, during a stint with
the »Ufa« and »Tobis« film companies in Berlin. It was
during this time that he wrote the music for the films Princeza koralja (Korallenprinzessin — The
Princess of Corals), Car Dioklecijan u progonstvu (Im
Banne Kaiser Diokletians — Emperor Diocletian in Exile)
and Mali Ivica (Hänschen klein — Little Ivica).
Information about these films and their music
is scarce, but there is information that some of them were
awarded. Much more is known about the feature films Ciguli Miguli by
Branko Marjanović and Sinj galeb (The Sinj Seagull)
by Branko Bauer. Tijardović wrote appropriate music for
both films and, in the case of Ciguli Miguli, it
strove to emphasize the film’s grotesque and comic situations.
In the film Sinj Galeb, the music mostly underlines
the local color through associations with the folk music
of the Dalmatian area.
The article analyses and compares the music of Ivo Tijardović
in the films Ciguli Miguli and Sinj Galeb.
The scores for both film distinguish themselves with some
mutual elements, among which the most important are: the
consistent ability of the composer to adapt to the film
form, and the impression that his film scores were shaped
according to the example of his operettas.
Irena Paulus |
