The Compositional Idiom of Slavko Osterc's Symphony in C Major ("Ideals")

Abstract

The symphony in C major "Ideals" is the only composition of its kind by Slavko Osterc. The work originated at the beginning of the composer's creative path, in the year 1922. The compositional means are almost wholly those handed down by the musical idiom of the 19th century; traditional is, in particular, the harmonics, also the articulating of the structural elements is "correct".The movements rely predominantly on the melodic formation, while the horizontal flow is determined also in the vertical sense. But the texture shows already elements of the musical thinking as found also in the subsequent works; noticeable in particular is the extreme rationalization of the thought, which is caracteristic also of the work of the mature composer and is in the Symphony most evident in the use of reiteration as the basic process of formal structure. Among the later elements of the composer's thinking belongs also the unambiguous formal conception as well as the clear articulation of the individual movements. Although the Symphony is one of the first attempts in the orchestral field, it is by virtue of what has been said about it a significant source for the identification of constant elements in Osterc's musical creativity.