Josip Hatze
Encyclopedia
Joseph Hatze was one of the first and most prominent Croatian
composers in the Mediterranean style in the first half of last century.
Hatze was born in Split
(then Austro-Hungarian Empire, now Croatia
) to a family of respected craftsmen from Split. During school he was absorbed with musical events, especially with sacred music and folk songs. Accidentally discovering his exceptional musicality, and with family support, he attended all the performances in the newly opened Municipal Theater in Split. Strong experience of orchestral and choir
performances in the Split theater encouraged the 16 year old Hatze to sing at Chapel Mass. During that time he wrote "Misa a Kapela" (in Croatian
text), which was performed with great success. Later other Dalmatia
n school choirs started performing his musical work.
He completed his studies in composition in 1902 at the Rossini Conservatory
in Pesaro
with the great operatic composer Pietro Mascagni
. Returning home to Split, he worked as a choir teacher at the Central Technical School in Split and at the choir singing society "Zvonimir and Minstrel". During World War I
on the front, away from home, he did not know that his beloved wife Gilda died of the Spanish flu
. Gilda was from the patrician Marulic family. Marko Marulić
is considered to be the founder of Croatian literature
.
During World War II
Hatze became a refugee in El Shatt
in Egypt
. There he organized a camp choir. Hatze wrote up to 60 songs. He wrote cantata
"Night at Una" (verses by Hugo Badalić
), "Exodus" (1912) and "Golemi Pan" (1917). The work "Golemi Pan" (Huge Pan) was written to the poetry of Vladimir Nazor
. Hatze had a great sense of drama. This skill was especially well applied in both the orchestral work of the operas of The Return (1910) and Adel and Mara (1932). The Return is the story of a Croatian peasant who had to go to a foreign land and then return to his family home.
Joseph Hatze died in Split at the age of 80. In Split and in honor of this great Croatian composer, a secondary music school is named "Josip Hatze".
In Croatia on the 125th Anniversary of the birth of Josip Hatze, a stamp was released in his honour.
Croats
Croats are a South Slavic ethnic group mostly living in Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina and nearby countries. There are around 4 million Croats living inside Croatia and up to 4.5 million throughout the rest of the world. Responding to political, social and economic pressure, many Croats have...
composers in the Mediterranean style in the first half of last century.
Hatze was born in Split
Split (city)
Split is a Mediterranean city on the eastern shores of the Adriatic Sea, centered around the ancient Roman Palace of the Emperor Diocletian and its wide port bay. With a population of 178,192 citizens, and a metropolitan area numbering up to 467,899, Split is by far the largest Dalmatian city and...
(then Austro-Hungarian Empire, now Croatia
Croatia
Croatia , officially the Republic of Croatia , is a unitary democratic parliamentary republic in Europe at the crossroads of the Mitteleuropa, the Balkans, and the Mediterranean. Its capital and largest city is Zagreb. The country is divided into 20 counties and the city of Zagreb. Croatia covers ...
) to a family of respected craftsmen from Split. During school he was absorbed with musical events, especially with sacred music and folk songs. Accidentally discovering his exceptional musicality, and with family support, he attended all the performances in the newly opened Municipal Theater in Split. Strong experience of orchestral and choir
Choir
A choir, chorale or chorus is a musical ensemble of singers. Choral music, in turn, is the music written specifically for such an ensemble to perform.A body of singers who perform together as a group is called a choir or chorus...
performances in the Split theater encouraged the 16 year old Hatze to sing at Chapel Mass. During that time he wrote "Misa a Kapela" (in Croatian
Croatian language
Croatian is the collective name for the standard language and dialects spoken by Croats, principally in Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, the Serbian province of Vojvodina and other neighbouring countries...
text), which was performed with great success. Later other Dalmatia
Dalmatia
Dalmatia is a historical region on the eastern coast of the Adriatic Sea. It stretches from the island of Rab in the northwest to the Bay of Kotor in the southeast. The hinterland, the Dalmatian Zagora, ranges from fifty kilometers in width in the north to just a few kilometers in the south....
n school choirs started performing his musical work.
He completed his studies in composition in 1902 at the Rossini Conservatory
Conservatorio Statale di Musica "Gioachino Rossini"
The Conservatorio Statale di Musica "Gioachino Rossini" is a music conservatory in Pesaro, Italy. Founded in 1869 with a legacy from the composer Gioachino Rossini, the conservatory officially opened in 1882 with 67 students and was then known as the Liceo musicale Rossini...
in Pesaro
Pesaro
Pesaro is a town and comune in the Italian region of the Marche, capital of the Pesaro e Urbino province, on the Adriatic. According to the 2007 census, its population was 92,206....
with the great operatic composer Pietro Mascagni
Pietro Mascagni
Pietro Antonio Stefano Mascagni was an Italian composer most noted for his operas. His 1890 masterpiece Cavalleria rusticana caused one of the greatest sensations in opera history and single-handedly ushered in the Verismo movement in Italian dramatic music...
. Returning home to Split, he worked as a choir teacher at the Central Technical School in Split and at the choir singing society "Zvonimir and Minstrel". During World War I
World War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
on the front, away from home, he did not know that his beloved wife Gilda died of the Spanish flu
Spanish flu
The 1918 flu pandemic was an influenza pandemic, and the first of the two pandemics involving H1N1 influenza virus . It was an unusually severe and deadly pandemic that spread across the world. Historical and epidemiological data are inadequate to identify the geographic origin...
. Gilda was from the patrician Marulic family. Marko Marulić
Marko Marulic
Marko Marulić |Split]], 18 August 1450 – Split, 5 January 1524) was a Croatian national poet and Christian humanist, known as the Crown of the Croatian Medieval Age and the father of the Croatian Renaissance. He signed his works as Marko Marulić Splićanin , Marko Pečenić, Marcus Marulus ...
is considered to be the founder of Croatian literature
Croatian literature
Croatian literature is a definition given to the compilation of novels, dramas, short stories, poems and other various work of written kind entirely attributed to the medieval and modern culture of the Croats and the Croatian language....
.
During World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
Hatze became a refugee in El Shatt
El Shatt
The El Shatt was a complex of World War II refugee camps in the desert of the Sinai peninsula, in Egypt. Residents lived there from the summer of 1944 to the beginning of 1946. The region of Dalmatia was evacuated by the Allies, ahead of a German invasion in 1944...
in Egypt
Egypt
Egypt , officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, Arabic: , is a country mainly in North Africa, with the Sinai Peninsula forming a land bridge in Southwest Asia. Egypt is thus a transcontinental country, and a major power in Africa, the Mediterranean Basin, the Middle East and the Muslim world...
. There he organized a camp choir. Hatze wrote up to 60 songs. He wrote cantata
Cantata
A cantata is a vocal composition with an instrumental accompaniment, typically in several movements, often involving a choir....
"Night at Una" (verses by Hugo Badalić
Hugo Badalic
Hugo Badalić was a Croatian writer.-Biography:Badalić attended primary school in his native city and Kostajnica, and the gymnasium in Zagreb. After finishing the gymnasium he went to university in Vienna where he graduated with a degree in Classical philology in 1874...
), "Exodus" (1912) and "Golemi Pan" (1917). The work "Golemi Pan" (Huge Pan) was written to the poetry of Vladimir Nazor
Vladimir Nazor
Vladimir Nazor was the first head of state of modern Croatia. A member of the Communist Party of Yugoslavia , he led the Croatian World War II wartime assembly, the ZAVNOH, and later served as the President of the Presidium of the People's Assembly of PR Croatia - the head of state of the People's...
. Hatze had a great sense of drama. This skill was especially well applied in both the orchestral work of the operas of The Return (1910) and Adel and Mara (1932). The Return is the story of a Croatian peasant who had to go to a foreign land and then return to his family home.
Joseph Hatze died in Split at the age of 80. In Split and in honor of this great Croatian composer, a secondary music school is named "Josip Hatze".
In Croatia on the 125th Anniversary of the birth of Josip Hatze, a stamp was released in his honour.
External links
- Ljuven Sanak by Josip Hatze performed in HNK Split on a concert dedicated to Hatze's birth. The piece was done by Split's music schools choir and string orchestra.