Nebojša Jovan Živković - Ultimatum I (Kovács Árpád)

About the composer:

One of the most unique and expressive marimba and percussion artists in the field today, Nebojša Jovan Živković (1962) has greatly influenced the international percussion scene during the last two decades – as both a masterful composer and virtuoso performer. Živković completed his master’s degrees in composition, music theory and percussion in Mannheim and Stuttgart, Germany. Živković is professor of percussion at Musik und Kunst Privatuniversität der Stadt Wien and also at University of Novi Sad, in his native country, Serbia. Composer Živković is today one of the world’s most performed composers for Percussion music. His works for marimba and percussion have set new performing standards, and his captivating and energetic performances have influenced generations of marimbists. Many of Živković’s compositions have become standards in contemporary percussion repertoire world-wide.

About the piece:

Ultimatum 1 is an angry lament which bursts into 14/16 time towards the end. It is an energetic, masterly and technically very challenging piece in three parts. The first pathetic part is directly followed by an "energico e aggressivo", a real battle with sounds and the permanent change of time. After a tremolo climax, which is a short reminiscence of the beginning, the "dance of the whip" begins the groovy third part of the piece in a 14/16 time. The last exhausting beats of madness are stopped by a sudden "fall". The melody, moving in half steps and augmented seconds, and an uneven groove give this raving, powerful work a touch of the Balkans.