Vinko Globokar

Vinko Globokar (born 7 July 1934) is a French avant-garde composer and trombonist of Slovene descent.

Globokar's work is noted for its use of unconventional and extended techniques, closely allying him to contemporaries Salvatore Sciarrino and Helmut Lachenmann. His music places great emphasis on spontaneity and creativity, and, unlike the work of Sciarrino and Lachenmann, often requires improvisation. His extensive output is largely unknown outside of experimental music circles.

As a trombonist, he has premiered works by Luciano Berio, Mauricio Kagel, René Leibowitz, Karlheinz Stockhausen, and Toru Takemitsu, as well as his own compositions.

Globokar was born in Anderny, France. In 1947 he moved to Yugoslavia, where he attended DIC in Ljubljana, Slovenia. Here, he played jazz trombone until 1955, at which point he relocated to Paris in order to study at the Conservatoire de Paris. At the Conservatoire, he studied composition with René Leibowitz (a noted student of Arnold Schoenberg) and trombone with Andre Lafosse. In 1965, he moved to Berlin and began composition lessons with Luciano Berio, whose Sequenza V he later performed.

In the later 1960s he worked with Karlheinz Stockhausen on some of his compositions from the cycle Aus den sieben Tagen, and co-founded the free improvisation group New Phonic Art. From 1967 to 1976 he taught composition at the Musikhochschule in Cologne. In 1974, he joined IRCAM as the director of instrumental and vocal research, a post which he occupied until 1980.

After leaving IRCAM, he conducted a number of high-profile orchestral groups, including the Warsaw Philharmonic, the Tokyo Philharmonic Orchestra, the Finnish Radio Symphony Orchestra, the Westdeutscher Symphonie, and the Jerusalem Symphony Orchestra, among others. From 1980 until 2000, he directed 20th-century music performance at Scuola di Musica di Fiesole near Florence.

In 2002, Globokar was bestowed with the Prešeren Award for his life-time work.

Globokar's music is notable for its spontaneity, energy, and innovative use of unorthodox instrumental and compositional techniques. His works often feature indeterminacy and improvisation, reflecting his own background in Jazz and free improvisation. His pieces employ a variety of extended techniques. For example, in his solo percussion piece Toucher, the performer narrates a story while simultaneously playing the syllabic patterns on a percussion array.

Stage works

• L’idôle (2012) Music theatre for girls’ choir and four percussionists. Text: Georges Lewkowicz
• L‘armonia drammatica (1987 – 1990) Music drama for orchestra, mixed choir, 7 singers and tenor saxophone. Text: Edoardo Sanguineti
• Les Émigrés (1982 – 85) Triptych

Orchestra works

• Radiographie d’un roman (2009/10) for mixed choir (and seven soloists), accordion solo, percussion solo, 30 instrumentalists and live-electronic. Text: Vinko Globokar
• Mutation for a singing orchestra. Text: Michael Gielen
• Der Engel der Geschichte

• Les otages (2003) for orchestra and sampler
• Les chemins de la liberté (2003/05) for orchestra without conductor
• Anti-zapping (2003/05) for orchestra
• Masse Macht und Individuum (1995) for orchestra and four soloists
• Labour (1992) for large orchestra
• Eisenberg (1990) Orchestra version

Ensemble works and vocal music

• Kaleidoskop im Nebel (2012/13) for chamber ensemble
• L’Exil N° 1 (2012) for soprano (or tenor) and five instrumentalists. Text montage in seven languages by Vinko Globokar
• L‘Éxil N° 2 (2012) for soprano (or tenor) and 13 instrumentalists. Text montage in seven languages by Vinko Globokar
• Eppure si muove (2003) for conducting trombonist and eleven instrumentalists
• La Prison (2001) for eight instruments

Chamber music

• Avgustin, dober je vin (2002) for wind quintet
• Discours IX (1993) for two pianos
• Élégie balkanique (1992) for flute, guitar and percussion
• Discours VIII (1990) for wind quintet
• Discours VII (1986) for brass quintet

Solo works

• ?Corporel (1985) for percussion
• Oblak Semen (1996) for trombone
• Dialog über Wasser (1994) for acoustic and electric guitar
• Dialog über Luft (1994) for accordion
• Dialog über Erde (1994) for percussion
• Dialog über Feuer (1994) for double bass