Folklore and Contemporary Composition: The Question of the National Identity of 20th Century Croatian Composers

Within their individual solutions and approaches in the relationship between Art Music and Folklore, Croatian composers of second half of 20th century have particularly shown variety and multiplicity. Among them, I will focus in a specific way on those solutions that more strongly moved away from the recognisability of material embracing a more complex interpretation of this relationship. Exploring the relationship between Art Music and Folklore in composers' poetics of second half of 20th century with comparative methodology, contemplating the broadest trends in Western Art, I would like to examine how many elements and attitudes are specific of the Croatian environment and which elements the Croatian composers deal with the most general trends abroad. I chose to address the issue using some of the works of two composers belonging to the same generation: Natko Devčić and Slavko Zlatić.