Vito Žuraj is the first Slovenian composer from whom the renowned Berlin Philharmonic commissioned a new symphonic work. Among other distinctions, he has received the Stuttgart Composition Prize and the Prešeren Fund Award, worked as an artist-in-residence at Villa Massimo in Rome and Villa Concordia in Bamberg, and received a scholarship from the Berlin Academy of Arts. His most recent successes include collaboration with Sir Simon Rattle and the Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra in Munich.

In 2025, your composition Automatones appeared on a BR Klassik CD together with Berio’s Coro, performed by the Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra under Sir Simon Rattle. This is an exceptionally high-profile event, and the classical music magazine Crescendo selected the album as Recording of the Year 2025. It is the 50th anniversary release in Bavarian Radio’s BR Musica Viva series. The album presents two independent creative personalities, with you being seen as the one pointing toward the future. It is a project that opens questions about the continuity of contemporary music, the relationship between the historical avant-garde and today’s compositional practices, and the role of the performer as co-creator of a musical work. How do you yourself view this juxtaposition?

The project was initially conceived somewhat differently, namely as a commission for a new work in the Musica Viva concert series of the Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra in Munich, a seven-concert program devoted exclusively to new music. At first, I had discussions about a new piece for two singers and orchestra, but then Sir Simon Rattle became chief conductor of the orchestra, and the director of the concert series advised me to write a work for large symphony orchestra and suggested linking it with Luciano Berio’s Coro, whose ensemble already includes many singers. When composing the piece, I was not bound to Berio; I was completely free in terms of thematic material. The fact that the commission came about was certainly helped by my receiving the Claudio Abbado Composition Prize in 2017, awarded by the Karajan Academy of the Berlin Philharmonic. At that time, Sir Simon Rattle was their chief conductor and attended the rehearsal of my piece for the prizewinners’ concert. That is how our collaboration began.

I would like to ask how the composition itself is organized. I once attended a lecture about time in music and physical time and the differences between them, given at the Tempo Reale Institute by Jacopo Baboni Schilingi. How do you see time in music?

The composition deals with the theme of the inventor Daedalus from ancient Greece, which was suggested to me by the Slovenian poet Aleš Šteger. Among other things, Daedalus created so-called automatons – statues with built-in mechanisms that could move on their own. This served as my guideline for illustrating different modes of movement in terms of contrasting motoric structures, such as rhythmic regularity, the illusion of endless acceleration, and chords that gradually arpeggiate. At that time I had just completed the opera Razcvet (Blossoming) and used some of its material in a symphonic way. I found a model for the structure of the working process in Sergei Prokofiev’s Symphony No. 3, in which the composer rearranged material from his opera The Fiery Angel. He collected materials one after another, whereas I, in contrast, layered them on top of each other. Certain elements from the opera may perhaps be recognized in Automatones, but formally it is an entirely different work.

Automatones draws inspiration from the creatures of the smith Hephaestus and the master Daedalus, said to be capable of feeling and thinking like humans, which causes Heracles, upon visiting Daedalus’s workshop, to destroy one of them, convinced he has been attacked by a person. In this myth you found a parallel to artificial intelligence, which for now still does not feel, but you wonder whether this is merely a matter of time. Did you ever accept the challenge of artificial intelligence while composing? Do you use any specific algorithmic approaches in Automatones?

Automatons are a kind of predecessor of artificial intelligence – statues that could move on their own and thus assumed responsibility for their movement. If an algorithm begins to generate on its own, be it music or text, then we enter the realm of artificial intelligence. What exactly does it mean if artificial intelligence learns from what already exists and then reinterprets it? This is most often used in entertainment music or background music and will probably drastically change the way copyright is handled. Of course, these are segments where it is financially worthwhile. In contemporary music, which is a forge of new ideas, things are different, because artificial intelligence does not invent something new but merely combines what already exists. I should emphasize that I did not use artificial intelligence in the creation of Automatones.

Was Automatones commissioned by the Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra?

Yes, it was also the first commission of the Musica Viva cycle since Sir Simon Rattle took over as chief conductor of the Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra. When such a renowned conductor approaches the performance of a new work, it attracts an entirely different level of public attention.

Are you interested in exploring the dialogue between historical avant-gardes and contemporary practices? How much does this touch your creative process? With Berio, was it about influence or connection?

As far as Berio is concerned, on my part it is a matter of great respect for this important artist, but my composition has no substantive connection with him. Regarding the link with Prokofiev, it was strictly a formal experiment; stylistically there is no direct correspondence.

You have developed a superbly crafted musical language in which every gesture is the result of careful reflection on how sound is produced, how it spreads, and how it transforms. How would you define your style?

When a composer is part of a certain group that deals with something specific, they identify with it. This can be seen in movements such as minimalism or spectral music, where the thematic focus is very clearly defined. I do not identify with any movement; I have never written a manifesto. I build my own language based on my life experiences. What it is ultimately called does not concern me.

© Andreja Šutar /  Vito Žuraj personal archive

You are a top-level creator whose works are performed at prestigious venues and by the best performers. You once said: “In Ensemble Modern, the brass forms the core, so the strings saw a bit more. Klangforum Wien is based on strings, to which the other instruments dynamically adapt. The Scharoun Ensemble consists of Berlin Philharmonic musicians with an exceptionally beautifully crafted classical sound.” Based on these characteristics, you chose a satirical, rougher theme for Ensemble Modern, focused on delicate colour nuances for Klangforum Wien, and in the piece for the Scharoun Ensemble the elegance of sound was more important than rhythmic peculiarities. Yet you remain true to yourself. How do you organize your compositional process?

If we take these characteristics of ensembles as a kind of starting point, the interpretation of works will probably differ, though not necessarily. Each musician represents a very unique inspiration to me, and that is also why writing for different ensembles results in different musical works.

How do you remain true to yourself amid all these connections? Despite meeting great personalities, you yourself remain a strong personality.

It is not about bowing to someone or refusing any influence, because it is a lifelong process of shaping an artist. Just look at how different Stravinsky’s early works, such as The Firebird, are from his late works. Change is the only constant in life. I always advise my students to change environments when continuing their studies, choosing one that offers an even greater flow of information. A lot happens in Ljubljana – we have three symphony orchestras, we have the Ljubljana Festival; for a city of three hundred thousand people, this is a very intense musical environment. The fact that students at the Academy of Music of the University of Ljubljana already have the opportunity to collaborate with professional orchestras during their studies is a world-class uniqueness that should be highly appreciated. It was also an important springboard for me. Of course, students at universities in Western Europe will have much faster transport connections to artistic centres such as Paris and Berlin, and only in such cultural exchange can an artist truly mature. I believe half of success depends on the university and half on the cultural environment.

On the one hand we are global, but some environments are probably still more traditional or local. Is the professor’s influence on the student noticeable – does it unintentionally transfer, or does the student shape their own path? Is it a very subtle relationship?

It is very subtle and highly dependent on the individual. When I was a student myself, and now as a professor observing colleagues and students, I see that everyone reacts in their own way. A student’s music may initially seem similar to the professor’s, but later it will develop in its own direction; someone else may immediately go in a completely different direction, and the professor accompanies them and answers questions. When I studied in Karlsruhe with Professor Wolfgang Rihm, during the first three or four months we asked each other many questions so I could sense how he presented material and he could see what interested me. He never forced students to write in a certain style; he allowed everyone to develop in the direction that interested them. His breadth is illustrated by the fact that he highlighted the analysis of works by Helmut Lachenmann – stylistically his greatest antipode – in class, fully aware of how important that music is for artistic development. How students use such information is up to them.

In a way, it is precisely difference that enables a different perspective. A Japanese composer, for instance, has a different view of composition than a European one …

Indeed. In Professor Rihm’s class there were composition students of many nationalities – besides various Europeans also Chinese, Koreans, Japanese, and Americans. Such exchange is truly enriching.

How would you define Ljubljana in relation to Europe or the rest of the world? We have the SOS concert series, the New Music Forum, formerly the Slowind Festival, and so on.

A great deal always depends on individuals who invest extraordinary energy in successfully transferring current events across the Alps to Slovenia. The best example is the SOS concert series of the Slovenian Philharmonic; Matej Šarc is the one who, in addition to thoughtful program design, also brings top conductors to Slovenia. I would like to highlight the first Slovenian performance of Grisey’s cycle Les espaces acoustiques, conducted by Bas Wiegers. In my opinion, this interpretation ranks among the very best. The Slovenian Philharmonic Orchestra is truly capable of playing at the highest level, of course with a conductor who motivates the musicians and draws the maximum from them, which we have already seen at many classical concerts. They also had an extremely successful Asian tour. I would also like to mention the historic concert performance of Tosca at the Ljubljana Festival with the SNG Maribor Orchestra and top soloists such as Sondra Radvanovsky, Bryn Terfel, and Freddie De Tommaso. The orchestra sounded like the Metropolitan Opera Orchestra, and we heard soloists of the same calibre – an unforgettable and unrepeatable experience for me. I am convinced the audience knows how to appreciate this; the question is what international resonance such an event has when it takes place in Slovenia. Geographical remoteness and limited transport connections, especially air travel, do not work in our favour. Fortunately, we live in the digital age and good recordings circulate quickly.

Your opera Razcvet was truly an exceptional event. Do you have any new plans in this regard?

Opera is a large form and something completely different from writing concert music. Each composer senses for themselves how productive they can be at a given moment. I am not among those who write a new opera every year. I need more time to develop material so I can reach an original concept and a different sound. It would be difficult to expect me to write a new opera already next year, but I do have some ideas and plans. I can only reveal that it will involve a collaboration with a renowned Slovenian writer.

Has the new CD opened any new paths for you? As the first Slovenian, you are nominated for the German Music Authors’ Prize in the category of music-theatre art, to be presented in February. How did this nomination come about?

My opera Razcvet was declared Opera Premiere of the Year, which among other things led to a Frankfurt revival and the Slovenian premiere. I assume this success reached those who decide on nominations.

Where do you find interlocutors – at home or abroad? Does it depend on the person?

For new works, mostly abroad. For a long time I worked with an agency in Berlin, and regardless of that I accumulated the most contacts in Germany, since I studied there and lived there for a long time. But it is always especially beautiful to experience a performance of my music in my homeland.

Lea Brinovec

Cover photo credit: © Tone Stojko / Vito Žuraj personal archive