Biography

Dušan Radić (Serbian Cyrillic: Душан Радић; 10 April 1929 – 3 April 2010) was a Serbian composer, university professor, and a full member of the Serbian Academy of Sciences and Arts (SASA, SANU in Serbian). Radić was born in Sombor. He completed elementary and high school sophomore year in his birthplace Sombor. He concurrently attended the music school of the Serbian Church Singing Society. He relocated to Belgrade in 1941 where he continued education at the Second men's gymnasium and the “Stanković” music school. He matriculated at the Belgrade Academy of music (now Faculty of music, University of Arts in Belgrade) in 1946 in the composition class of Milenko Živković, who acted as his mentor until 1954. Since 1957 Radić studied in Paris with Darius Milhaud and Olivier Messiaen, completing, upon return, a master's degree in 1962 with Živković as his adviser.

In early student works Radić demonstrated his innovative tendencies in the quest for expressive means different than those exhibited in the late Romanticism and soc-realism. While his melodies reveal their “origins in our lands,” Radić rarely resorts to direct quotations of folk tunes, and by frequently treating vocal parts in an instrumental fashion, he emphasizes a rhythmic component. Radić attracted public attention with his Sonata Lesta, composed during his studies and premiered by pianist Mirjana Šuica in 1952. His diploma work, Sinfonietta in three movements, was performed on 8 June 1954 by the Belgrade Philharmonic with conductor Živojin Zdravković. His work The Name list—thirteen sketches, was performed on 17 March 1954 in a version for soprano and piano at the concert of compositions by Dušan Radić and Enriko Josif, by performers Ljubica Vrsjakov and Ružica Mijatović. This concert entailed a debate among critics centered on the questions of modernism and realism, directing, each from their own perspective, the path Serbian music should follow in the future. Radić's cantata Awaiting Maria was premiered on 27 March 1957 by the Belgrade Philharmonic and Radio Belgrade Choir with conductor Oskar Danon, vocal soloist Biserka Cvejić, and narrator Ljuba Tadić. His Divertimento for string orchestra, vibraphone and percussion was performed on 29 November the same year, by the same orchestra and conductor Dragoljub Erić.

Radić was active as a freelance composer for 25 years, from 1954 to 1979 when he received a professorial composition position at the Academy of Arts in Novi Sad (University of Novi Sad) where he remained until retirement. He pursued various specialized courses in Kyiv, London, Moscow, Paris, Prague, Riga, Rome, and St. Petersburg. He was an active contributor to Yugoslav and Serbian music life for forty five years, among other endeavors, as a member of the Composers' Association of Serbia (CAS) since 1949, and also occasionally included film scores among his repertoire, notably Siberian Lady Macbeth (1962), directed by Andrzej Wajda, and the epic films The Long Ships (1964) and Genghis Khan (1965). Radić is a recipient of the Composers' Association of Yugoslavia Award (SOKOJ in Serbian) in 1954, the Belgrade October Award in 1959, and Petar Konjović Award in 1972, among others. He was elected a corresponding member of the Serbian Academy of Sciences and Arts in 1972 and a full member in 1983.

Dušan Radić died on 3 April 2010 in Belgrade.