Today, everything is changing fast, including music

A Montenegrin guitar duo that consists of Srđan Bulatović i Darko Nikcevic they recently held a concert as part of the International Guitar Festival in Torrelavega, Spain. On that occasion, they presented their own compositions inspired by the traditional music of Montenegro, the Balkans and the Mediterranean. In addition to them, Montenegrin guitarists also performed their own works permeated by the influences of classical, flamenco and film music.

"It was a real pleasure to be part of this festival, to listen to various guitarists, chamber ensembles, the Cantabria Symphony Orchestra, as well as to feel the reactions of the audience there to the mentioned events. It is a great honor, among others, to appear in the company of guitarists and composers such as Jorge Cardoso from Argentina and Oscar Herero from Spain. It is a special pleasure that our concert was sold out, as well as that it was completely recorded in audio and video format", Bulatović shared his impressions from Spain after the concert.

We are trying to present the guitar and our music in a different way. For her to be attractive, virtuoso, but at the same time emotional, and understandable to the world. In it, we use irregular rhythms, characteristic of the Balkans, and interesting to an audience that has not had the opportunity to hear something similar before. It is an inexhaustible field that we have been researching for years now

He reveals that he and Darko should have performed at this festival a long time ago, even before the pandemic.

"However, as that difficult period began, so did our concerts. Our guitarist friend recommended us to several festivals where we sent recordings of our works and concert performances, and that's how we got in touch with the organizers of this festival", reveals how it came to the performances in Spain.

This duo has been weaving traditional music through the music they create for years. About how difficult it is to combine it and whether when they write they adapt those ethnic motifs to their compositions or vice versa, he answers:

"We are trying to present the guitar and our music in a different way. For her to be attractive, virtuoso, but at the same time emotional, and understandable to the world. In it, we use irregular rhythms, characteristic of the Balkans, and interesting for an audience that has not had the opportunity to hear something similar before. It is an inexhaustible field that we have been researching for years now. And when we write compositions with an oriental undertone, a small part of them are on well-known Montenegrin themes. Many of them are our original compositions inspired by well-known Montenegrin traditional melodies. It is not only oriental melos related to our space. We forget that we are in the Mediterranean where many countries such as Spain are located. Maybe there is some connection and an undertone of melodic commonality, but also diversity", believes Bulatović.

In addition to Balkan motifs, flamenco also permeates the works of this duo. And about how the Spaniards reacted to those moments, and whether they have prejudices against performers who are not from their speaking area, and who perform flamenco, he talks:

"Flamenco is woven into some of our compositions, and represents one of the means of communication with other cultures. It also permeates works written for the classical guitar in general. Our idea is to present our own melody and culture of our music and the country we come from through flamenco, as a recognizable expression and irregular rhythms characteristic of our climate. It is this diversity that paves the way for us to distant countries where they have not heard of the culture of Montenegro, but neither of the Balkans. We combine the musical specificities of our climate, or better say pearls, with flamenco and classical as recognizable expressions, giving them a special note of uniqueness and diversity. These are the values ​​that the Spanish audience knew how to recognize and reward", claims the interlocutor of "Vijesti".

Flamenco is woven into some of our compositions, and represents one of the means of communication with other cultures. It also permeates works written for the classical guitar in general. Our idea is to present our own melody and culture of our music and the country from which we originate through flamenco, as a recognizable expression and irregular rhythms characteristic of our climate.

He boasted that their concert as part of this event was sold out, and at the same time he closed this year's edition. However, in our country, a concert is rarely sold out, although musicians constantly appeal that the audience must be nurtured and educated, and how would they do that, Bulatović says:

"That task should partly be given to the musicians, so that with their careful selection, without upsetting the audience on one side, and showing quality on the other, they create a balance that many will understand. In Montenegro, we have a quality audience that probably strays somewhere by mistake to various events, some of which take away their energy to lose their will for perhaps some more interesting ones, which might attract their attention. Our audience often chooses only what they know, without entering into new searches and finding inspiration in some new works, different musical directions and interesting performances, etc. Today, everything is changing fast, including music. We are changing too. Let's search together for some new expressions and genres, let's create them", says Bulatović.