Dora Pejačević (1885-1923) grew up in Našice in east Croatia, in a town of which a significant part was the feudal property of the Pejačević family until 1945. Of course, this was before WWI still part of the large Habsburg Empire. Her father was the Croatian Count Teodor Pejačević, her mother a Hungarian baroness and a trained pianist and singer. Dora Pejačević received her first music lessons in Budapest and Zagreb, and studied further in Dresden and Munich. She was a composition pupil of the obscure English composer Percy Sherwood, but was essentially self-taught. She was widely read in literature and philosophy and her circle of acquaintances included the Viennese journalist and writer Karl Kraus as well as Rainer Maria Rilke.
Dora Pejacevic’s earlier compositions mostly consisted of piano pieces, sonatas, and songs, but significantly she became the first woman in Croatia to write orchestral works. Because of
her late romantic, harmonically and instrumentally refined tonal
language, she is considered a representative of the fin de siècle;
occasionally her style has been compared to that of Rachmaninoff. Today, she is considered one of Croatia's most important 20th century
composers and many of her works, during her lifetime, enjoyed
considerable success and were performed throughout Germany, Austria,
Hungary and the rest of the Habsburg Empire. After the outbreak of World War I in 1914, she helped in Našice
throughout the war as a nurse caring for the wounded. At
the same time she composed intensively. Some of her best works were
written during this time. There are 58 compositions: songs, piano solos and chamber music
including: piano quartet, piano quintet, violin sonata, cello sonata and
two piano sonatas. But there are also impressive orchestral works, such as an excellent symphony and a piano concerto. Her Symphony in F-sharp minor is considered by scholars the first modern symphony in Croatian music.
She married in 1921 and sadly died two years later, at age 37, due to what some sources specify as complications during childbirth.
The Piano Quartet in d minor was completed in 1908 and has been written in the late Romantic style. It starts with a chromatic Allegro ma non tanto; this is followed by a warm and lyrical Andante con moto; then a playful Allegretto grazioso; and finally a Allegro comodo, a spirited dance with effective use of pizzicato.
The performers are: Csilla Pogány, Violine; Philip Nolte, Viola; Lucia Tenan, Cello;
and Fausto Quintabà, piano.
Women Composers Index