
The composition “Germination” for saxophone quartet was created in 2024 on commission from the Novalis Festival, whose theme was “Ecology.” It is dedicated to the Papandopulo Quartet, which premiered it as part of the festival on October 9 of the same year at the Cultural Center Osijek.
This ecologically inspired musical narrative follows the emergence of a young plant through the process of germination, bringing awareness to this essential phenomenon for all life on Earth, and thus for the continued sustainable existence of humankind. Water, air, and light are present as some of the key elements upon which the survival of the entire biosystem depends—elements we must care for now more than ever.
Five movements, flowing seamlessly one into the next, symbolize the different stages and changes that occur in this biological process, musically evoking the natural conditions required for it. The composition begins with a sonic imagination of a dry seed at rest and its gradual absorption of water, followed by the onset of respiration and the activation of metabolic activity. It continues with the effect of light and the reaction of stored nutrients that trigger vital processes, culminating in the final (polyphonic) development into the plant itself as it begins its active life.