’Before the Storm’

I don’t know whether Bilja (Biljana) is keeping up with all her chores, like ironing, cooking, looking after Vanja and Maja, but she’s certainly busy producing more great pieces for piano duet, now that the school holidays have begun!

Pred oluju, as all you Serbian-speakers will know, means ’Before the Storm’ (which Bilja kindly translated for me, as I am learning Serbian only very slowly, via our regular conversations on Skype!)

There is something here which definitely suggests its East European origins, and particularly the 7/8 time signature, which does give it an extra folk-like feel.

Bilja sent me the attached photo, which happened a couple of years back during heavy rains, which caused the River Sava in Belgrade (not far from Bilja’s centrally-located flat) to flood, hence the surfing commuter! As I suggested, this might be all of us soon, if the price of fuel goes up much more - especially here in the UK, where our greedy government looks upon the motorist as an endless source of income, by overtaxing us to the hilt!

PS The dedication to ’Dada’ is to Bilja’s great friend and colleague, Dragana, who passed away suddenly in 2007.

For all the latest information on Bilja, her teaching, and current compositions, please visit her website.