Ballade in G minor, first draft.
Harmonically and melodically mostly written in the last couple of months, although some themes were drafted almost a decade ago which in itself has a special meaning for me since it always lingered in my mind until I decided to finish it.
Will possibly expand upon the composition in the near future.

Ballade for Piano, G Minor

Fantasy for Piano, F-sharp minor
Like in the case of my previous ballade, the main theme is one of my oldest one, written on a guitar almost two decades ago, in a secluded house, when I took guitar lessons with my friends under a guise of a senior, eccentric professor who was probably semi-drunk every single lesson.
It came almost seamlessly and it never left my mind, and finally it found a satisfactory growth and expression in a piano composition.
Paul Anthony Romero made spontaneously numerous improvisations on it (He received it with a bunch of other musical themes), and a lot of those variations ended here as a homage to him, as this work is dedicated to him.
Initially the theme was planned as an initial statement in a nocturne I was writing, preceding the main theme, but after Paul's suggestion I separated the two distinct themes and decided it was best to let them grow separately.
The fact that I developed one of my oldest melodies with a superb composer and pianist, and a musical inspiration since high-school, makes me beyond blessed and happy.
The watercolour artwork, like in all other released compositions, is done by Vanja Kalemba.

Fantasy for Piano, F-sharp Minor

A short composition consisting of themes I'm extremely fond of. Initially I wanted to experiment with it more, but decided to keep as compact and unassuming as possible, in the manner of various moment musicaux written by composers such as Schubert. 
Dedicated to one of my greatest and most special friend, Marko Paradžik, who was amazed when hearing the main theme for the first time (although when I showed him again much later he said it was horrible).

Ode for Piano, F Major

This Nocturne, or at least its main themes, represents my first true attempt at composing on the piano several years ago. I composed or improvised a bunch of fragments and musical ideas together with the basic framework of the Nocturne.

As I've already implied in the description of my Fantasy, the two compositions were once conjoined when I finally decided to separate them and develop them independently. However, besides sharing the same key, a lot of textural fragments are still shared that can be noticed, and I bluntly quoted the main theme of the fantasy as a homage to their shared heritage. Personally, I'm particularly fond of the A-major melodic line starting at 0:38, which I consider one of the smoothest and most beautiful melodies I've written so far. Considering the hammering intro, it is one of the last additions I've made for this nocturne, and it helped me with a lot of structural problems. As with my other compositions, further changes will likely happen down the line.

I dedicate this work to another of my great friends, Ivan Dadić, a masterful smith, who once gifted me a beautiful crusader helmet he crafted (he even took measurements of my head for the undertaking). I humbly hope this endeavor will honour the gift he blessed me with!

Nocturne for Piano, F-sharp Minor

A piano piece I started writing during the composition of my F-sharp minor Nocturne. Initially, I tried to figure out if I could use it as a middle section of the Nocturne (the F-sharp to G minor modulation was a very alluring challenge), but very soon, it started to gain a consciousness of its own, and the music began writing itself. It is a very dark and somber piece that aptly suits its Elegie name. 
I would describe it as an excursion into contemplation and resignation fostered by the pain of loss and irreversibility. Brief sections into the relative (Faith) and parallel major (Remembrance), and some dance-like drunken stupor (Holding on) offer some respite. The G major restatement of the main theme is my latest addition, simply because I found it beautiful. 
I dedicate this piece to Ivan Bago, a great friend and a monumental influence on my music. Safe to say, I wouldn't be deep in this musical endeavor without him. (He also mentioned he would like to play this piece on his own).

Elegie For Piano, G Minor

My first experiment in a somewhat sonata-like movement that loosely follows the exposition-development-recapitulation cycle, where the second, G major (tethering even on D major) returns in the recapitulation in the home key of C minor. It took me longer to finish than anticipated but in the end, I'm extremely pleased with the result. 

The main theme is one of those themes that simply appears almost on its own when your hands land on the piano. It was a delightful, but chalenging experience trying to develop it and derive new themes from it, in the end I've scraped as many themes as I've included. 

I dedicate this work to my dear friend Ivan Dadić and his wife, Katarina Dadić, who liked the melody so much that she used it as a ringtone for her alarm clock.

Allegro for Piano, C Minor

The main theme of my Aria was also written during my teenage years on a cheap Yamaha keyboard, as a simple flute melody. A dozen years later, after vigorously immersing myself in the music of the old masters, I finally managed to breathe completely new life and meaning into it.

I can confidently say that I drew inspiration from the enchanting and, at times, ethereal serenity of a particular Mediterranean landscape also found in my native province of Dalmatia. This was perfectly captured by a beautiful watercolor painting (courtesy of a magnificent painter, Vanja Kalemba) depicting a white church nestled in a lavender field. The painting may have even spurred me on further to try to encapsulate the feeling of the landscape, a beauty that no one from Dalmatia can ever take for granted due to its constant and ever-present allure.

The form of this composition falls somewhere between a rondo and theme & variations, since all the episode of the rondo form stem from the main melody as, after many experiments, I concluded that a more straightforward musical language better suits the vision of this piece, without the need for complex ornamentation and texture.

I dedicate this composition to my beloved son Karlo, who has brought more serenity and beauty into my life than anything else.

Aria for Piano, C Major

My new Nocturne that I've started writting a few years ago, the main theme and the E-flat majorish restatement of the main theme came quite swiftly and naturally. However, I found myself a bit stuck on how to proceed further, and as a result, I neglected it for quite some time and focused on other musical pursuits.

However, just around this Christmas, as I leisurely sat by my piano, a new theme and continuation unexpectedly presented themselves, and the composition practically wrote itself from there.

I feel that this piece really captures the essence of a Nocturne, depicting the stillness of the night, scarcely moved by a lonely star or a lamppost on a street, and also conveys the painful but sometimes even sweet melancholy of one's solitude.

Nocturne for Piano, C Minor, No. 2

A composition I'm extremely fond of, feauting one of my most dearest themes which I simply had to repeat it in the Coda.
As a musical piece it is straightforward, and unassuming in its texture and scope, but I believe it has a certain fable-like, enchanting feeling, thus the poem title, although structurally it is very close to a sonata. 
I've explored others mode a bit ( I've modulated to F Lydian briefly), which is something I'll likely do in the future.

Poem for Piano, F Minor

My first composition with wind instruments, and it was an extremely refreshing experience and a distraction from composing strictly with a piano the last few years.
The main theme itself is a long ago composed simple keyboard theme that I've always kept close at heart. 
I've rarely left B minor in this piece, save from some chromatic sections and D Major/ E minor restatements and an new F-sharp major and minor theme in the quasi development section.
I've tried to give prominence/independece to every instrument in different section, but since I know next to nothing about wind instruments, I probably made a ton of stylistic errors.
All in all, I've very pleased with how this piece turned out, it has a certain rustic or medieval feel to it, coupled with few sections that feel, at least to me, dark-folkloric or even eldritch.

A Movement for Wind Trio, B Minor

The origin of the main theme of this prelude is a progression I came up with while working on the Fantasy and the Nocturne in the same key. It couldn't fit in, but I found it very beautiful and had fruitlessly tried to find a composition where it could find a home. 
I admit it took me too long to realize that a new composition can be made from it, and it also took me too long to realize that another theme (the second one in the Prelude) I made at that time fits almost perfectly. All in all, I'm extremely pleased with the final result. 
There are almost jazzy (a friend had even said proggy) elements that work unusually well with the dark, almost folkloric ambiance.

Prelude for Piano, F-sharp Minor

A composition I started writing almost at the same time as my first Nocturne, when both were part of an extremely long and bizarre fantasy, and thus they both share very few of the same and almost unnoticable textures and motivic figures, although they are completely different in character and form from one another. 

In comparison with my second Nocturne, which is quite a pensive and somber work, this one is rather stormy, bordering on fury during the climax in the middle section, where the music shifts from E minor to C minor, and then a ray of hope appears in E-flat major, which is almost as far as one can get from E minor.

Nocturne For Piano, E Minor, No. 3

A collaboration between me and the incredibly talented guitarist SeaShea(https://soundcloud.com/chris-oshea-3), that I'm thrilled to share, a captivating fusion of piano and guitar that breathes new life into my original composition, an Elegie for Piano in G minor. 
SeaShea, moved by the original piano track, has woven his strings in such a way that the piece now dances between the realms of poignant reflection and uplifting harmony, further enriching the total soundscape. 
A heartfelt thanks to him for doing me this honour, and I hope that every listener will be moved in the same way as I was.

Elegie for Piano and Guitar, G minor (featuring SeaShea)

The main theme is another one from my distant teenage years, written on a small keyboard as a flute tune. 
My friend like it, so we fooled around with it and even recorded a song called ''Field of Dew'', as a satine of folkish/radio friendly love songs popular in Dalmatia, that alone probably influenced me to use the theme for a romance-like composition.
Sentiment and content wise, it is very personal, filled with melodies reminiscing all of turmoil one can experience in love, from happy moments like the first glance in the shared with one another in a crowd during a Metallica cover band concert, strolling through the sun bathed forest of Gorski Kotar, and many more, both happy and unhappy. 
This piece is dedicated to Vanja Kalemba, the mother of my son and also the author of many paintings I use as a art cover of my compositions.

Romance For Piano, B-flat Lydian

I'm fairly proud of the two main theme of this piece, they have grace and a simplicity that makes it very malleable and expressive. That is, I hope, well displayed through modulation I employed (G-B-D) and frequent switching from major to minor. 
I particularly liked the final bit of the exposition where I reversed the main theme, played it descending instead of ascending, which added a layer of macabre/discord displayed and emphasized through chromaticism and dissonance.
There is still a middle part mising that I may add in the coming days, (although that would transform the form of the piece, so an impromptu might not be the correct title, but we'll see).

Impromptu For Piano, G Major

Ode For Piano, A Minor, No. 2 (Main themes - work in progress)

While I was composing my F-sharp minor Fantasy, I found myself stuck on a particular middle section, struggling to find the right variation to complete the piece. Eventually, I succeeded, but before that happened, I wrote numerous segments that didn’t quite fit into the piece.

Fortunately, some of these discarded variations began to resonate with each other, leading to the creation of smaller pieces that I grew very fond of. The first of these became my Prelude in F-sharp Minor, and the second, the Moment Musicaux in A Major.

These two compositions share some motivic figures down to the note, yet in feeling and meaning, they couldn’t be more different. Despite the brief scope of the Moment Musicaux in question, I believe there is much to discover within it, with every new small section providing something unique and unexpected.

Moment Musicaux for Piano, A Major

A composition depicting perhaps the midst of snowy winter, where the encroaching cold is held at bay with a memory of a loved one. 
Harmonically I mostly stayed in D minor/major, with a brief excursion in G minor. I've attempeted to write a middle passage in F major, but the two themes I've managed to come up with simply didn't fit with the rest of the music, but hey, at least I have two new themes for next pieces. 
Completed in the March of 2025.

Intermezzo For Piano, D Minor

Another piece based on the synth compositions from my long-past teenage years. The main theme (slightly rewritten) comes from a short piece I named The Mist Majesty, which, in my opinion, had a distinct autumnal flavor that I wanted to preserve and emphasize in this rewrite. It is also about something else, but autumn is unmistakably present, and I think the watercolor I chose as the cover fits perfectly.
Completed in April of 2025.

Morceaux For Piano, E Minor

A self-taught composer, who has found his voice in older and traditional forms and styles of music.
Currently mostly composing for piano, but I have grand ambitions for writing chamber music and symphonies.
My music has a lot of variety in a way that expresses all kinds of sentiments, both intrapersonal and extrapersonal, kept in a cohesion by an underlying narrative; every composition is its own journey or a adventure, and I invite any guests who stumble upon my page to take part in it. 
All my music so far is written in Sibelius 7 (recordings of live performace coming down the line)
My music is available for purchase on Bandcamp: https://dinoljubi.bandcamp.com/music
Sometimes I might write an essay or two:
https://renewalcollective.substack.com/p/beethoven-through-suffering-towards
For inquiries: dinoljub89@gmail.com
Also a father to an awesome little boy.

Dino Ljubić

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