Nebojsa Jovan Zivkovic (b. 1962) received his diploma in composition, music theory, and percussion at the Heidelberg-Mannheim High School of Music and completed his postgraduate studies in both subjects at the Stuttgart High School of Music. In addition to his works for marimba and percussion solo, his catalog also includes orchestral and chamber music such as Corale (1987) for 13 wind and percussion instruments, In Erinnerung Schwebend for three flutes and vibraphone (1986), and the Percussion Concerto (“Concerto of the Mad Queen,” 2000), premiered by Evelyn Glennie and the Northern Sinfonia; Glennie also gave the first performance, with Emanuel Ax and Håkan Hardenberger, of Zivkovic’s Quasi una sonata at Wigmore Hall the following year. Fluctus, for solo marimba, premiered in Vienna, on October 18, 1988. The composer has provided the following note:

“This piece, based on a 27-tone progression, begins ‘fortissimo e furioso’ – the fluctuating progression appears in different variations, although the actual ‘progression’ of notes remains unchanged. Much of the piece is composed in a flowing, cadenza-like, un-metered fashion, however, there is a passage in which a firm but unperceived beat underlies a series of ever-changing polyrhythms.”