Born 12 July 1927 in Trieste/Italy where he still lives and works as a composer, ethnomusicolgist and Slovene scholar. Graduated in Slavonic Studies from the Faculty of Arts in Ljubljana in 1950 and took his doctorate in the same field from Rome University in 1960. Studied composition under I.Grbec and Vito Levi in Trieste. He has been a teacher in Trieste and an editor of Slovene programmes for the RAI television company. Merku’s expressionist approach is frequently tempered by modal, atonal, dodecaphonic and serial elements. His work covers a number of different forms: an early violin concerto and a concerto for trumpet and strings Shine, sun, shine (1977), and his most important work, the opera Dragonfly (1976) set to a libretto by S.Makarovic. He also composed numerous cantatas, instrumental works and chamber music pieces. The majority of his compositions are published and many have also been recorded.
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