A Short Historical Overview of Classical Music in Slovenia
Historically the art music of Slovenia has developed in close relationship to German and Austrian music because of its common roots and Alpine culture.
Early and medieval music
The origins of Slovene art music may be traced back to the arrival of Christianity in the state of Caranthania in the 8th century: on the occasion of the enthronement of the Caranthanian dukes, the Kyrie was sung in Slovene.
Medieval liturgical music, which developed first in churches and subsequently in monasteries, was influenced by some elements of German sacred song. In CE 753 the Caranthanians built their first cathedral, as documented in codices and fragments of choral chants from the 10th and 11th centuries. Secular music was spread by minstrels and German minnesinger, notably Ulrich von Liechtenstein in the 13th century and poet-composer Oswald von Wolkenstein in the 15th century, both of whom used the Slovene language.
Slovene folk song was also popular among the nobility at this time. Jurij Slatkonja (1456–1522), who was born in Ljubljana, was a Viennese bishop and choirmaster to Maximilian II. His chapel is represented in the woodcut series by Hans Burgmair (1512–18) of Emperor Maximilan’s Triumphal Procession.
Rennaissance and Enlightenment
During the Renaissance period music was mainly developed in the monasteries and churches, and German influences increased as the popularity of Protestant music grew. The Catechismus of 1550, the first Slovene printed book, also contained several songs and tunes in mensural notation. Sixteenth-century Slovene composer Jacobus Handl Gallus (Dictus Carniolus 1550 1456–15221591) was one of the leading European late Renaissance composers, and although he worked mainly abroad, he is an important figure within Slovene music history.
During the early Baroque period there was an influx of music from Italy, due mainly to the Counter Reformation and the popularity of its ideological leader, prince-bishop Tomaž Hren. The National and University Library (NUK) holds a manuscript collection which includes several volumes of music manuscripts. In the 17th century Slovene music was promoted principally by the Ljubljana Jesuits, who staged religious plays with musical and operatic sections. Reliable documentation exists for the years 1652, 1655 and 1660, when an Italian opera (Comedia Italiana in Musica) was performed on the occasion of Emperor Leopold I’s visit to Ljubljana.
In 1701 the Academia Philharmonicorum was founded in Ljubljana after Italian models, and was the first European music institution of its kind established outside Latin and Anglo-Saxon territory. In the following decades Slovenia’s most eminent violinist was Giuseppe Tartini (1692–1770) – he was born in Piran/Pirano and received his first violin instruction in Koper/Capodistria. During this period the renowned Slovene composer J K Dolar worked in Vienna, as did many eminent Slovene musicians.
The Philharmonische Gesellschaft, founded in Ljubljana in 1794, was similarly pioneering – as the first concert society of its kind in Central Europe, it consisted exclusively of Slovene- and German-speaking middle class and nobility. Its repertoire was orientated towards contemporary Viennese composers, and both Haydn and Beethoven were elected to honorary membership. Indeed most of its composers were foreigners, although at the time some Slovene musicians were active in Vienna, Milan, Budapest or Paris. During the second half of the 18th century a new spirit of national consciousness incited by Baron Žiga Zois and his circle was prominent, particularly in the field of opera. The first Slovene opera was Belin, composed in 1780 by Jakob Zupan (1734–1810) and based on a Slovene text by J D Dev. Zupan’s music has not been preserved, but it was apparently Baroque. Some 10 years later, around 1790, J K Novak (c 1756–1833) wrote a musical accompaniment in Rococo to a comedy of Linhart, entitling it Figaro.
Late 19th- and early 20th-century music
Following the formation of the Slovene Society in 1848, music began to play a patriotic role, particularly in the Society’s political and cultural events called Besede (translated as ‘words’). In the 1860s Besede were superseded by Čitalnice (‘reading rooms’) which were cultural societies devoted to music and concert life. In 1872 the Society was taken over by the Glasbena matica (‘Musical Centre’). Its choir soon achieved international success and in 1896 performed in Vienna under Dvorak. The German Staendisches Theater in Ljubljana (where Mahler conducted for the 1881–82 season) ran a German and Italian repertory, whilst the Slovene Dramatic Society, founded in 1867, became increasingly involved in opera. In 1892 the Slovene Opera was founded at the new Regional Theatre and initially shared the theatre with the German ensemble.
Though generally regarded as an Austrian, the late Romantic composer Hugo Wolf (1860–1903) was in fact a native of Windischgraz (now Slovenj Gradec, Slovenia). Wolf is particularly noted for his lieder or art song, which he brought to its highest point of development. Regrettably, after a period of intense activity as a composer, Wolf’s later life was clouded by illness, depression and finally insanity.
![Ljubljana Castle and Slovene Philharmonic, shot from the recently renewed Congress Square [Kongresni trg], 2012](/en/File:Ljubljana_Castle_2012_distant_view.jpg)
The Slovene Philharmonics was founded in 1908, and under the leadership of Czech conductor Vaclav Talich and renowned guest conductors like Gustav Mahler and Fritz Reiner its orchestra the Slovene Philharmonic Orchestra attained a high level of musical reproduction during the first decades of the 20th century.
The exciting developments in Slovene music at this time were promoted and documented by the magazine Novi Akordi (1901–14). Fran Gerbič (1840–1917) and Benjamin Ipavec (1839–1908) were eminent composers of this era. Of the younger generation, which included composers such as Risto Savin (1859–1948), Emil Adamič (1877–1936), Janko Ravnik (1891–1982) and Marij Kogoj (1892–1956), Anton Lajovic (1878–1960) was probably the leading young composer. The idioms of this younger generation incorporated elements of late Romanticism, neo-Romanticism, Impressionism and Expressionism.
During the inter-war period an eclectic range of styles flourished, from Romanticism to modernism. The 1920s were dominated by the Expressionist composer Marij Kogoj (1892–1956), who was a pupil of Schoenberg. In the following decade Slavko Osterc (1895–1941) introduced avant-garde techniques, Neoclassicism and Expressionism. The music of another notable composer, Lucijan Marija Škerjanc (1900–1973), writing around the same time, reveals the influence of French Impressionism and a late Romantic idiom. A music conservatory which had been founded in 1919 was upgraded to become the Academy of Music in 1939. The opera company of the Slovene National Theatre flourished between 1925 and 1939, and during the same period several new choirs and chamber ensembles were founded.
Following the departure of Vaclav Talich in the period between the two Wars, the Slovene Philharmonics was disbanded, but in 1947 the organisation was revived on the initiative of composer Marjan Kozina, conductor Samo Hubad and musicologist Vlado Golob, with a symphonic orchestra, a mixed choir (until 1976), a youth choir (until 1952), a string quartet and an agency which organised concerts (which became independent in 1952).
Modern and contemporary music
In the early 1960s links with the European avant garde were re-established under the influence of Darmstadt, Paris and the new Polish music, reflecting the work of the Slovene avant-garde composers during the period between the wars.
Instrumental in this development were Primož Ramovš (1922–1999) and the young composers of the Ljubljana Pro Musica Viva group, whose work used the techniques of dodecaphony and serial organisation, and later also aleatory and electronic music techniques.
Another important figure within the Slovene avant garde was noted trombonist Vinko Globokar (b 1934), a leading representative of contemporary composition in Slovenia. These important figures were later joined by a new modernist group comprising notably Aldo Kumar (b 1954), Uroš Rojko (b 1954), Tomaž Svete (b 1956), and Brina Jež-Brezavšček (b 1957), Larisa Vrhunc (b 1967), Vito Žuraj (b 1979) and Nina Šenk (b 1982).
There is also a new generation of composers working in experimental music who include Bratko Bibič, Drago Ivanuša, Borut Kržišnik, and Tomaž Grom.
