Page 13 - Weiss, Jernej, ur. 2020. Konservatoriji: profesionalizacija in specializacija glasbenega dela ▪︎ The conservatories: professionalisation and specialisation of musical activity. Koper/Ljubljana: Založba Univerze na Primorskem in Festival Ljubljana. Studia musicologica Labacensia, 4
P. 13
foreword
Music Academy in 1939, has historic significance for Slovene musical cul-
ture. Its founding was the fruit of long years of efforts by Slovenes to raise
the level of music education in Ljubljana, the heart of the nation.
These efforts were revived after the Great War by a man who was un-
doubtedly one of the most influential musicians of that period in Slovenia:
Matej Hubad, the concert director of the Glasbena Matica and later direc-
tor of the Conservatory. He believed that the numbers enrolled at the Glas-
bena Matica school and the existing teaching staff already met the neces-
sary conditions to raise the school to a higher level, and began discussions
to this end with the newly appointed Provincial Government for Slovenia.
His ambitious plan was for the Conservatory to become a gathering place
for all Yugoslavs. “The Conservatory should be a cultural temple of the mu-
sical, operatic and dramatic arts,” wrote Hubad. He saw this as a necessary
condition for establishing Yugoslav culture as the equal of others, “able to
compete with the cultural nations of the world.”1 The aim was to raise music
education to a higher level capable of satisfying the new state’s needs with
regard to the development of musical creativity.2 The Glasbena Matica un-
questionably played a central role in the early years of the Conservatory’s
existence, providing significant financial support for its activities, as well
as personnel.
The purpose of music education at the Conservatory in Ljubljana was
the same as elsewhere in Europe: to provide the necessary foundations for
professional musical activity through adequate vocal, instrumental and
theoretical training for music teachers, concert and opera singers, opera
and concert conductors, and orchestral musicians. Its activities after the
First World War accelerated the professionalisation and specialisation of
Slovene musical life. The Conservatory was established along the lines of
those in Prague and Vienna, while its management also took as a model the
activities of the Zagreb Conservatory – founded three years earlier and the
first conservatory in any of the southern Slav nations.
Owing to the great interest from pupils, the lack of suitably qualified
teachers was a major difficulty right from the start. Distinguished compos-
ers and performers who had themselves studied at some of the most impor-
tant educational institutions abroad were appointed to the teaching staff.
They included: Janko Ravnik, Josip Vedral and Jan Šlais (all three of them
1 Matej Hubad, “Jugoslovanski konservatorij Glasbene Matice v Ljubljani” [The Yugo-
slav Conservatory of the Glasbena Matica in Ljubljana]. Učiteljski tovariš 59, no. 35
(27 August 1919), 1.
2 Ibid.
11
Music Academy in 1939, has historic significance for Slovene musical cul-
ture. Its founding was the fruit of long years of efforts by Slovenes to raise
the level of music education in Ljubljana, the heart of the nation.
These efforts were revived after the Great War by a man who was un-
doubtedly one of the most influential musicians of that period in Slovenia:
Matej Hubad, the concert director of the Glasbena Matica and later direc-
tor of the Conservatory. He believed that the numbers enrolled at the Glas-
bena Matica school and the existing teaching staff already met the neces-
sary conditions to raise the school to a higher level, and began discussions
to this end with the newly appointed Provincial Government for Slovenia.
His ambitious plan was for the Conservatory to become a gathering place
for all Yugoslavs. “The Conservatory should be a cultural temple of the mu-
sical, operatic and dramatic arts,” wrote Hubad. He saw this as a necessary
condition for establishing Yugoslav culture as the equal of others, “able to
compete with the cultural nations of the world.”1 The aim was to raise music
education to a higher level capable of satisfying the new state’s needs with
regard to the development of musical creativity.2 The Glasbena Matica un-
questionably played a central role in the early years of the Conservatory’s
existence, providing significant financial support for its activities, as well
as personnel.
The purpose of music education at the Conservatory in Ljubljana was
the same as elsewhere in Europe: to provide the necessary foundations for
professional musical activity through adequate vocal, instrumental and
theoretical training for music teachers, concert and opera singers, opera
and concert conductors, and orchestral musicians. Its activities after the
First World War accelerated the professionalisation and specialisation of
Slovene musical life. The Conservatory was established along the lines of
those in Prague and Vienna, while its management also took as a model the
activities of the Zagreb Conservatory – founded three years earlier and the
first conservatory in any of the southern Slav nations.
Owing to the great interest from pupils, the lack of suitably qualified
teachers was a major difficulty right from the start. Distinguished compos-
ers and performers who had themselves studied at some of the most impor-
tant educational institutions abroad were appointed to the teaching staff.
They included: Janko Ravnik, Josip Vedral and Jan Šlais (all three of them
1 Matej Hubad, “Jugoslovanski konservatorij Glasbene Matice v Ljubljani” [The Yugo-
slav Conservatory of the Glasbena Matica in Ljubljana]. Učiteljski tovariš 59, no. 35
(27 August 1919), 1.
2 Ibid.
11
