Page 10 - Glasbenopedagoški zbornik Akademije za glasbo v Ljubljani / The Journal of Music Education of the Academy of Music in Ljubljana, leto 9, zvezek 18 / Year 9, Issue 18, 2013
P. 10
AN ADAMIÈ (1912–1995)
European composers. Their performance impressed Adamiè, who decided to include their
youngest musicians in his smaller amateur band despite Bruno’s opposition; he was
entitled to do so on account of his important position at the time.19 Consequently, from
August 1944, there were two bands operating in the liberated territory in Bela krajina:
Bruno’s band of the VII corps and Adamiè’s band of the headquarters of the National
Liberation army, each numbering about forty members. They operated according to
military organisation principles and attended political meetings as well as music practise;
both bands performed at meetings, cultural events in nearby villages, in partisan units, as
well as on OF radio broadcasts. The bands played marches by Jo e Brun, Bojan Adamiè
and Drago Lorbek (an excellent musician and arranger) as well as other compositions,
such as the arrangements of partisan songs by Slovenian composers, Slovenian folk songs
and Russian song potpourris, as well as opera sections.20
Adamiè’s wartime list of the original works and arrangements comprises more than
150 compositions; unfortunately, the greater part of them was lost. He also described
having written some arrangements of Beethoven’s works by memory from his student
years, saying subsequently: “I sincerely hope that the late Ludwig van was not able to hear
“his” compositions over the pandemonium of war […].”21 Besides a number of
compositions for brass bands, Adamiè wrote some choir compositions as well as solo
songs (Pesem talcev, text by K. Destovnik - Kajuh; Zdravo tovariš, text by T. Seliškar,
etc.), and instrumental compositions for chamber ensembles.22 As a musician, his
cooperation with OF Radio was invaluable; he assumed various roles, even as a pianist
and accordion player. For his war-time efforts, Adamiè was decorated for his merits and
saw liberation with the rank of second lieutenant, later enjoying a promotion to the rank of
major. In 1946 he was awarded a high state decoration for bravery, conferred by the
Presidium of the People’s Assembly of the Federative People’s Republic of Yugoslavia,
which resulted in a definite career boost. Furthermore, thanks to his well deserved honour,
he was able to make some progress in the development of jazz, which was otherwise
renounced by the new authorities, who considered jazz a creation of capitalist culture.
Wartime brought Adamiè both ups and downs, as well as his acquaintance with Barbara
Èerniè, whom he met in the partisans and married after the war, when their daughter
Alenka was also born.
Despite the principled inclusion of communist ideology into everyday life, another set
of “rules” also existed in Yugoslav post-war society. For the select few, especially for
individuals awarded “merit for the nation” the new era brought ample opportunity to move
around and advance according to their strengths. Adamiè, thanks to his status as partisan
and influential cultural figure, overcame the common aversion towards western popular
and jazz music, and established the Radio Ljubljana Dance Orchestra (Plesni orkester
radia Ljubljana, also called PORL) immediately after the war. In actual fact, PORL had
already begun in 1929 with the establishment of the Ronny ensemble. Adamiè was
19 Emina Mašiæ, Razvoj pevske in instrumentalne dejavnosti ter rudarske godbe v Hrastniku, graduation
thesis, Ljubljana: Academy of Music, 2012, pp. 48-51.
20 Compare: Jani Šalamon, »Jo e Brun – partizanski dirigent in skladatelj«, manuscript, paper at the
symposium »Kultura v èasu druge svetovne vojne (1939-1945)«, Maribor, June 2012.
21 Accessible at http://www.bojan-adamic.si/razmisljanja/#o-sebi, October 21st, 2012.
22 The complete bibliography of Adamiè’s opera has not been published yet. On the compositions from his
partisan period compare the website http://www.bojan-adamic.si/glasba/ , December 15th , 2012; also
compare the articles by Franc Kri nar and Domen Prezelj in the present publication.
10
European composers. Their performance impressed Adamiè, who decided to include their
youngest musicians in his smaller amateur band despite Bruno’s opposition; he was
entitled to do so on account of his important position at the time.19 Consequently, from
August 1944, there were two bands operating in the liberated territory in Bela krajina:
Bruno’s band of the VII corps and Adamiè’s band of the headquarters of the National
Liberation army, each numbering about forty members. They operated according to
military organisation principles and attended political meetings as well as music practise;
both bands performed at meetings, cultural events in nearby villages, in partisan units, as
well as on OF radio broadcasts. The bands played marches by Jo e Brun, Bojan Adamiè
and Drago Lorbek (an excellent musician and arranger) as well as other compositions,
such as the arrangements of partisan songs by Slovenian composers, Slovenian folk songs
and Russian song potpourris, as well as opera sections.20
Adamiè’s wartime list of the original works and arrangements comprises more than
150 compositions; unfortunately, the greater part of them was lost. He also described
having written some arrangements of Beethoven’s works by memory from his student
years, saying subsequently: “I sincerely hope that the late Ludwig van was not able to hear
“his” compositions over the pandemonium of war […].”21 Besides a number of
compositions for brass bands, Adamiè wrote some choir compositions as well as solo
songs (Pesem talcev, text by K. Destovnik - Kajuh; Zdravo tovariš, text by T. Seliškar,
etc.), and instrumental compositions for chamber ensembles.22 As a musician, his
cooperation with OF Radio was invaluable; he assumed various roles, even as a pianist
and accordion player. For his war-time efforts, Adamiè was decorated for his merits and
saw liberation with the rank of second lieutenant, later enjoying a promotion to the rank of
major. In 1946 he was awarded a high state decoration for bravery, conferred by the
Presidium of the People’s Assembly of the Federative People’s Republic of Yugoslavia,
which resulted in a definite career boost. Furthermore, thanks to his well deserved honour,
he was able to make some progress in the development of jazz, which was otherwise
renounced by the new authorities, who considered jazz a creation of capitalist culture.
Wartime brought Adamiè both ups and downs, as well as his acquaintance with Barbara
Èerniè, whom he met in the partisans and married after the war, when their daughter
Alenka was also born.
Despite the principled inclusion of communist ideology into everyday life, another set
of “rules” also existed in Yugoslav post-war society. For the select few, especially for
individuals awarded “merit for the nation” the new era brought ample opportunity to move
around and advance according to their strengths. Adamiè, thanks to his status as partisan
and influential cultural figure, overcame the common aversion towards western popular
and jazz music, and established the Radio Ljubljana Dance Orchestra (Plesni orkester
radia Ljubljana, also called PORL) immediately after the war. In actual fact, PORL had
already begun in 1929 with the establishment of the Ronny ensemble. Adamiè was
19 Emina Mašiæ, Razvoj pevske in instrumentalne dejavnosti ter rudarske godbe v Hrastniku, graduation
thesis, Ljubljana: Academy of Music, 2012, pp. 48-51.
20 Compare: Jani Šalamon, »Jo e Brun – partizanski dirigent in skladatelj«, manuscript, paper at the
symposium »Kultura v èasu druge svetovne vojne (1939-1945)«, Maribor, June 2012.
21 Accessible at http://www.bojan-adamic.si/razmisljanja/#o-sebi, October 21st, 2012.
22 The complete bibliography of Adamiè’s opera has not been published yet. On the compositions from his
partisan period compare the website http://www.bojan-adamic.si/glasba/ , December 15th , 2012; also
compare the articles by Franc Kri nar and Domen Prezelj in the present publication.
10
