Page 16 - 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. 16
AN ADAMIÈ (1912–1995)
(Reka, Croatia)), pop song festivals in Zagreb and Split (both Croatia), the children’s song
festival in Krško, etc.40 Due to his vigorous spirit, Adamiè was well acquainted with other
varieties of popular music and also worked with much younger musicians, such as the
rocker Marko Brecelj, songwriter-singer Jani Kovaèiè, and Toma Domicelj; they
considered him a mentor and great inspiration.
Adamiè modelled his work on a number of composers from the world of classical
music as well the jazz masters. He was creative in a variety of genres and composed with
responsibility at all levels as well as with great sensibility for the respective medium. He
also wrote rather quickly, otherwise, with all his other responsibilities, he could not have
managed to write around a thousand score units, not to mention the works that have been
misplaced or even lost. He wrote the compositions for dance orchestras, composed jazz
music that he supplemented with distinctive personal characteristics, film music for
documentaries and feature-length films; he edited music for theatre, as well as for puppet
theatre performances and for all kinds of radio broadcasts for adults and for children; he
composed popular songs, chansons, music for orchestras and wind orchestras, music for
solemn celebrations and sporting events, ballets, musicals, choir and chamber music. The
greater part of the most important international acknowledgements he achieved with the
Radio Ljubljana Dance Orchestra. In 15 years of Adamiè’s leadership, the ensemble
promoted Slovenian jazz and Slovenian pop music until they finally transcended national
boundaries and gained recognition throughout Europe. The second important element in
his creative work was the film music that raised him to the top rank of Slovenian and
Yugoslav creativity. Adamiè also composed film music for studios in Europe and in the
United States and more or less by chance, soon after the war, he involved in film and
incidental music. At the time he was not aware that his work for film media would become
the most impressive of his creative achievements. At the beginning of his involvement he
lacked in-depth knowledge about film music, as he was acquainted with the genre only
from the pre-war period during which he played and arranged a number of music sections
from the American films that were trickling into Ljubljana cinemas. However, he took up
the challenge and succeeded. The most outstanding films featuring his original music were
Vesna (1953), Ne obraèaj se, sine (‘Don’t Look Back, Son’, 1956), Ples v de ju (‘Dancing
in the Rain’, 1961), Samorastniki (‘The Self-Sown’, 1963), Kekèeve ukane (‘Kekec’s
Tricks’, 1968), Maškarada (‘Masquerade’, 1971), Valter brani Sarajevo (‘Walter
Defends Sarajevo’, 1973), TV serial Kapelski kresovi (‘Kapela Bonfires’, 1974-1976),
Nasvidenje v naslednji vojni (‘Farewell Until the Next War’, 1980), Boj na po iralniku
(‘Battle (at the Gullet’, 1982), and many others. The score for a documentary Neme
podobe slovenskega filma (‘Silent Pictures from the Slovenian Film History’, 1995) was
the last with his signature, created in the year of his departure.41
He was involved in incidental music for the theatre from at least 1952, when he signed
his first contract with the Celje theatre - this was followed by a series of agreements with
other institutions. He cworked with the Prešeren Theatre Kranj, Theatre Drama Ljubljana,
Ljubljana City Theatre, Koreodrama Theatre, Mladinsko Theatre, Puppet Theatre,
40 NUK, Music collection, B. Adamiè legacy, folders: Pogodbe Hrvaška [Contracts Croatia] and
Korespondenca s tujino [Correspondence with foreign countries].
41 Accessible at: http://www.bojan-adamic.si/glasba/, November 26th, 2012. Compare the article in the
present publication: Mitja Reichenberg, “Bojan Adamiè in filmska glasba”.
16
(Reka, Croatia)), pop song festivals in Zagreb and Split (both Croatia), the children’s song
festival in Krško, etc.40 Due to his vigorous spirit, Adamiè was well acquainted with other
varieties of popular music and also worked with much younger musicians, such as the
rocker Marko Brecelj, songwriter-singer Jani Kovaèiè, and Toma Domicelj; they
considered him a mentor and great inspiration.
Adamiè modelled his work on a number of composers from the world of classical
music as well the jazz masters. He was creative in a variety of genres and composed with
responsibility at all levels as well as with great sensibility for the respective medium. He
also wrote rather quickly, otherwise, with all his other responsibilities, he could not have
managed to write around a thousand score units, not to mention the works that have been
misplaced or even lost. He wrote the compositions for dance orchestras, composed jazz
music that he supplemented with distinctive personal characteristics, film music for
documentaries and feature-length films; he edited music for theatre, as well as for puppet
theatre performances and for all kinds of radio broadcasts for adults and for children; he
composed popular songs, chansons, music for orchestras and wind orchestras, music for
solemn celebrations and sporting events, ballets, musicals, choir and chamber music. The
greater part of the most important international acknowledgements he achieved with the
Radio Ljubljana Dance Orchestra. In 15 years of Adamiè’s leadership, the ensemble
promoted Slovenian jazz and Slovenian pop music until they finally transcended national
boundaries and gained recognition throughout Europe. The second important element in
his creative work was the film music that raised him to the top rank of Slovenian and
Yugoslav creativity. Adamiè also composed film music for studios in Europe and in the
United States and more or less by chance, soon after the war, he involved in film and
incidental music. At the time he was not aware that his work for film media would become
the most impressive of his creative achievements. At the beginning of his involvement he
lacked in-depth knowledge about film music, as he was acquainted with the genre only
from the pre-war period during which he played and arranged a number of music sections
from the American films that were trickling into Ljubljana cinemas. However, he took up
the challenge and succeeded. The most outstanding films featuring his original music were
Vesna (1953), Ne obraèaj se, sine (‘Don’t Look Back, Son’, 1956), Ples v de ju (‘Dancing
in the Rain’, 1961), Samorastniki (‘The Self-Sown’, 1963), Kekèeve ukane (‘Kekec’s
Tricks’, 1968), Maškarada (‘Masquerade’, 1971), Valter brani Sarajevo (‘Walter
Defends Sarajevo’, 1973), TV serial Kapelski kresovi (‘Kapela Bonfires’, 1974-1976),
Nasvidenje v naslednji vojni (‘Farewell Until the Next War’, 1980), Boj na po iralniku
(‘Battle (at the Gullet’, 1982), and many others. The score for a documentary Neme
podobe slovenskega filma (‘Silent Pictures from the Slovenian Film History’, 1995) was
the last with his signature, created in the year of his departure.41
He was involved in incidental music for the theatre from at least 1952, when he signed
his first contract with the Celje theatre - this was followed by a series of agreements with
other institutions. He cworked with the Prešeren Theatre Kranj, Theatre Drama Ljubljana,
Ljubljana City Theatre, Koreodrama Theatre, Mladinsko Theatre, Puppet Theatre,
40 NUK, Music collection, B. Adamiè legacy, folders: Pogodbe Hrvaška [Contracts Croatia] and
Korespondenca s tujino [Correspondence with foreign countries].
41 Accessible at: http://www.bojan-adamic.si/glasba/, November 26th, 2012. Compare the article in the
present publication: Mitja Reichenberg, “Bojan Adamiè in filmska glasba”.
16
