Page 12 - Glasbenopedagoški zbornik Akademije za glasbo v Ljubljani / The Journal of Music Education of the Academy of Music in Ljubljana, leto 10, zvezek 21 / Year 10, Issue 21, 2014
P. 12
O VREMŠAK (1930–2004)
this sphere as well, Samo Vremšak proved himself to be an excellent artistic director.26
Being a baritone soloist, a performer with excellent technical expertise and an outstanding
musical ear, he performed a majority part of the standard repertoire, appeared in cantatas
and oratorios and in independent recitals. His performance achievements received
excellent reviews, wherein, among other things, his technical impeccability, excellent
diction and musical perfection were especially highly praised.27 His operatic success grew
gradually throughout the decades, reaching a peak in the mid-1990s, when he was entering
the autumn of his life. The traditional values expressed in his compositional works were
also expressed in the conventional choices he made in his artistic solo and chamber
programme. In general, (most) contemporary European works were ignored in his
repertoire; however, he frequently performed solo-songs written by his Slovenian
contemporaries and colleagues.28 In addition, he seldom appeared as an opera concert
performer, with the exception of his contribution to the following project, which enjoyed
enormous public success: the performance of the operatic concert Boris Godunov by
Modest Musorgski, with an international cast in Vienna, conducted by Lovro Mataèiæ.29
One of his first and most notable piano accompanists was Jakob Je , while the most
renowned among them was Leon Engelman, known as a sensitive and successful chamber
musician. The duo Vremšak-Engelman recorded a number of solo-songs for the Radio
Ljubljana Archive; they were the first in Slovenia to perform the entire vocal cycle of
Swan Song by Franz Schubert. In 1990 they accomplished another remarkable
achievement by performing no less than 48 anthological compositions of Slovenian
solo-songs in three consecutive evenings in Kamnik. It was an amazing project, still
worthy of respect today. As a soloist, Vremšak appeared in the more important cantata
projects of the Slovenian Philharmonic and of the Consortium Musicum choir, as well as
in festivals such as Slovenski glasbeni dnevi (Slovenian Music Days), Revolucija in
glasba (Revolution and Music), Kogojevi dnevi (Kogoj’s days) and in concerts organised
by the Društvo slovenskih skladateljev (Society of Slovene Composers), and so on.30 A
number of his singing achievements were released in the Musica Slovenica collection. He
often cooperated with the organist Hubert Bergant, who was his friend and also from
Kamnik, and his colleague at the Academy of Music. Together they performed numerous
works from domestic and foreign repertoires, even organising thematic concerts, which
they adapted to the individual concert events. As for their performances of spiritual and
sacral music, they represented a special tandem. They also performed some of Vremšak’s
own compositions.31
Samo Vremšak often emphasized that he was more attracted to composing than any
other music-related activity. He had been active as a composer since his youth, and left
behind hundreds of original compositions and arrangements, featuring elements of the
Late Romantic, Neo-Baroque, Neo-Classical and Expressionist periods – a reflection of
26 Accessible at http://castni.nakamniskem.si/vremsak/glasbenik.php (last visited Dec. 12. 2014).
Documentation with printed concert programmes of the ensemble is accessible in Samo Vremšak’s
personal archive.
27 Cp.Vremšak’s personal archive, folder with printed concert programmes and reviews. Kept by Vremšak
family in Kamnik. I would like to express my sincere gratitude to Vremšak family for permission to
inspect Samo Vremšak’s legacy.
28 Ibid.
29 Leon Engelman, »Ob 70-letnici Sama Vremšaka«, Kamniški zbornik XV (2000), p. 28.
30 Vremšak’s personal archive, folder with printed concert programmes.
31 Ibid.
12
this sphere as well, Samo Vremšak proved himself to be an excellent artistic director.26
Being a baritone soloist, a performer with excellent technical expertise and an outstanding
musical ear, he performed a majority part of the standard repertoire, appeared in cantatas
and oratorios and in independent recitals. His performance achievements received
excellent reviews, wherein, among other things, his technical impeccability, excellent
diction and musical perfection were especially highly praised.27 His operatic success grew
gradually throughout the decades, reaching a peak in the mid-1990s, when he was entering
the autumn of his life. The traditional values expressed in his compositional works were
also expressed in the conventional choices he made in his artistic solo and chamber
programme. In general, (most) contemporary European works were ignored in his
repertoire; however, he frequently performed solo-songs written by his Slovenian
contemporaries and colleagues.28 In addition, he seldom appeared as an opera concert
performer, with the exception of his contribution to the following project, which enjoyed
enormous public success: the performance of the operatic concert Boris Godunov by
Modest Musorgski, with an international cast in Vienna, conducted by Lovro Mataèiæ.29
One of his first and most notable piano accompanists was Jakob Je , while the most
renowned among them was Leon Engelman, known as a sensitive and successful chamber
musician. The duo Vremšak-Engelman recorded a number of solo-songs for the Radio
Ljubljana Archive; they were the first in Slovenia to perform the entire vocal cycle of
Swan Song by Franz Schubert. In 1990 they accomplished another remarkable
achievement by performing no less than 48 anthological compositions of Slovenian
solo-songs in three consecutive evenings in Kamnik. It was an amazing project, still
worthy of respect today. As a soloist, Vremšak appeared in the more important cantata
projects of the Slovenian Philharmonic and of the Consortium Musicum choir, as well as
in festivals such as Slovenski glasbeni dnevi (Slovenian Music Days), Revolucija in
glasba (Revolution and Music), Kogojevi dnevi (Kogoj’s days) and in concerts organised
by the Društvo slovenskih skladateljev (Society of Slovene Composers), and so on.30 A
number of his singing achievements were released in the Musica Slovenica collection. He
often cooperated with the organist Hubert Bergant, who was his friend and also from
Kamnik, and his colleague at the Academy of Music. Together they performed numerous
works from domestic and foreign repertoires, even organising thematic concerts, which
they adapted to the individual concert events. As for their performances of spiritual and
sacral music, they represented a special tandem. They also performed some of Vremšak’s
own compositions.31
Samo Vremšak often emphasized that he was more attracted to composing than any
other music-related activity. He had been active as a composer since his youth, and left
behind hundreds of original compositions and arrangements, featuring elements of the
Late Romantic, Neo-Baroque, Neo-Classical and Expressionist periods – a reflection of
26 Accessible at http://castni.nakamniskem.si/vremsak/glasbenik.php (last visited Dec. 12. 2014).
Documentation with printed concert programmes of the ensemble is accessible in Samo Vremšak’s
personal archive.
27 Cp.Vremšak’s personal archive, folder with printed concert programmes and reviews. Kept by Vremšak
family in Kamnik. I would like to express my sincere gratitude to Vremšak family for permission to
inspect Samo Vremšak’s legacy.
28 Ibid.
29 Leon Engelman, »Ob 70-letnici Sama Vremšaka«, Kamniški zbornik XV (2000), p. 28.
30 Vremšak’s personal archive, folder with printed concert programmes.
31 Ibid.
12
