Page 16 - 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. 16
O VREMŠAK (1930–2004)
first choral pieces are rather moderate in style and predominantly tonal, the years added
harmonic sharpness to the musical sentence of his later works. He would dramatize the
musical sentence in accordance with the context of the poem and intensify the expression,
even entirely omitting tonalities and metric stipulations. The latter is evident in his
compositions for all types of ensembles, including youth and children’s choirs, which he
treated with great sensitivity. He composed the majority of his works for them based upon
the texts of modern poets, such as Ne a Maurer and Danilo Gorišek. As a rule, Vremšak
respected the natural ambitus of children’s voices. Being fond of folk customs, rites and
songs, he also produced several adaptations and their number is comparable to that of his
original pieces. He was very exact in citing the origin of every song, as well as the name of
the respective recorder. He had a special affinity for certain Slovenian regions; hence he
enjoyed a special bond with the choirs from Austrian Carinthia. In his long cooperation
with the renowned conductor of the mixed choir “Ro ”, Lajko Milisavljeviè (1943–2002),
he wrote several adaptations of songs that originated from the rich cultural heritage of
Slovenian Carinthia; one of them was the cycle of seven compositions entitled Ziljska
ohcet. The other more prominent and often performed among Vremšak’s adaptations of
folk songs were Zeleni Jurij, Voznica, Sonce gre za gorou, Še ro ’ce so alovale Ko bi Zilo
noj Dravco, Kranjèièev Jurij, Bom pa zlezu na èešnjo, enka mi v goste gre and many
others.46 The adaptations were often written for diverse ensembles.
Samo Vremšak was productive almost until his last breath. He received a number of
significant awards and acknowledgments for his work, such as the Yugoslav Radio
Television award in 1974 for the choral composition Pesem hrepenenja. In 2002 he
received the Kozina award for his compositional oeuvre by the Society of Slovenian
Composers, while in 2004 he was granted honorary citizenship of Kamnik municipality.
He died and is buried in his home town.
46 Samo Vremšak carefully managed his archive in which the important sources of information on the
performances of his works are kept.
16
first choral pieces are rather moderate in style and predominantly tonal, the years added
harmonic sharpness to the musical sentence of his later works. He would dramatize the
musical sentence in accordance with the context of the poem and intensify the expression,
even entirely omitting tonalities and metric stipulations. The latter is evident in his
compositions for all types of ensembles, including youth and children’s choirs, which he
treated with great sensitivity. He composed the majority of his works for them based upon
the texts of modern poets, such as Ne a Maurer and Danilo Gorišek. As a rule, Vremšak
respected the natural ambitus of children’s voices. Being fond of folk customs, rites and
songs, he also produced several adaptations and their number is comparable to that of his
original pieces. He was very exact in citing the origin of every song, as well as the name of
the respective recorder. He had a special affinity for certain Slovenian regions; hence he
enjoyed a special bond with the choirs from Austrian Carinthia. In his long cooperation
with the renowned conductor of the mixed choir “Ro ”, Lajko Milisavljeviè (1943–2002),
he wrote several adaptations of songs that originated from the rich cultural heritage of
Slovenian Carinthia; one of them was the cycle of seven compositions entitled Ziljska
ohcet. The other more prominent and often performed among Vremšak’s adaptations of
folk songs were Zeleni Jurij, Voznica, Sonce gre za gorou, Še ro ’ce so alovale Ko bi Zilo
noj Dravco, Kranjèièev Jurij, Bom pa zlezu na èešnjo, enka mi v goste gre and many
others.46 The adaptations were often written for diverse ensembles.
Samo Vremšak was productive almost until his last breath. He received a number of
significant awards and acknowledgments for his work, such as the Yugoslav Radio
Television award in 1974 for the choral composition Pesem hrepenenja. In 2002 he
received the Kozina award for his compositional oeuvre by the Society of Slovenian
Composers, while in 2004 he was granted honorary citizenship of Kamnik municipality.
He died and is buried in his home town.
46 Samo Vremšak carefully managed his archive in which the important sources of information on the
performances of his works are kept.
16
