Page 16 - Glasbenopedagoški zbornik Akademije za glasbo v Ljubljani / The Journal of Music Education of the Academy of Music in Ljubljana: Jakob Jež (1928-) Tokovi sodobne zborovske glasbe, leto 14, zvezek 29 / Year 14, Issue 29, 2018
P. 16
SBENOPEDAGOŠKI ZBORNIK, 29. zvezek
Summary
Early in his life, Jakob Je started playing the melodeon and the piano accordion, and since
his secondary school years, the piano, which completely overwhelmed him. Even though
his education was marked by the World War II, he successfully enrolled into the
Secondary Music School in Ljubljana in 1947, and afterwards into the Academy of Music.
He studied composition with pianist and composer Marijan Lipovšek but dropped out due
to personal reasons after only a year. He graduated from the Department of History of
Music in 1954. He was convinced that music theory was something that could be learnt,
while composing was a thing of experience and personal cognition. As part of his training,
he read music of numerous masters as he believed this to be the best school for a young
composer, pointing out that only the deep understanding of the principles of composing
enabled him to compose freely and originally. After studying choral works of Slovenian
expressionist Marij Kogoj (1892-1956), he focused more intensely on vocal music,
dedicating it a great part of his oeuvre. He had started composing seriously even before the
modernism was established in Slovenia and actively joined the circles after 1960, where
he was influenced by new compositional trends. His first works were composed within the
framework of “classical neo-expressionism”. He first displayed a more daring style and
more complex compositional structures in art songs, in which he started researching new
sound possibilities and intertwining the power of words and music that would later be used
in other forms as well. In the avant-garde circle Pro Musica Viva (1962-1967), he became
familiar with dodecaphonic and serial composition and later with aleatoric music until he
has finally developed his own original style, in which he joins several art forms. In his
diverse body of work, he looks for new sounds, listens to the nature and draws from
Slovenian folklore and the history of literature, which allows him a unique freedom of
expression. He composes for soloists, vocal-instrumental ensembles, chamber groups and
orchestras and has a profound relationship towards children’s, youth and adult amateur
choirs. As the editor of musical magazines (Grlica and Naši Zbori), he has had an impact
on generations of Slovenian composers and choir directors and has encouraged
contemporariness in the repertoire of choirs. Moreover, he has asserted his all-round
authority to improve the position of choral music in general education programmes. The
performers of his music are unanimous in considering him the master of the symbiosis of
musical, textual, dance, art and spiritual elements.
16
Summary
Early in his life, Jakob Je started playing the melodeon and the piano accordion, and since
his secondary school years, the piano, which completely overwhelmed him. Even though
his education was marked by the World War II, he successfully enrolled into the
Secondary Music School in Ljubljana in 1947, and afterwards into the Academy of Music.
He studied composition with pianist and composer Marijan Lipovšek but dropped out due
to personal reasons after only a year. He graduated from the Department of History of
Music in 1954. He was convinced that music theory was something that could be learnt,
while composing was a thing of experience and personal cognition. As part of his training,
he read music of numerous masters as he believed this to be the best school for a young
composer, pointing out that only the deep understanding of the principles of composing
enabled him to compose freely and originally. After studying choral works of Slovenian
expressionist Marij Kogoj (1892-1956), he focused more intensely on vocal music,
dedicating it a great part of his oeuvre. He had started composing seriously even before the
modernism was established in Slovenia and actively joined the circles after 1960, where
he was influenced by new compositional trends. His first works were composed within the
framework of “classical neo-expressionism”. He first displayed a more daring style and
more complex compositional structures in art songs, in which he started researching new
sound possibilities and intertwining the power of words and music that would later be used
in other forms as well. In the avant-garde circle Pro Musica Viva (1962-1967), he became
familiar with dodecaphonic and serial composition and later with aleatoric music until he
has finally developed his own original style, in which he joins several art forms. In his
diverse body of work, he looks for new sounds, listens to the nature and draws from
Slovenian folklore and the history of literature, which allows him a unique freedom of
expression. He composes for soloists, vocal-instrumental ensembles, chamber groups and
orchestras and has a profound relationship towards children’s, youth and adult amateur
choirs. As the editor of musical magazines (Grlica and Naši Zbori), he has had an impact
on generations of Slovenian composers and choir directors and has encouraged
contemporariness in the repertoire of choirs. Moreover, he has asserted his all-round
authority to improve the position of choral music in general education programmes. The
performers of his music are unanimous in considering him the master of the symbiosis of
musical, textual, dance, art and spiritual elements.
16
