Page 236 - Weiss, Jernej, ur./ed. 2023. Glasbena društva v dolgem 19. stoletju: med ljubiteljsko in profesionalno kulturo ▪︎ Music societies in the long 19th century: Between amateur and professional culture. Koper/Ljubljana: Založba Univerze na Primorskem in Festival Ljubljana. Studia musicologica Labacensia, 6
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glasbena društva v dolgem 19. stoletju: med ljubiteljsko in profesionalno kulturo
then. After some deliberation among the members of the founding institu-
tions, Ljubljanska društvena godba (Laibacher Vereinkapelle) and Glasbe-
na matica, both organised as an association respectively, the name of Slo-
venian Philharmonic in Ljubljana was chosen at a general assembly of the
Ljubljanska društvena godba on October 23, 1908, where the orchestra was
reconfigured and officially thus renamed.52 To the prehistory and the cir-
cumstances surrounding the founding of the first Slovenian Philharmon-
ic in Ljubljana as well to its short but important life in terms of its struc-
ture, program, concert life, management and its talented and committed
conductor Vaclav Talich, several generations of researches dedicated their
works. The same is true of the crucial role of Glasbena matica in bringing
about the first civil symphonic orchestra in Ljubljana and of the tensions
and lack of cooperation on this issue with Philharmonic Society in the dec-
ades before World War I.53
I would like to contribute to the existing literature in two ways. First,
by offering a somewhat different reading of the sources on the envisaged
potential merger of the two associations from the so-called ‘Archives of the
First Slovenian Philharmonic’, kept in the National and University Library
in Ljubljana, and on which every other researcher together with articles
from a daily press so far has relied upon. Namely, the third quote at the be-
ginning of my contribution was taken from the minutes of the session of
the Main committee of the Glasbena matica on September 4, 1908 where
the organisational form of the orchestra was again discussed, and where
the idea of a merger between the two associations was finally abandoned.54
How much weight per se the advice by a prominent jurist and writer Fran
Milčinski, that the link between the two associations should be as loose
as possible, so that the Glasbena matica can detach from Društvena god-
ba in any given time, in the face of financial arguments actually carried,
may not be of much interest. However, wherefrom Milčinski, in his capac-
52 On the founding assembly of the reconfigured orchestra, i. e. first ‘Slovenian Phil-
harmonic in Ljubljana’ on October 23, 1908, and on the diachronic and synchronic
historical context and life of the orchestra reconstructed largely upon the newspaper
reports and concert programs, see the monography by Primož Kuret, 100 let Sloven
ske filharmonije (1908–2008) (Ljubljana: Slovenska filharmonija, 2008), 24–5. Cf. Na-
taša Cigoj Krstulović, Zgodovina, spomin, dediščina. Ljubljanska Glasbena matica
do konca druge svetovne vojne (Ljubljana: Založba ZRC, ZRC SAZU, 2015), 115.
53 Cigoj Krstulović, Zgodovina, spomin, dediščina. 115.
54 On the importance of the session from April 16, 1908, where the merger had already
been negotiated between the members of the Committees of the respective Associa-
tions, cf. Cigoj Krstulović, Zgodovina, spomin, dediščina, 116, f. 207.
234
then. After some deliberation among the members of the founding institu-
tions, Ljubljanska društvena godba (Laibacher Vereinkapelle) and Glasbe-
na matica, both organised as an association respectively, the name of Slo-
venian Philharmonic in Ljubljana was chosen at a general assembly of the
Ljubljanska društvena godba on October 23, 1908, where the orchestra was
reconfigured and officially thus renamed.52 To the prehistory and the cir-
cumstances surrounding the founding of the first Slovenian Philharmon-
ic in Ljubljana as well to its short but important life in terms of its struc-
ture, program, concert life, management and its talented and committed
conductor Vaclav Talich, several generations of researches dedicated their
works. The same is true of the crucial role of Glasbena matica in bringing
about the first civil symphonic orchestra in Ljubljana and of the tensions
and lack of cooperation on this issue with Philharmonic Society in the dec-
ades before World War I.53
I would like to contribute to the existing literature in two ways. First,
by offering a somewhat different reading of the sources on the envisaged
potential merger of the two associations from the so-called ‘Archives of the
First Slovenian Philharmonic’, kept in the National and University Library
in Ljubljana, and on which every other researcher together with articles
from a daily press so far has relied upon. Namely, the third quote at the be-
ginning of my contribution was taken from the minutes of the session of
the Main committee of the Glasbena matica on September 4, 1908 where
the organisational form of the orchestra was again discussed, and where
the idea of a merger between the two associations was finally abandoned.54
How much weight per se the advice by a prominent jurist and writer Fran
Milčinski, that the link between the two associations should be as loose
as possible, so that the Glasbena matica can detach from Društvena god-
ba in any given time, in the face of financial arguments actually carried,
may not be of much interest. However, wherefrom Milčinski, in his capac-
52 On the founding assembly of the reconfigured orchestra, i. e. first ‘Slovenian Phil-
harmonic in Ljubljana’ on October 23, 1908, and on the diachronic and synchronic
historical context and life of the orchestra reconstructed largely upon the newspaper
reports and concert programs, see the monography by Primož Kuret, 100 let Sloven
ske filharmonije (1908–2008) (Ljubljana: Slovenska filharmonija, 2008), 24–5. Cf. Na-
taša Cigoj Krstulović, Zgodovina, spomin, dediščina. Ljubljanska Glasbena matica
do konca druge svetovne vojne (Ljubljana: Založba ZRC, ZRC SAZU, 2015), 115.
53 Cigoj Krstulović, Zgodovina, spomin, dediščina. 115.
54 On the importance of the session from April 16, 1908, where the merger had already
been negotiated between the members of the Committees of the respective Associa-
tions, cf. Cigoj Krstulović, Zgodovina, spomin, dediščina, 116, f. 207.
234
