Page 238 - 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
P. 238
glasbena društva v dolgem 19. stoletju: med ljubiteljsko in profesionalno kulturo
firmed. Certainly, the fact that the association of the First Slovenian Phil-
harmonic was not officially dissolved in 1913, but as late as in 1922, may be
more of an interest to a legal historian than to a historian of music. The doc-
ument refers to Vladimir Ravnihar, a formidable lawyer, a member of Slo-
venian intellectual elite and as such also a member of the first Slovenian
Government in Ljubljana in the scope of a transitory State of Slovenians,
Croats and Serbs in November 1918, directly involved in what they them-
selves termed as prevrat (revolution). Serving on the government, Ravnihar
was in charge of conceptualising and carrying out the process of slovenisa-
tion57 of judicial and teaching staff in the newly founded political entity, his
actions very much mirroring the parallel germanisation of all the public of-
fices58 in what until the prohibition by the victorious alliance at the peace
conference later in Paris was officially called German Austria. However, the
document in question refers to Ravnihar in his capacity as the president of
the association of (first) Slovenian Philharmonic. It is worth pointing out
that Ravnihar has served as president of both Slovenian Philharmonic pre-
decessors, Ljubljanska društvena godba and Ljubljanska meščanska godba,
as well. In fact, from the first Statutes of the latter in 1901 onwards, many of
the documents seem to be written in his own hand. As a committed mem-
ber of Glasbena matica, Ravnihar would later become its president, too. In
the following decades he was indispensable for its thoughtful management,
and after 1945, for its ardent defence, with however meagre results in face
of the new Slovenian political elite and its political goals and preferences.59
The dissolution of the association of Slovenian Philharmonic in 1922
was a part of a vast sweep carried out by the officials in the new adminis-
tration. Their task60 was to gather the reliable data on which associations
from every spectre of the social life from pre-1914 period were still active
57 Contrary to a very recent view, expressed in the musicological literature, this can-
not by no accounts be termed “ethnic cleansing”. Cf. Aleš Nagode in his introduction
to Aleš Nagode, Nataša Cigoj Krstulović, eds., Zgodovina glasbe na Slovenskem III.
Glasba na Slovenskem med letoma 1800 in 1918 (Ljubljana: Znanstvena založba FF in
Založba ZRC, 2021), xvii. On president of Okrajno sodišče (Bezriksgericht) in Ljublja-
na, forbidding greetings in Slovenian upon entering the court building not long be-
fore the end of the war, cf. Vladimir Ravnihar, “Kako je bilo?” Slovenski pravnik 54,
no. 11–12 (1 December 1940): 368. Cf. also the next footnote.
58 Vladimir Ravnihar, Mojega življenja pot. Spomini dr. Vladimirja Ravniharja (Lju-
bljana: Oddelek za zgodovino FFUL, 1997), 134–8.
59 Cigoj Krstulović, Zgodovina, 268–72.
60 Judging from the official correspondence found among the archival material, there
among high officials, this time in Ljubljana, in charge of this task, was Rudolf An-
drejka. Cf. the last of the initial quotations.
236
firmed. Certainly, the fact that the association of the First Slovenian Phil-
harmonic was not officially dissolved in 1913, but as late as in 1922, may be
more of an interest to a legal historian than to a historian of music. The doc-
ument refers to Vladimir Ravnihar, a formidable lawyer, a member of Slo-
venian intellectual elite and as such also a member of the first Slovenian
Government in Ljubljana in the scope of a transitory State of Slovenians,
Croats and Serbs in November 1918, directly involved in what they them-
selves termed as prevrat (revolution). Serving on the government, Ravnihar
was in charge of conceptualising and carrying out the process of slovenisa-
tion57 of judicial and teaching staff in the newly founded political entity, his
actions very much mirroring the parallel germanisation of all the public of-
fices58 in what until the prohibition by the victorious alliance at the peace
conference later in Paris was officially called German Austria. However, the
document in question refers to Ravnihar in his capacity as the president of
the association of (first) Slovenian Philharmonic. It is worth pointing out
that Ravnihar has served as president of both Slovenian Philharmonic pre-
decessors, Ljubljanska društvena godba and Ljubljanska meščanska godba,
as well. In fact, from the first Statutes of the latter in 1901 onwards, many of
the documents seem to be written in his own hand. As a committed mem-
ber of Glasbena matica, Ravnihar would later become its president, too. In
the following decades he was indispensable for its thoughtful management,
and after 1945, for its ardent defence, with however meagre results in face
of the new Slovenian political elite and its political goals and preferences.59
The dissolution of the association of Slovenian Philharmonic in 1922
was a part of a vast sweep carried out by the officials in the new adminis-
tration. Their task60 was to gather the reliable data on which associations
from every spectre of the social life from pre-1914 period were still active
57 Contrary to a very recent view, expressed in the musicological literature, this can-
not by no accounts be termed “ethnic cleansing”. Cf. Aleš Nagode in his introduction
to Aleš Nagode, Nataša Cigoj Krstulović, eds., Zgodovina glasbe na Slovenskem III.
Glasba na Slovenskem med letoma 1800 in 1918 (Ljubljana: Znanstvena založba FF in
Založba ZRC, 2021), xvii. On president of Okrajno sodišče (Bezriksgericht) in Ljublja-
na, forbidding greetings in Slovenian upon entering the court building not long be-
fore the end of the war, cf. Vladimir Ravnihar, “Kako je bilo?” Slovenski pravnik 54,
no. 11–12 (1 December 1940): 368. Cf. also the next footnote.
58 Vladimir Ravnihar, Mojega življenja pot. Spomini dr. Vladimirja Ravniharja (Lju-
bljana: Oddelek za zgodovino FFUL, 1997), 134–8.
59 Cigoj Krstulović, Zgodovina, 268–72.
60 Judging from the official correspondence found among the archival material, there
among high officials, this time in Ljubljana, in charge of this task, was Rudolf An-
drejka. Cf. the last of the initial quotations.
236
