Page 338 - 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
The Contribution of Immigrant Musicians to the Musical Life
in Ljubljana
The Philharmonic Society (Philharmonische Gesellschaft)
At the turn of the nineteenth century Ljubljana was a small, provincial
town. The musical life was enlivened not only by the music salons of the lo-
cal aristocracy and bourgeoisie, theatrical performances, and the Philhar-
monic Society academies, but also by the Ljubljana Cathedral music chapel,
which had a vocal-instrumental ensemble that met the requirements of the
traditional sacred music repertoire. The musicians employed by the cathe-
dral music chapel came to Ljubljana mainly from abroad,2 especially from
Italian, Austrian and Czech geographical areas. They usually participated
in various musical events of the town. After the French occupation, how-
ever, financial resources became increasingly scarce and the entire ensem-
ble of the cathedral music chapel was dismissed from service in the ear-
ly 1810s. From there on, the music chapel consisted of only an organist and
four singers.3
The Philharmonic Society (Philharmonische Gesellschaft), founded in
1794,4 took a central musical role in the town. It organized academies, con-
tributed to various musical events, and from the 1820s onwards also strong-
ly promoted music education. Ljubljana was at the time an important and
well-connected crossroads between Vienna and Trieste with regular con-
nections to the major cities of the empire, and therefore the paths of many
travellers, including artists and virtuosos, crossed in the capital of Carnio-
la. More or less famous guest musicians stopped in the town on their way to
2 Among the musicians of the Ljubljana Cathedral music chapel were: Matthäus Bab-
nig (1787–1868), Franz Dussek (1765–after 1816), Pelegrino del Fiume, Anton Höller
(1760–1826), Valentin Lechner (1777–1849), Josef Moriz, Joseph Niklitz, Franz No-
votny, Antonio Ruffatti, Paolo Sandrini (1782–1813), Emerik Schreiber, Leopold Fer-
dinand Schwerdt (1773–1854), Anton Seutschek, Moriz Spring, Josef Wagner, Josef
Went, Karl Wencelaus Wratny.
3 Janez Höfler, “Glasbena kapela Ljubljanske stolnice,” Muzikološki zbornik 17, no. 2
(1981): 7–21.
4 See more about the Philharmonic Society: Primož Kuret, Ljubljanska Filharmonična
družba 1794–1919: kronika ljubljanskega glasbenega življenja v stoletju meščanov in
revolucij (Ljubljana: Nova revija, 2005); Primož Kuret, “Ljubljanska Filharmonična
družba 1794–1919,” in Zgodovina glasbe na Slovenskem III, ed. Aleš Nagode and Na-
taša Cigoj Krstulović (Ljubljana: Znanstvena založba Filozofske fakultete and Založ-
ba ZRC, 2021), 1–24, https://doi.org/10.4312/9789610605270.
336
The Contribution of Immigrant Musicians to the Musical Life
in Ljubljana
The Philharmonic Society (Philharmonische Gesellschaft)
At the turn of the nineteenth century Ljubljana was a small, provincial
town. The musical life was enlivened not only by the music salons of the lo-
cal aristocracy and bourgeoisie, theatrical performances, and the Philhar-
monic Society academies, but also by the Ljubljana Cathedral music chapel,
which had a vocal-instrumental ensemble that met the requirements of the
traditional sacred music repertoire. The musicians employed by the cathe-
dral music chapel came to Ljubljana mainly from abroad,2 especially from
Italian, Austrian and Czech geographical areas. They usually participated
in various musical events of the town. After the French occupation, how-
ever, financial resources became increasingly scarce and the entire ensem-
ble of the cathedral music chapel was dismissed from service in the ear-
ly 1810s. From there on, the music chapel consisted of only an organist and
four singers.3
The Philharmonic Society (Philharmonische Gesellschaft), founded in
1794,4 took a central musical role in the town. It organized academies, con-
tributed to various musical events, and from the 1820s onwards also strong-
ly promoted music education. Ljubljana was at the time an important and
well-connected crossroads between Vienna and Trieste with regular con-
nections to the major cities of the empire, and therefore the paths of many
travellers, including artists and virtuosos, crossed in the capital of Carnio-
la. More or less famous guest musicians stopped in the town on their way to
2 Among the musicians of the Ljubljana Cathedral music chapel were: Matthäus Bab-
nig (1787–1868), Franz Dussek (1765–after 1816), Pelegrino del Fiume, Anton Höller
(1760–1826), Valentin Lechner (1777–1849), Josef Moriz, Joseph Niklitz, Franz No-
votny, Antonio Ruffatti, Paolo Sandrini (1782–1813), Emerik Schreiber, Leopold Fer-
dinand Schwerdt (1773–1854), Anton Seutschek, Moriz Spring, Josef Wagner, Josef
Went, Karl Wencelaus Wratny.
3 Janez Höfler, “Glasbena kapela Ljubljanske stolnice,” Muzikološki zbornik 17, no. 2
(1981): 7–21.
4 See more about the Philharmonic Society: Primož Kuret, Ljubljanska Filharmonična
družba 1794–1919: kronika ljubljanskega glasbenega življenja v stoletju meščanov in
revolucij (Ljubljana: Nova revija, 2005); Primož Kuret, “Ljubljanska Filharmonična
družba 1794–1919,” in Zgodovina glasbe na Slovenskem III, ed. Aleš Nagode and Na-
taša Cigoj Krstulović (Ljubljana: Znanstvena založba Filozofske fakultete and Založ-
ba ZRC, 2021), 1–24, https://doi.org/10.4312/9789610605270.
336
