Page 341 - 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. 341
the role and contribution of immigrant musicians to the music societies ...
his six-year stay Benesch performed in over 40 concerts as a soloist and
chamber musician, and in more than 90 concerts as an orchestral director.
In addition to his work as a private teacher and concert performer (solo-
ist) in Ljubljana, Benesch was a violin teacher at the Society’s music school
from 1826, musical and orchestral director of the Philharmonic Society and
occasionally of the Estates Theatre Orchestra.12
It was common that musical and orchestral directors of the Philhar-
monic Society also worked at the Estates Theatre, where they earned ex-
tra money. At the time the distinction between the Kapellmeister and or-
chestral director was very loose, therefore Benesch and Maschek shared the
work and credit. Together with his wife Amalie Maschek (née Horný; 1792–
1836),13 Maschek organized the 1826/1827 theatre season on his own, since
the Estates Theatre had been dissolved for lack of funds. However, this ven-
ture also burdened Maschek with debts, and the very next season the thea-
tre group was disbanded.
The 1830s was one of the most difficult periods for the Philharmonic
Society, both in terms of the number of performers and the visibility of its
work. Both local and foreign artists performed at the concerts. Among the
ria Treu, Taufbuch 1803–1809, sig. 01-008, fol. 102; Ferdinand Luib, “Biographische
Skizzen hier lebender Kompositeure, Virtuosen und musikalischen Schriftsteller Jo-
seph Benesch,” Wiener allgemeine Musik-Zeitung 58, no. 8 (13 May 1848): 229–30;
Wien / Niederösterreich (Osten), Rk. Erzdiözese Wien, Wiener Neustadt-Hauptp-
farre, Trauungsbuch 1815–1843, sig. 02-13, fol. 108; Wien / Niederösterreich (Osten),
Rk. Erzdiözese Wien, Wieden, Sterbebuch 1870–1872, sig. 03-21, fol. 14; Zupančič,
“Joseph Benesch (1795–1873),” 26, 34–5, 50.
12 Ibid., 11–76.
13 Amalie Maschek was born Maria Amalia Victoria Horný on 19 January 1792 in Val-
tice, the daughter of Franz Heinrich Horný and Antonia Petrowa. It seems that she
made her debut at the Leopoldstadt Theatre in Vienna around 1812 and remained
there until 1815. She then appeared at the theatre in Klagenfurt (1816–1818), and in
1819 she moved from Bratislava to Graz to become an opera singer at the Estates The-
atre. There she met Caspar Maschek, whom she married on 6 May 1820. After mov-
ing to Ljubljana she performed as an opera singer at the Estates Theatre and was also
active as a teacher and performer on the stage of the Philharmonic Society. She died
of tuberculosis in Ljubljana on 20 April 1836, at the age of 44. See: Brno, Moravský
zemský arhiv, Taufbuch 1784–1804, sig. Valtice 3484, fol. 90; Erzdiözese Wien, Vien-
na, Graz-Dom, Trauungsbuch 1815–1833, sig. 1062, fol. 306; Nadškofijski arhiv Lju-
bljana, Ljubljana, Sv. Nikolaj, Sterbebuch 1836–1866, sig. 01215, fol. 2; Maruša Zu-
pančič, “The Musical Network of the Ljubljana Philharmonic Society,” in Musical
Networking in the ‘Long 19th Century’, ed. Vjera Katalinić (Zagreb: Croatian Musico-
logical Society–Croatian Academy of Sciences and Arts, 2023), forthcoming.
339
his six-year stay Benesch performed in over 40 concerts as a soloist and
chamber musician, and in more than 90 concerts as an orchestral director.
In addition to his work as a private teacher and concert performer (solo-
ist) in Ljubljana, Benesch was a violin teacher at the Society’s music school
from 1826, musical and orchestral director of the Philharmonic Society and
occasionally of the Estates Theatre Orchestra.12
It was common that musical and orchestral directors of the Philhar-
monic Society also worked at the Estates Theatre, where they earned ex-
tra money. At the time the distinction between the Kapellmeister and or-
chestral director was very loose, therefore Benesch and Maschek shared the
work and credit. Together with his wife Amalie Maschek (née Horný; 1792–
1836),13 Maschek organized the 1826/1827 theatre season on his own, since
the Estates Theatre had been dissolved for lack of funds. However, this ven-
ture also burdened Maschek with debts, and the very next season the thea-
tre group was disbanded.
The 1830s was one of the most difficult periods for the Philharmonic
Society, both in terms of the number of performers and the visibility of its
work. Both local and foreign artists performed at the concerts. Among the
ria Treu, Taufbuch 1803–1809, sig. 01-008, fol. 102; Ferdinand Luib, “Biographische
Skizzen hier lebender Kompositeure, Virtuosen und musikalischen Schriftsteller Jo-
seph Benesch,” Wiener allgemeine Musik-Zeitung 58, no. 8 (13 May 1848): 229–30;
Wien / Niederösterreich (Osten), Rk. Erzdiözese Wien, Wiener Neustadt-Hauptp-
farre, Trauungsbuch 1815–1843, sig. 02-13, fol. 108; Wien / Niederösterreich (Osten),
Rk. Erzdiözese Wien, Wieden, Sterbebuch 1870–1872, sig. 03-21, fol. 14; Zupančič,
“Joseph Benesch (1795–1873),” 26, 34–5, 50.
12 Ibid., 11–76.
13 Amalie Maschek was born Maria Amalia Victoria Horný on 19 January 1792 in Val-
tice, the daughter of Franz Heinrich Horný and Antonia Petrowa. It seems that she
made her debut at the Leopoldstadt Theatre in Vienna around 1812 and remained
there until 1815. She then appeared at the theatre in Klagenfurt (1816–1818), and in
1819 she moved from Bratislava to Graz to become an opera singer at the Estates The-
atre. There she met Caspar Maschek, whom she married on 6 May 1820. After mov-
ing to Ljubljana she performed as an opera singer at the Estates Theatre and was also
active as a teacher and performer on the stage of the Philharmonic Society. She died
of tuberculosis in Ljubljana on 20 April 1836, at the age of 44. See: Brno, Moravský
zemský arhiv, Taufbuch 1784–1804, sig. Valtice 3484, fol. 90; Erzdiözese Wien, Vien-
na, Graz-Dom, Trauungsbuch 1815–1833, sig. 1062, fol. 306; Nadškofijski arhiv Lju-
bljana, Ljubljana, Sv. Nikolaj, Sterbebuch 1836–1866, sig. 01215, fol. 2; Maruša Zu-
pančič, “The Musical Network of the Ljubljana Philharmonic Society,” in Musical
Networking in the ‘Long 19th Century’, ed. Vjera Katalinić (Zagreb: Croatian Musico-
logical Society–Croatian Academy of Sciences and Arts, 2023), forthcoming.
339
