Page 343 - 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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the role and contribution of immigrant musicians to the music societies ...
an important contribution to the musical life of Ljubljana in the period be-
fore the middle of the nineteenth century. He was a very capable musician
who studied in Vienna and worked in Milan, and was a bandmaster of the
17th Infantry Regiment in Ljubljana until 1849.
The seminal year of 1848 was also important for the Philharmonic So-
ciety, which reorganized the school and employed the violinist Joseph Leit-
ermeyer and Kapellmeister Alfred Khom (1825–1893).19 Leitermeyer’s deci-
sion to return to Ljubljana after 15 years was influenced by the changed
political situation and the cohesion of social life in Klagenfurt where both
musicians worked at the Estates Theatre. Once again Leitermeyer was from
1847 the orchestral director of the Estates Theatre in Ljubljana and, from
1848, a violin teacher at the Philharmonic Society. His decision to live and
work in the city certainly influenced Khom, who followed him one year
later.
The arrival of the Czech Anton Nedvěd (1828–1896) in Ljubljana in 1856
marked the beginning of a new era for the Philharmonic Society. He worked
for four years as a teacher at the Society’s music school and devoted him-
self mainly to its reproductive and artistic activities. In a short time he re-
vived the work of the male choir and founded a female choir. He performed
successfully as a soloist and impressed audiences with his trained voice.
He established a repertoire of artistically valuable works, and achieved bet-
ter refinement of the singers. As a conductor, he brought the performance
ulation, Ljubljana 1830, 1/52; Eugen Brixel, Gunther Martin, and Gottfried Pils, Das
ist Österreichs Militärmusik (Graz: Verlag Styria, 1982), 329.
19 Alfred Khom was born in Linz and studied at the Vienna Conservatory. He inter-
rupted his studies to become the orchestra conductor (Theaterkapellmeister) at the
theatre in Klagenfurt. At the same time he took over the local Men’s Choral Society
(Männergesangverein). During the Revolutions of 1848, he went to Ljubljana, where
he accepted the position of singing teacher and leader of the Philharmonic Socie-
ty’s men’s choir. In addition, he offered private lessons in piano, singing, physhar-
monica, figured bass, harmony, and composition. He regularly participated as a per-
former and composer in Philharmonic Society concerts. He performed symphonic
and chamber works, choral and sacred compositions, and numerous arrangements
of works by other composers. He was the first person to perform works of J.S. Bach
(in his own arrangements) in Ljubljana. He was also an organist at one of the Lju-
bljana’s churches, and for a considerable time a singing teacher at the Catholic Jour-
neymen’s Association (Katholischer Gesellenverein). In the late 1850s he started work
as an assistant music teacher at the Public Music School. He later supplemented his
music with arrangements of folk tunes. In 1861 he moved to Graz and died in 1893
in Simmering (Vienna). See: Matjaž Barbo, “Alfred Khom in njegovo delovanje v
Ljubljani,” De musica disserenda 18, no. 1/2 (2022): 127–65, https://doi.org/10.3986/
dmd18.1-2.03.
341
an important contribution to the musical life of Ljubljana in the period be-
fore the middle of the nineteenth century. He was a very capable musician
who studied in Vienna and worked in Milan, and was a bandmaster of the
17th Infantry Regiment in Ljubljana until 1849.
The seminal year of 1848 was also important for the Philharmonic So-
ciety, which reorganized the school and employed the violinist Joseph Leit-
ermeyer and Kapellmeister Alfred Khom (1825–1893).19 Leitermeyer’s deci-
sion to return to Ljubljana after 15 years was influenced by the changed
political situation and the cohesion of social life in Klagenfurt where both
musicians worked at the Estates Theatre. Once again Leitermeyer was from
1847 the orchestral director of the Estates Theatre in Ljubljana and, from
1848, a violin teacher at the Philharmonic Society. His decision to live and
work in the city certainly influenced Khom, who followed him one year
later.
The arrival of the Czech Anton Nedvěd (1828–1896) in Ljubljana in 1856
marked the beginning of a new era for the Philharmonic Society. He worked
for four years as a teacher at the Society’s music school and devoted him-
self mainly to its reproductive and artistic activities. In a short time he re-
vived the work of the male choir and founded a female choir. He performed
successfully as a soloist and impressed audiences with his trained voice.
He established a repertoire of artistically valuable works, and achieved bet-
ter refinement of the singers. As a conductor, he brought the performance
ulation, Ljubljana 1830, 1/52; Eugen Brixel, Gunther Martin, and Gottfried Pils, Das
ist Österreichs Militärmusik (Graz: Verlag Styria, 1982), 329.
19 Alfred Khom was born in Linz and studied at the Vienna Conservatory. He inter-
rupted his studies to become the orchestra conductor (Theaterkapellmeister) at the
theatre in Klagenfurt. At the same time he took over the local Men’s Choral Society
(Männergesangverein). During the Revolutions of 1848, he went to Ljubljana, where
he accepted the position of singing teacher and leader of the Philharmonic Socie-
ty’s men’s choir. In addition, he offered private lessons in piano, singing, physhar-
monica, figured bass, harmony, and composition. He regularly participated as a per-
former and composer in Philharmonic Society concerts. He performed symphonic
and chamber works, choral and sacred compositions, and numerous arrangements
of works by other composers. He was the first person to perform works of J.S. Bach
(in his own arrangements) in Ljubljana. He was also an organist at one of the Lju-
bljana’s churches, and for a considerable time a singing teacher at the Catholic Jour-
neymen’s Association (Katholischer Gesellenverein). In the late 1850s he started work
as an assistant music teacher at the Public Music School. He later supplemented his
music with arrangements of folk tunes. In 1861 he moved to Graz and died in 1893
in Simmering (Vienna). See: Matjaž Barbo, “Alfred Khom in njegovo delovanje v
Ljubljani,” De musica disserenda 18, no. 1/2 (2022): 127–65, https://doi.org/10.3986/
dmd18.1-2.03.
341
