Page 348 - 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. 348
glasbena društva v dolgem 19. stoletju: med ljubiteljsko in profesionalno kulturo
the Czech composers Anton Nedvěd and Anton Foerster. The concerts were
also joined by various military bands led by immigrant bandmasters such
as Georg Schantl, Johann Schinzl, Johann Nemrawa, Georg Mayer, Georg
Stiaral, and Franz Czansky. In 1889, the Prague violinist Vitězslav Roman
Moser (1864–1939) founded a string quartet and, together with Julius Ohm
Januschovsky, played several virtuoso violin pieces at the Reading Socie-
ty recitals. Occasionally violinists, Music Society teachers, and members of
the theatre orchestras also performed at the concerts.36
The Slovenian Music Society (Ljubljanska Glasbena matica)
From its foundation in 1872 until the end of the First World War, the Slo-
venian Music Society (Glasbena matica) in Ljubljana was not only a musi-
cal centre, but also a cultural and national one.37 It brought together ama-
teur and professional musicians, the Slovenian educated elite, politicians,
and cultural figures. The idea and initiative to establish the Music Society
came from enthusiastic patriots Blaž Kuhar and Vojteh Valenta. However,
the application to establish the society was formally submitted by the mu-
sic director of the Philharmonic Society, Anton Nedvěd, and the members
of the founding committee. The initial impetus for the Music Society ac-
tivities came from professional musicians, the Czechs Anton Nedvěd and
Anton Foerster (1837–1926) and, from 1886, especially from the Slovenian
Fran Gerbič (1840–1917), who worked to promote professionalism in music
and overcome dilettantism until the end of his life. From 1891 Matej Hubad
(1866–1937) directed the Music Society with his initiative and diligence, be-
coming its active leader and driving force for decades.38
The Music Society’s main task was to establish a music school where
lessons would be taught in Slovenian. In addition to this national goal, the
reason for founding the music school was also the desire to provide am-
ateur and especially professional musicians with an adequate music ed-
ucation, which is why the founding of a music conservatory was already
36 The data were compiled from the list of recitals compiled from the annual reports of
the Reading Society of Ljubljana and newspaper reports.
37 More about Glasbena matica see: Nataša Cigoj Krstulović, Zgodovina, spomin, ded
iščina: Ljubljanska Glasbena matica do konca druge svetovne vojne (Ljubljana: Založ-
ba ZRC, 2015).
38 Nataša Cigoj Krstulović, “Ljubljanska Glasbena matica,” in Zgodovina glasbe na
Slovenskem III, ed. Aleš Nagode and Nataša Cigoj Krstulović (Ljubljana: Znan-
stvena založba Filozofske fakultete and Založba ZRC, 2021), 25, https://doi.
org/10.4312/9789610605270.
346
the Czech composers Anton Nedvěd and Anton Foerster. The concerts were
also joined by various military bands led by immigrant bandmasters such
as Georg Schantl, Johann Schinzl, Johann Nemrawa, Georg Mayer, Georg
Stiaral, and Franz Czansky. In 1889, the Prague violinist Vitězslav Roman
Moser (1864–1939) founded a string quartet and, together with Julius Ohm
Januschovsky, played several virtuoso violin pieces at the Reading Socie-
ty recitals. Occasionally violinists, Music Society teachers, and members of
the theatre orchestras also performed at the concerts.36
The Slovenian Music Society (Ljubljanska Glasbena matica)
From its foundation in 1872 until the end of the First World War, the Slo-
venian Music Society (Glasbena matica) in Ljubljana was not only a musi-
cal centre, but also a cultural and national one.37 It brought together ama-
teur and professional musicians, the Slovenian educated elite, politicians,
and cultural figures. The idea and initiative to establish the Music Society
came from enthusiastic patriots Blaž Kuhar and Vojteh Valenta. However,
the application to establish the society was formally submitted by the mu-
sic director of the Philharmonic Society, Anton Nedvěd, and the members
of the founding committee. The initial impetus for the Music Society ac-
tivities came from professional musicians, the Czechs Anton Nedvěd and
Anton Foerster (1837–1926) and, from 1886, especially from the Slovenian
Fran Gerbič (1840–1917), who worked to promote professionalism in music
and overcome dilettantism until the end of his life. From 1891 Matej Hubad
(1866–1937) directed the Music Society with his initiative and diligence, be-
coming its active leader and driving force for decades.38
The Music Society’s main task was to establish a music school where
lessons would be taught in Slovenian. In addition to this national goal, the
reason for founding the music school was also the desire to provide am-
ateur and especially professional musicians with an adequate music ed-
ucation, which is why the founding of a music conservatory was already
36 The data were compiled from the list of recitals compiled from the annual reports of
the Reading Society of Ljubljana and newspaper reports.
37 More about Glasbena matica see: Nataša Cigoj Krstulović, Zgodovina, spomin, ded
iščina: Ljubljanska Glasbena matica do konca druge svetovne vojne (Ljubljana: Založ-
ba ZRC, 2015).
38 Nataša Cigoj Krstulović, “Ljubljanska Glasbena matica,” in Zgodovina glasbe na
Slovenskem III, ed. Aleš Nagode and Nataša Cigoj Krstulović (Ljubljana: Znan-
stvena založba Filozofske fakultete and Založba ZRC, 2021), 25, https://doi.
org/10.4312/9789610605270.
346
