Page 381 - 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 ...
city administration endeavoured to maintain the brass band and for this
purpose brought additional instrumentalists from elsewhere, who were of-
fered positions as city officials with a satisfactory salary. It played a central
role in the musical life of Ptuj, and performed at all municipal festivities,
such as vocal-instrumental masses in the parish church of St. George, pro-
cessions, weddings, funerals, reading society events and in the theatre.196 In
1878 it came under the auspices of the newly founded Ptuj Music Associa-
tion (Pettauer Musikverein).
The Ptuj Music Association was founded on 9 March 1878 to meet the
political and cultural needs of the German population.197 Before the for-
mal foundation, the “friends of music” organized a concert with musicians
from Graz at the municipal theatre, thus creating the financial basis for the
founding of the association and the purchase of the most important brass
band instruments.198 The initiator of the society was the merchant Viktor
Schulfink, who was also an amateur pianist and the central figure of the
association. The other founders included merchants, landowners, lawyers,
clerks, and some craftsmen. There were also some Slovenian intellectuals
among the founders, but the majority of the association’s members were
Germans.
The aim of the association was to cultivate good music, and for this
purpose it planned to establish its own music school and orchestra. The
“Great and Small Orchestra” (Grosse und Kleine Orchester) was formed and
it probably consisted of former military musicians or craftsmen and ap-
prentices who worked in various professions in the town and its surround-
ings. The orchestra performed for the first time two weeks after its forma-
tion on 31 March 1878.199 To improve the quality of the orchestra, a music
school was established on 1 June 1878 and a professional musician was hired
to teach at the school and lead the orchestra. The Kapellmeisters were pro-
fessional musicians,200 mainly the association’s teachers from abroad who
196 Žgeč, “Glasbeno društvo ‘Pettauer Musikverein’,” 20.
197 Drago Hasl, Zgodovina glasbene šole v Ptuju (Ptuj: Šolski odbor glasbene šole v Ptu-
ju, 1959), 7.
198 Anon., “Musikverein,” Pettauer Wochenblatt, February 17, 1878, 2; Žgeč, “Glasbeno
društvo ‘Pettauer Musikverein’,” 23.
199 Bagarič, “Ptujsko glasbeno društvo,” 23.
200 The Kapellmeister had to have a thorough musical education: a good knowledge of
the basso continuo, the ability to teach violin, piano, and singing, as well as the relia-
bility and technical skill to play the first violin in orchestral and chamber music per-
formances, and the ingenuity to play piano accompaniments. He was also required
to orchestrate selected new works for the orchestra of the association, as well as to
379
city administration endeavoured to maintain the brass band and for this
purpose brought additional instrumentalists from elsewhere, who were of-
fered positions as city officials with a satisfactory salary. It played a central
role in the musical life of Ptuj, and performed at all municipal festivities,
such as vocal-instrumental masses in the parish church of St. George, pro-
cessions, weddings, funerals, reading society events and in the theatre.196 In
1878 it came under the auspices of the newly founded Ptuj Music Associa-
tion (Pettauer Musikverein).
The Ptuj Music Association was founded on 9 March 1878 to meet the
political and cultural needs of the German population.197 Before the for-
mal foundation, the “friends of music” organized a concert with musicians
from Graz at the municipal theatre, thus creating the financial basis for the
founding of the association and the purchase of the most important brass
band instruments.198 The initiator of the society was the merchant Viktor
Schulfink, who was also an amateur pianist and the central figure of the
association. The other founders included merchants, landowners, lawyers,
clerks, and some craftsmen. There were also some Slovenian intellectuals
among the founders, but the majority of the association’s members were
Germans.
The aim of the association was to cultivate good music, and for this
purpose it planned to establish its own music school and orchestra. The
“Great and Small Orchestra” (Grosse und Kleine Orchester) was formed and
it probably consisted of former military musicians or craftsmen and ap-
prentices who worked in various professions in the town and its surround-
ings. The orchestra performed for the first time two weeks after its forma-
tion on 31 March 1878.199 To improve the quality of the orchestra, a music
school was established on 1 June 1878 and a professional musician was hired
to teach at the school and lead the orchestra. The Kapellmeisters were pro-
fessional musicians,200 mainly the association’s teachers from abroad who
196 Žgeč, “Glasbeno društvo ‘Pettauer Musikverein’,” 20.
197 Drago Hasl, Zgodovina glasbene šole v Ptuju (Ptuj: Šolski odbor glasbene šole v Ptu-
ju, 1959), 7.
198 Anon., “Musikverein,” Pettauer Wochenblatt, February 17, 1878, 2; Žgeč, “Glasbeno
društvo ‘Pettauer Musikverein’,” 23.
199 Bagarič, “Ptujsko glasbeno društvo,” 23.
200 The Kapellmeister had to have a thorough musical education: a good knowledge of
the basso continuo, the ability to teach violin, piano, and singing, as well as the relia-
bility and technical skill to play the first violin in orchestral and chamber music per-
formances, and the ingenuity to play piano accompaniments. He was also required
to orchestrate selected new works for the orchestra of the association, as well as to
379
