Page 387 - 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 ...
Conclusion
The nineteenth-century Habsburg Monarchy was a vibrant multicultural
state with intense regional mobility. It was also the time when the phenom-
enon of the itinerant virtuoso and the institutionalization of modern bour-
geois musical culture emerged, which increased the migration flow of mu-
sicians. Immigrant musicians played a significant role in Slovenian cultural
and music history, especially in music societies. However, among the immi-
grant musicians were not only professional musicians who were financially
dependent on music, but also highly musically educated people with other
professions. Often they were civil servants and teachers, and they partici-
pated in musical life, contributing to the development of musical activities
in several Slovenian towns.
During our research we have documented and identified 574 immi-
grant musicians who were active on the territory of present-day Slovenia
during the long nineteenth century. The actual number can be expected to
be substantially larger. Most of these musicians moved to Ljubljana, unsur-
prising given the travel connections, musical wealth and continuity of that
city. However, the immigrant musicians were found in all corners of pres-
ent-day Slovenia and its hinterland: in Celje, Maribor, Ptuj, Kranj, Novo
mesto, Koper, Postojna, Gorizia, Trieste, and even in smaller villages like
Ribnica, Kočevje, Vipava and elsewhere.
By far the largest number of musicians was born in the Czech lands,
the second largest group from Austrian cities, and next from the other
crown lands of the Austrian Empire. Among the individual birthplaces, Vi-
enna, Prague, and Graz stand out. A small group of musicians came from
beyond the borders of the Austrian Empire, mainly from German states of
the time, but also from more distant cities such as Athens, Jelgava, Kalin-
ingrad, Stavropol, Warsaw, Odessa, and London. Due to the influence of
Erich Wolf Degner, the situation in the Ptuj Music Association (Pettauer
Musikverein) stands out, with a majority of immigrant musicians coming
from the German states.
In earlier times, immigrant musicians were trained in their forma-
tive years by family members, usually their fathers, or by village regentes
chori or privately by renowned professors from the Vienna and Prague con-
servatories. From the second half of the nineteenth century, this changed
as the music education had become much more institutionalized. Caspar
Maschek is an early example of this. He received his higher education at
the Prague Conservatory as part of its first generation of students. Others
385
Conclusion
The nineteenth-century Habsburg Monarchy was a vibrant multicultural
state with intense regional mobility. It was also the time when the phenom-
enon of the itinerant virtuoso and the institutionalization of modern bour-
geois musical culture emerged, which increased the migration flow of mu-
sicians. Immigrant musicians played a significant role in Slovenian cultural
and music history, especially in music societies. However, among the immi-
grant musicians were not only professional musicians who were financially
dependent on music, but also highly musically educated people with other
professions. Often they were civil servants and teachers, and they partici-
pated in musical life, contributing to the development of musical activities
in several Slovenian towns.
During our research we have documented and identified 574 immi-
grant musicians who were active on the territory of present-day Slovenia
during the long nineteenth century. The actual number can be expected to
be substantially larger. Most of these musicians moved to Ljubljana, unsur-
prising given the travel connections, musical wealth and continuity of that
city. However, the immigrant musicians were found in all corners of pres-
ent-day Slovenia and its hinterland: in Celje, Maribor, Ptuj, Kranj, Novo
mesto, Koper, Postojna, Gorizia, Trieste, and even in smaller villages like
Ribnica, Kočevje, Vipava and elsewhere.
By far the largest number of musicians was born in the Czech lands,
the second largest group from Austrian cities, and next from the other
crown lands of the Austrian Empire. Among the individual birthplaces, Vi-
enna, Prague, and Graz stand out. A small group of musicians came from
beyond the borders of the Austrian Empire, mainly from German states of
the time, but also from more distant cities such as Athens, Jelgava, Kalin-
ingrad, Stavropol, Warsaw, Odessa, and London. Due to the influence of
Erich Wolf Degner, the situation in the Ptuj Music Association (Pettauer
Musikverein) stands out, with a majority of immigrant musicians coming
from the German states.
In earlier times, immigrant musicians were trained in their forma-
tive years by family members, usually their fathers, or by village regentes
chori or privately by renowned professors from the Vienna and Prague con-
servatories. From the second half of the nineteenth century, this changed
as the music education had become much more institutionalized. Caspar
Maschek is an early example of this. He received his higher education at
the Prague Conservatory as part of its first generation of students. Others
385
