Page 230 - Weiss, Jernej, ur./ed. 2024. Glasbena kritika – nekoč in danes ▪︎ Music Criticism – Yesterday and Today. Koper/Ljubljana: Založba Univerze na Primorskem in Festival Ljubljana. Studia musicologica Labacensia, 7
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glasbena kritika – nekoč in danes | music criticism – yesterday and today
ed not only by the statements of political leaders of the time, among them
Boris Kidrič, the first prime minister of the National Government of Slo-
venia, who at a meeting of the Politburo of the Central Committee of the
Communist Party of Slovenia spoke of the “renewed petit bourgeois pressure
from the clergy,”10 but also by an incident involving one of the leading Slo-
venian composers of sacred music of the 20th century, Matija Tomc,11 who
was himself a clergyman. The latter served as a warning to all contempo-
rary composers of sacred music, and also to critics.
Cantata Stara pravda (“The Old Rights”) from Matija Tomc
In 1956 the Tone Tomšič Academic Choir decided to mark the 10th anniver-
sary12 of its activity under conductor Radovan Gobec with a jubilee con-
cert. As director of the choir, Gobec decided that the choir should, if pos-
sible, perform an original Slovenian full-length choral composition at this
concert, so in as early as October 1954 he contacted Tomc, an “old friend
of the Tone Tomšič Academic Choir,” with a request for him to compose a
work.13 He had also contacted other composers, but failed to persuade any
of them to get involved.14 Despite certain reservations, Tomc, who was an
10 At this meeting Kidrič identified the principal problem of the Slovenian cultural en-
vironment facing the communist authorities at that time as “petit bourgeois pressu-
re from the clergy.” Darinka Drnovšek, Zapisniki politbiroja CK ZPS/ZKS 1945–1954
(Ljubljana: Arhivsko društvo Slovenije, 2000), 257.
11 The composer Marijan Lipovšek wrote in Slovenska glasbena revija (“Slovenian Mu-
sic Review”) in 1957: “Undoubtedly, after Adamič, he is our first choral composer.”
Marijan Lipovšek, “Koncertna sezona 1955/56,” Slovenska glasbena revija 4, no. 1
(1957): 15.
12 It was the 10th anniversary of the academic choir, which was directed by Radovan
Gobec during this period. The Slovenian daily newspapers seem to believe that the
choir was formed after the war, as they do not mention the 30th anniversary of the
beginning of the choir’s male section, which was led by France Marolt between 1926
and 1941. Shortly after the Second World War, Gobec continued the tradition of
Marolt’s choir, but he mostly included new singers and also reclassified the group
as a mixed choir. In the autumn of 1953, it was decided at the general assembly that
Gobec’s academic choir would take over the name of Marolt’s choir, and then change
it slightly to the Tone Tomšič Academic Choir. Simona Moličnik Šivic, Mladi že 80
let: Akademski pevski zbor »Tone Tomšič« (Ljubljana: Narodna in univerzitetna knji-
žnica, 2006), 28.
13 Gobec is said to have addressed his request for the setting to “an old friend of the
APZ and Marolt’s colleague and their honorary member, the composer Matija Tomc.”
Anon., “Akademski pevski zbor v jubilejnem letu,” Slovenski poročevalec 16, no. 226
(27 September 1955): 4, http://www.dlib.si/?URN=URN:NBN:SI:doc-KZVEQZGV.
14 Edo Škulj, “Tomčeve kantate,” Tomčev zbornik, ed. Edo Škulj (Ljubljana: Družina,
1997), 19.
230
ed not only by the statements of political leaders of the time, among them
Boris Kidrič, the first prime minister of the National Government of Slo-
venia, who at a meeting of the Politburo of the Central Committee of the
Communist Party of Slovenia spoke of the “renewed petit bourgeois pressure
from the clergy,”10 but also by an incident involving one of the leading Slo-
venian composers of sacred music of the 20th century, Matija Tomc,11 who
was himself a clergyman. The latter served as a warning to all contempo-
rary composers of sacred music, and also to critics.
Cantata Stara pravda (“The Old Rights”) from Matija Tomc
In 1956 the Tone Tomšič Academic Choir decided to mark the 10th anniver-
sary12 of its activity under conductor Radovan Gobec with a jubilee con-
cert. As director of the choir, Gobec decided that the choir should, if pos-
sible, perform an original Slovenian full-length choral composition at this
concert, so in as early as October 1954 he contacted Tomc, an “old friend
of the Tone Tomšič Academic Choir,” with a request for him to compose a
work.13 He had also contacted other composers, but failed to persuade any
of them to get involved.14 Despite certain reservations, Tomc, who was an
10 At this meeting Kidrič identified the principal problem of the Slovenian cultural en-
vironment facing the communist authorities at that time as “petit bourgeois pressu-
re from the clergy.” Darinka Drnovšek, Zapisniki politbiroja CK ZPS/ZKS 1945–1954
(Ljubljana: Arhivsko društvo Slovenije, 2000), 257.
11 The composer Marijan Lipovšek wrote in Slovenska glasbena revija (“Slovenian Mu-
sic Review”) in 1957: “Undoubtedly, after Adamič, he is our first choral composer.”
Marijan Lipovšek, “Koncertna sezona 1955/56,” Slovenska glasbena revija 4, no. 1
(1957): 15.
12 It was the 10th anniversary of the academic choir, which was directed by Radovan
Gobec during this period. The Slovenian daily newspapers seem to believe that the
choir was formed after the war, as they do not mention the 30th anniversary of the
beginning of the choir’s male section, which was led by France Marolt between 1926
and 1941. Shortly after the Second World War, Gobec continued the tradition of
Marolt’s choir, but he mostly included new singers and also reclassified the group
as a mixed choir. In the autumn of 1953, it was decided at the general assembly that
Gobec’s academic choir would take over the name of Marolt’s choir, and then change
it slightly to the Tone Tomšič Academic Choir. Simona Moličnik Šivic, Mladi že 80
let: Akademski pevski zbor »Tone Tomšič« (Ljubljana: Narodna in univerzitetna knji-
žnica, 2006), 28.
13 Gobec is said to have addressed his request for the setting to “an old friend of the
APZ and Marolt’s colleague and their honorary member, the composer Matija Tomc.”
Anon., “Akademski pevski zbor v jubilejnem letu,” Slovenski poročevalec 16, no. 226
(27 September 1955): 4, http://www.dlib.si/?URN=URN:NBN:SI:doc-KZVEQZGV.
14 Edo Škulj, “Tomčeve kantate,” Tomčev zbornik, ed. Edo Škulj (Ljubljana: Družina,
1997), 19.
230
