Page 231 - 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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“a cr itique of cr iticism”: an attempt to outline “mor e appropr iate” ...
honorary member of the choir and had a particular fondness for it, accept-
ed Gobec’s invitation. Since the choir’s jubilee coincided with the centenary
of the birth of the poet-priest Anton Aškerc, the composer, prompted by
Gobec, decided to set Aškerc’s epic poem Stara pravda (“The Old Rights”)
to music.
Before beginning the process of composition, Tomc foresaw a number
of difficulties connected with the great length15 of the poem, the number of
performers required and, in particular, the frequent metrical shifts16 in Ašk-
erc’s text – all problems which had discouraged composers from attempting
to set this monumental work in the almost 70 years since its publication.
In order to be able to use the full text of the poem, Tomc (following
the example of Honegger’s famous oratorio Le Roi David) added a reciter to
the vocal sections, as this was the only way the full text could be delivered
in a relatively short time. As there are several places in the text that also re-
quire soloists, he used two soloists, adding a piano where necessary to sup-
port them.17
The second problem Tomc faced was whether the piece should be pure-
ly vocal or vocal-instrumental, as is usual for cantatas. Tomc preferred an
exclusively vocal composition, as the Academic Choir Tone Tomšič was
only a vocal ensemble. The planned concerts in Zagreb, Celje, Trbovlje,
Maribor and Belgrade finally dissuaded the composer from orchestrating
15 In 1980, on the occasion of the second performance of Stara pravda at the concert
of Consortium Musicum on 16 May 1980, Tomc wrote in the concert programme:
“First the length of the poem itself. Art has nothing to do with mathematics, but in this
case it comes in handy. Stara pravda has 835 verses. In contrast, Prešeren’s Sonetni ve-
nec (“A Wreath of Sonnets”), set by Lucijan Marija Škerjanc, has only 210 verses, i.e.
around a quarter the number in Stara pravda. If Stara pravda was set in a similar way
to Sonetni venec, it could have needed four full-length concerts. But of course only one
was desired.” Matija Tomc, Uglasbitev Stare pravde. Koncert ob osemdesetletnici skla-
datelja Matije Tomca, Ljubljana, 16 May 1980 [a concert programme of the Consor-
tium musicum Society].
16 Aškerc would often suddenly change the rhythm in Stara pravda, as if something
had broken. For the composer, who often found it difficult to adapt the rhythm of the
composition to the poem, a new difficulty arose, as this change in the poem lasts only
one or two verses. It must therefore have taken considerable effort for the composer
to adapt these metrical changes in the poem to the composition’s rhythmic progres-
sion. Ibid.
17 This was a deliberate move, as evidenced by the report in the Slovenski poročevalec in
1956 (signed “bp”), which says that the dramatised recitative had an excellent effect
and in no way disturbed the musical harmony of the concert. BP, “Pojó, pojó, da še
nikdar tako …,” Slovenski poročevalec 17, no. 62 (14 March 1956): 5, http://www.dlib
.si/?URN=URN:NBN:SI:doc-PI7QG7B7.
231
honorary member of the choir and had a particular fondness for it, accept-
ed Gobec’s invitation. Since the choir’s jubilee coincided with the centenary
of the birth of the poet-priest Anton Aškerc, the composer, prompted by
Gobec, decided to set Aškerc’s epic poem Stara pravda (“The Old Rights”)
to music.
Before beginning the process of composition, Tomc foresaw a number
of difficulties connected with the great length15 of the poem, the number of
performers required and, in particular, the frequent metrical shifts16 in Ašk-
erc’s text – all problems which had discouraged composers from attempting
to set this monumental work in the almost 70 years since its publication.
In order to be able to use the full text of the poem, Tomc (following
the example of Honegger’s famous oratorio Le Roi David) added a reciter to
the vocal sections, as this was the only way the full text could be delivered
in a relatively short time. As there are several places in the text that also re-
quire soloists, he used two soloists, adding a piano where necessary to sup-
port them.17
The second problem Tomc faced was whether the piece should be pure-
ly vocal or vocal-instrumental, as is usual for cantatas. Tomc preferred an
exclusively vocal composition, as the Academic Choir Tone Tomšič was
only a vocal ensemble. The planned concerts in Zagreb, Celje, Trbovlje,
Maribor and Belgrade finally dissuaded the composer from orchestrating
15 In 1980, on the occasion of the second performance of Stara pravda at the concert
of Consortium Musicum on 16 May 1980, Tomc wrote in the concert programme:
“First the length of the poem itself. Art has nothing to do with mathematics, but in this
case it comes in handy. Stara pravda has 835 verses. In contrast, Prešeren’s Sonetni ve-
nec (“A Wreath of Sonnets”), set by Lucijan Marija Škerjanc, has only 210 verses, i.e.
around a quarter the number in Stara pravda. If Stara pravda was set in a similar way
to Sonetni venec, it could have needed four full-length concerts. But of course only one
was desired.” Matija Tomc, Uglasbitev Stare pravde. Koncert ob osemdesetletnici skla-
datelja Matije Tomca, Ljubljana, 16 May 1980 [a concert programme of the Consor-
tium musicum Society].
16 Aškerc would often suddenly change the rhythm in Stara pravda, as if something
had broken. For the composer, who often found it difficult to adapt the rhythm of the
composition to the poem, a new difficulty arose, as this change in the poem lasts only
one or two verses. It must therefore have taken considerable effort for the composer
to adapt these metrical changes in the poem to the composition’s rhythmic progres-
sion. Ibid.
17 This was a deliberate move, as evidenced by the report in the Slovenski poročevalec in
1956 (signed “bp”), which says that the dramatised recitative had an excellent effect
and in no way disturbed the musical harmony of the concert. BP, “Pojó, pojó, da še
nikdar tako …,” Slovenski poročevalec 17, no. 62 (14 March 1956): 5, http://www.dlib
.si/?URN=URN:NBN:SI:doc-PI7QG7B7.
231
