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Weiss, Jernej, ur. 2025. Glasbena interpretacija: med umetniškim in znanstvenim | Music Interpretation: Between the Artistic and the Scientific.
Koper/Ljubljana: Založba Univerze na Primorskem in Festival Ljubljana. https://doi.org/10.26493/978-961-293-425-5.147-158
© 2025 Darja Koter

An Attempt at an Analysis of the Factors Influencing
a Conductor’s Artistic Interpretation:
Lovro von Matačić in Slovenia

Darja Koter
Univerza v Ljubljani
University of Ljubljana

Every musical work contains a range of meanings, some more or less ex-
plicit and others hidden, that are primarily a reflection of the composer’s
spiritual world. But every artistic creation is also intended for the outside
world – for the listener, in the case of music – and the most direct link be-
tween the composer and the sound picture created by the work is repre-
sented by the performers. From the point of view of reception, a technical-
ly faultless yet routine performance of a work may fail to communicate the
essence of its message and its inner power to the listener. In such cases an
interaction between the artistic creation and the outside world will not be
established and the circle will be incomplete. Only when a musical work is
subjected to in-depth interpretation and a harmonious dialogue is estab-
lished between composer and interpreter are the notes on the page trans-
formed into an authentic and unique sound picture. The path from a rou-
tine performance to a convincing interpretation that successfully conveys
the composer’s intentions while at the same time expressing the subjec-
tive view of the interpreter is neither simple nor short. It demands from
the interpreter a broad education, a serious and studious approach to the
work, the ability to develop their own ideas, and a wide range of experience.
In the case of orchestral music, the journey from written score to perfor-
mance is entrusted to the conductor, who represents the most direct link
to the sound of work. While at first sight the conductor may appear an ab-
solute authority, this is not actually the case. The conductor’s work consists
of a constant engagement with a multitude of factors that together shape

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