Page 94 - Weiss, Jernej, ur./ed. 2025. Glasbena interpretacija: med umetniškim in znanstvenim┊Music Interpretation: Between the Artistic and the Scientific. Koper/Ljubljana: Založba Univerze na Primorskem in Festival Ljubljana. Studia musicologica Labacensia, 8

glasbena interpretacija ... | music interpretation ...
The problem arose in 1872 when the Jistebnice Cantionale, a manu-
script source from the first half of the 15 century, entered the scene. It is
th
an older, unique and more authentic source, different in details from the
younger “1530 version,” which had been in use up to that point. Very soon,
composers embraced this older version, either harmonising it or working
with it as a quotation. However, after 1872 every composer had to solve a di-
lemma, because using the older version meant not having it connected with
the patriotic legacy of Smetana. Some critics were even of the opinion that
to quote the older version was to distance oneself from this renowned com-
poser! It can thus be said that the younger version survived precisely and
only thanks to the performance of Smetana’s My Country. The question of
how the choice of a younger or older version would have an extra-musical
effect was addressed not only by composers when creating their own origi-
nal works, but also by choirs or solo performers when performing the cho-
rale in their concerts. Here, then, the dramaturgical and interpretative is-
sues are clearly linked.

Conclusion

This paper presents three different perspectives on musical interpretation
and offers many concrete examples. They all have in common the fact that
they fall within the field of Czech music. Focusing on historical recordings,
I offer a number of suggestions with regard to specific topics. The aim is to
highlight the need for caution when forming evaluative judgments. Con-
sideration of the technical aspects of recordings is essential, and the first
section uses both amateur (folk) and professional (opera) recordings for
demonstration. The recordings of the Czech opera singer Richard Kubla,
and the contemporary critiques of them, serve as a “bridge” to the second
section, focused on reviews. The career of Kubla was again used as a case
study. At first glance, the reviews by the Ostrava music critic Milan Balcar
may seem objective. However, the discovery of a letter written by Kubla to
Balcar, i.e. the performer’s response to the critic’s assessment, suggests that
Balcar may not have been objective when writing his reviews and that he
was perhaps settling personal scores with his former classmate. This find-
ing sheds a completely different light on the published reviews of inter-
pretations. A probe into the life of the soprano Eva Hadrabová-Nedbalová
highlights two interesting matters: the first is the confrontation of profes-
sional reviews and the handwritten notes of a frequent visitor to the Vienna
State Opera between the wars, and the second is her time at the Nuremberg

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