Page 190 - Weiss, Jernej, ur./ed. 2026 Skladateljska društva nekoč in danes.../Composers’ Societies Past and Present...

Skladateljska društva nekoč in danes | Composers’ Societies Past and Present
(and premature death) of Vatroslav Lisinski (1819–1854). As early as 1855,
87
Josip Vranyczany articulated this as follows:
This outstanding South Slavic composer, who now, regrettably, lives on
only through his excellent works and in the memory of those who knew
him, owes, just like every other talent, his beginning and emergence to
an external event, an external influence that awakened him, that opened
the path he was to follow. Without that influence many a talent would
remain buried, unable to shake off the iron chains that cruel fate often
imposes. 88
These “external influences” in the pre-revolutionary period were a
combination of Lisinski’s talent and personal dedication (supported by Al-
bert Ognjan Štriga) and the favourable political moment. This resulted
89
in numerous vocal and instrumental works in the national spirit, and ul-
timately in the creation of the first Croatian national opera, Ljubav i zlo-
ba [Love and Malice] in 1846. This fortunate combination, paired with the
unfortunate circumstance of the composer’s early death in 1854, led, in the
early 1860s, to the formation of an image of Lisinski as a national hero in
the field of music – primarily as a composer. His vital role during the afore-
mentioned periods of crisis in the Zagreb Music Institute, particularly in its
restructuring and in drafting a modernised version of the Institute’s regu-
lations, a task he undertook voluntarily, faded into the background. Sim-
ilarly overlooked were his efforts as a concert organiser and as conductor
of the Institute’s choir and orchestra. However, we support the view ex-
90
87 See more in: Koraljka Kos and Marijana Pintar, “Lisinski, Vatroslav (Fuchs, Fuhs,
Fuks, Fux; Ignacije),” in Hrvatski biografski leksikon, online edition, 2013, https://hbl
.lzmk.hr/clanak/lisinski-vatroslav. Also: Lovro Županović, Vatroslav Lisinski: život,
djelo, značenje (Zagreb: JAZU, 1969); Vjera Katalinić, “Vatroslav Lisinski i njegovi su-
vremenici u mreži glazbenih institucija [Vatroslav Lisinski and His Contemporaries
in the Network of Music Institutions],” in Music, Arts and Politics: Revolutions and
th
Restorations in Europe and Croatia, 1815–1860. On the Occasion of 200 Anniversary
of Vatroslav Lisinski and 160 Anniversary of the Death of Ban Josip Jelačić, 25–44.
th
88 Josip Vranyczany, “Vatroslav Lisinski,” manuscript, Croatian State Archives, HR-
HDA-782 Obitelj Vranyczany, Box 1.
89 See more in: Stanislav Tuksar, “Lisinski – 1848 – Jelačić: Music, Arts and Politics in
the Life of the Young Man as Artist,” in Music, Arts and Politics: Revolutions and
Restorations in Europe and Croatia, 1815–1860. On the Occasion of 200 Anniversary
th
of Vatroslav Lisinski and 160 Anniversary of the Death of Ban Josip Jelačić, 125–32.
th
90 It should also not be forgotten that, in addition to his involvement in the Zagreb Mu-
sic Institute, Lisinski was a member, conductor, and musical/artistic director of the
Prvo ilirsko glazbeno društvo [First Illyrian Music Society], a secular singing society
composed of university youth, founded in 1840 by Albert Štriga.

190