Page 34 - 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
artistic director, Ivo Petrić. The society supported the ensemble through-
out, probably also due to the fortunate circumstance that Petrić served not
only as the ensemble’s artistic director but also as the society’s secretary
and a member of the executive board, as well as the head of its publishing
activities. Another notable ensemble is Ansambel za sodobno glasbo MD7
(MD7 Contemporary Music Ensemble), which has participated in the Mu-
sica Danubiana festival since 2001 under the artistic direction of Pavel Mi-
helčič and continues its work under artistic direction of Nenad Firšt. Ad-
ditionally significant for this article is Komorni orkester solistov Društva
slovenskih skladateljev (KOS DSS), the Chamber Orchestra of Soloists of
the Society of Slovene Composers, which was founded in 2004 on the ini-
tiative of its artistic director Marko Mihevc and is predominantly commit-
ted to the first performances of new chamber and smaller orchestral com-
positions by Slovenian composers.
Since the moment of its founding, the society has actively advocat-
ed for a place for Slovene music in institutional programmes, which it has
attempted to achieve through the presence of its representatives on pro-
gramme councils and on the advisory committees of cultural policy bod-
ies. It has awarded prizes to performers who made a significant contribu-
tion to the dissemination of contemporary Slovene music, drawn attention
to the importance of music in education, and frequently expressed its disa-
greement with the programming policy of leading musical institutions and
state radio.
The focus of the Society’s efforts in this field is clearly illustrated by the
dynamics of its relationships in the early period, most notably in its pub-
lic dispute with the Slovenian Philharmonic. This incident is highlighted
here because it goes beyond merely defending the frequently diametrically
opposed interests of the representatives of composers on the one hand and
performers on the other. The issue becomes complex because there are pro-
fessional colleagues on both sides of the dispute. The public request by Mat-
ija Bravničar, the president of the Society’s executive board, to the Sloveni-
an Philharmonic in 1951 that it increase the proportion of Slovene works
in its programme – on the grounds that “Slovene music should not be a
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Cinderella amid rich foreigners in its own land” – was one that the Phil-
harmonic’s manager Lucijan Marija Škerjanc, a composer himself, found
hard to ignore. It is therefore no surprise that works by Slovene composers

36 Matija Bravničar, “Programska politika Slovenske filharmonije,” Slovenski poroče va-
lec XII, no. 18 (1951): 5.

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