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The Coexistence of the Social, the Professional and the Artistic
accounted for almost a third of Philharmonic’s programme in the follow-
ing concert season. Yet this ratio was only retained for two years. Faced
with a dwindling audience – which, apparently, “had certain principles, and
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according to these principles preferred to stay at home” – the Philharmon-
ic steered its programming in a safer direction and reduced the share of
home-grown music to its original proportions, while one of its board mem-
bers, the critic Valens Vodušek, berated the Society for allowing its exec-
utive board to “arbitrarily arrogate to itself the title of supreme supervisory
body of the whole of Slovenia’s musical and cultural policy.”
38
But the differences of views and contrasting programming interests of
the two parties paled into insignificance when survival was at stake. So it
was that, in 1968, the Society of Slovene Composers strongly opposed the
authorities’ mooted plan to combine Ljubljana’s two symphony orchestras,
which would have meant the end of the Slovenian Philharmonic. Through
open letters and appearances by its representatives at round-table discus-
sions, it drew attention to the Philharmonic’s valuable role in Slovene musi-
cal life, thus justifying its mission as the “guardian” of the interests of Slo-
vene music. 39
We may conclude with the thought that the activities of the Society of
Slovene Composers over the course of its history have been closely linked to
changing social and cultural-political circumstances, and that through this
historical process it has gone significantly beyond its primary role of satis-
fying the professional needs of its members and, in certain periods of its ex-
istence, taken its place among the key co-shapers of Slovenia’s musical life,
cultural policy and national musical identity.

Bibliography
Archival Sources
SI DSS archive:
Reg. I: January 6–December 12, 1951, document no. 5, 5. 1. 1951.
Reg. I: January 6–December 12, 1951, document no. 7, 13. 1. 1951.
Reg. I: January 6–December 12, 1951, document no. 8, 14. 1. 1951.
Reg. I: January 6–December 12, 1951, document no. 9, 14. 1. 1951.
37 Valens Vodušek, “Preokret v glasbeni politiki,” Naši razgledi III, no. 22 (1954): 17–8.
38 Ibid.
39 Editorial board, “Prevladuje mnenje, da je potrebno nekaj ukreniti. Pogovor za
okroglo mizo o problemih orkestralnega življenja v Ljubljani,” Delo X, no. 43 (1968):
5; document no. 14, dated 16 January 1968, DSS Archive.

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