Page 177 - Weiss, Jernej, ur. 2018. Nova glasba v “novi” Evropi med obema svetovnima vojnama ?? New Music in the “New” Europe Between the Two World Wars. Koper/Ljubljana: Založba Univerze na Primorskem in Festival Ljubljana. Studia musicologica Labacensia, 2
P. 177
oi: https://doi.org/10.26493/978-961-7023-72-5.175-185
Slavko Osterc’s Compositional Journey
and his Assimilation of New Techniques
Niall O’Loughlin
Univerza v Loughboroughu
Loughborough University
Introduction
The composing career of the leading Slovene composer Slavko Osterc (1895–
1941) spanned the twenty years from 1921 to 1941. During this time his style
developed in stages from a late Romantic idiom through various modifica-
tions to a well developed approach that incorporated numerous new mu-
sical techniques, many of which were passed on to his numerous Slovene
composition pupils.
Early Years 1921–1925
There are some forty compositions of his dating from before his departure
for Prague.1 Andrej Rijavec is dismissive of the simplistic view that they
were somewhat immature, with a more or less romantic expression.2 He
notes in two selected chamber music works an interesting harmonic lan-
guage which extends to the use of parallel chords, the loosening of the tra-
ditional progression of chords and the increasing ‘indefinability’ of chords
by the supersaturation of seconds. The lucidity of form is attributed to his
use of ‘horizontal thought, whether a simple figure, a small motif, or a
theme, even with melodic qualities.’3 One substantial orchestral work from
1 Andrej Rijavec, “Komorno kompozicijsko snovanje Slavka Osterca pred njegovim
odhodom v Prago,” Muzikološki zbornik 5 (1969): 92–100.
2 Ibid., 100.
3 Ibid., 100.
175
Slavko Osterc’s Compositional Journey
and his Assimilation of New Techniques
Niall O’Loughlin
Univerza v Loughboroughu
Loughborough University
Introduction
The composing career of the leading Slovene composer Slavko Osterc (1895–
1941) spanned the twenty years from 1921 to 1941. During this time his style
developed in stages from a late Romantic idiom through various modifica-
tions to a well developed approach that incorporated numerous new mu-
sical techniques, many of which were passed on to his numerous Slovene
composition pupils.
Early Years 1921–1925
There are some forty compositions of his dating from before his departure
for Prague.1 Andrej Rijavec is dismissive of the simplistic view that they
were somewhat immature, with a more or less romantic expression.2 He
notes in two selected chamber music works an interesting harmonic lan-
guage which extends to the use of parallel chords, the loosening of the tra-
ditional progression of chords and the increasing ‘indefinability’ of chords
by the supersaturation of seconds. The lucidity of form is attributed to his
use of ‘horizontal thought, whether a simple figure, a small motif, or a
theme, even with melodic qualities.’3 One substantial orchestral work from
1 Andrej Rijavec, “Komorno kompozicijsko snovanje Slavka Osterca pred njegovim
odhodom v Prago,” Muzikološki zbornik 5 (1969): 92–100.
2 Ibid., 100.
3 Ibid., 100.
175
