Page 181 - 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
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slavko osterc’s compositional jour ney and his assimilation of new techniques
very much a part of his compositional activity of this period,8 which includ-
ed the creation of no less than five operas. Admittedly four were only brief
works, miniature dramas cast in a single act: his short operas Iz komične
opere (‘From the Opéra comique’) of 1927 and the parody Saloma (‘Salome’)
of 1929–30 caused great interest,9 as did his Medea and Dandin v vicah
(‘Dandin in Purgatory’), both of 1930. Dandin v vicah is described as ‘oper-
na groteska’, while Saloma is called ‘minutna opera-parodija’. The latter in
fact lasts a mere 11 minutes.10 It uses many of the features of the instrumen-
tal music to dramatic effect. Particularly notable is the wry and sardonic
tone of the instrumental writing which supports the parodistic character of
the story. Unlike in the traditional story of Salome, Herod is bored with Sa-
lome’s dancing and calls for her to stop. Strauss’s famous Dance of the Seven
Veils is replaced, almost in cabaret fashion, by a rather tired waltz.
Moving on to consider the major opera of this period, Krog s kredo
(‘The Chalk Circle’), composed in the years 1928–29, one can imagine that
Osterc was taking a somewhat cynical view of the subject and using all his
musical resources to reinforce this idea in a full-length opera of imposing
character. It showed a remarkable assurance in handling the operatic medi-
um, but, like the instrumental works of the same period, also gave a clear in-
dication of the techniques of some of the works to follow in the next decade.
The Chalk Circle play11 was originally Chinese, a story of rampant cor-
ruption, involving a magic method of deciding the truth between two dis-
putants, something akin to the Judgement of Solomon as related in the Bi-
ble.12 In the early 1920s, the German poet and dramatist Klabund (the nom
de plume of Alfred Henschke) rewrote a French translation of the play as
8 This dichotomy was explored in some detail by Ivan Klemenčič, “Slavko Osterc
Composing Between Neoclassicism and Expressionism,” in: Primož Kuret, ed.,
Glasba med obema vojnama in Slavko Osterc (Ljubljana: Festival Ljubljana, 1995),
49–63 [Full English text with Slovene summary] and “Slavko Osterc med neoklasi-
cizmom in ekspresionizmom,” Muzikološki zbornik 31 (1995): 11–23 [in Slovene with
English summary].
9 Jože Sivec, Dvesto let slovenske opere – Two Hundred Years of the Slovene Opera
(1780–1980) (Ljubljana: Opera in Balet, 1981), 37–38, 91; Peter Andraschke, “Minutna
opera ‘Saloma’ Slavka Osterca – Die Minutenoper ‘Salome’ von Slavko Osterc,” in:
Primož Kuret, ed., Slovenska glasba v preteklosti in sedanjosti – Slowenische Musik in
vergangenheit und Gegenwart (Ljubljana: Kres, 1992), 204–15.
10 This length is an estimate derived from playing the score. Andraschke, op.cit. also
gives this length, but the DSS catalogue surprisingly gives the duration as 20 minutes.
11 Hui-lan-chi or History of the Circle of Chalk, translated by Stanislas Julien as Le
Cercle de Craie (London: John Murray, 1832).
12 The Old Testament of the Bible, I Kings, 3, verses 16–28.
179
very much a part of his compositional activity of this period,8 which includ-
ed the creation of no less than five operas. Admittedly four were only brief
works, miniature dramas cast in a single act: his short operas Iz komične
opere (‘From the Opéra comique’) of 1927 and the parody Saloma (‘Salome’)
of 1929–30 caused great interest,9 as did his Medea and Dandin v vicah
(‘Dandin in Purgatory’), both of 1930. Dandin v vicah is described as ‘oper-
na groteska’, while Saloma is called ‘minutna opera-parodija’. The latter in
fact lasts a mere 11 minutes.10 It uses many of the features of the instrumen-
tal music to dramatic effect. Particularly notable is the wry and sardonic
tone of the instrumental writing which supports the parodistic character of
the story. Unlike in the traditional story of Salome, Herod is bored with Sa-
lome’s dancing and calls for her to stop. Strauss’s famous Dance of the Seven
Veils is replaced, almost in cabaret fashion, by a rather tired waltz.
Moving on to consider the major opera of this period, Krog s kredo
(‘The Chalk Circle’), composed in the years 1928–29, one can imagine that
Osterc was taking a somewhat cynical view of the subject and using all his
musical resources to reinforce this idea in a full-length opera of imposing
character. It showed a remarkable assurance in handling the operatic medi-
um, but, like the instrumental works of the same period, also gave a clear in-
dication of the techniques of some of the works to follow in the next decade.
The Chalk Circle play11 was originally Chinese, a story of rampant cor-
ruption, involving a magic method of deciding the truth between two dis-
putants, something akin to the Judgement of Solomon as related in the Bi-
ble.12 In the early 1920s, the German poet and dramatist Klabund (the nom
de plume of Alfred Henschke) rewrote a French translation of the play as
8 This dichotomy was explored in some detail by Ivan Klemenčič, “Slavko Osterc
Composing Between Neoclassicism and Expressionism,” in: Primož Kuret, ed.,
Glasba med obema vojnama in Slavko Osterc (Ljubljana: Festival Ljubljana, 1995),
49–63 [Full English text with Slovene summary] and “Slavko Osterc med neoklasi-
cizmom in ekspresionizmom,” Muzikološki zbornik 31 (1995): 11–23 [in Slovene with
English summary].
9 Jože Sivec, Dvesto let slovenske opere – Two Hundred Years of the Slovene Opera
(1780–1980) (Ljubljana: Opera in Balet, 1981), 37–38, 91; Peter Andraschke, “Minutna
opera ‘Saloma’ Slavka Osterca – Die Minutenoper ‘Salome’ von Slavko Osterc,” in:
Primož Kuret, ed., Slovenska glasba v preteklosti in sedanjosti – Slowenische Musik in
vergangenheit und Gegenwart (Ljubljana: Kres, 1992), 204–15.
10 This length is an estimate derived from playing the score. Andraschke, op.cit. also
gives this length, but the DSS catalogue surprisingly gives the duration as 20 minutes.
11 Hui-lan-chi or History of the Circle of Chalk, translated by Stanislas Julien as Le
Cercle de Craie (London: John Murray, 1832).
12 The Old Testament of the Bible, I Kings, 3, verses 16–28.
179
