Page 13 - Beethoven, Ludwig van. Simfonija v F-duru, opus 68: »ljubljanski prepis« - Symphony in F major, opus 68: ‘Ljubljana transcript’. Uredil/Edited by Jonatan Vinkler. Koper, Ljubljana: Akademija za glasbo Univerze v Ljubljani, Narodna in univerzitetna knjižnica, Založba Univerze na Primorskem, 2019.
P. 13
n Florjanc doi: https://doi.org/10.26493/978-961-7055-54-2.11-14 11
Prologue
In his letter of 4 May 1819, Ludwig van Beethoven made person- physical strength. The phenomena of geniuses, too, although compara-
al contact with Ljubljana and its rich musical life with an ancient ble percentage-wise due to small numerical size, are predictably rarer.
tradition dating well back to the Middle Ages. He expressed warm Therefore, an instinctive drive for curiosity and fertilisation with knowl-
thanks for the diploma granted upon his election as an honor- edge and innovations fits this context, along with the desire to also in-
ary member of the Philharmonic Society in Ljubljana, which he had re- dependently contribute something into this joint repository of humani-
ceived on 15 March the same year in Vienna as the then most famous liv- ty. Alongside this, it is natural that patriotism almost self-evidently goes
ing composer. In Ljubljana, his works had until then been performed hand-in-hand with an inquisitive cosmopolitism.
with a zeal almost similar to that in the composer’s hometown, Vien-
na. Therefore, it was not the flattering of the composer’s name that was It was in such a context that Beethoven’s Sixth Symphony in F ma-
in the foreground, but a wish to confirm, in a personal way, a more ro- jor, opus 68 – ‘Pastoral’, appeared in Ljubljana. It is presumed that this au-
bust bond with the composer and, most of all, the course of the musical thorised manuscript transcript with Beethoven’s annotations is the same
style of which Beethoven was the leading bearer. They had immediately work that the composer mentioned in a letter of gratitude while promis-
perceived the boundary in European, better yet, world musical history, ing, as proof of his ability to appreciate the honouring of his naming, to
represented by the Viennese classical music of Haydn, Mozart, and Bee- send to the Philharmonic Society ‘through the mentioned sir magistrate
thoven, and also evaluated it interpretively in the capital of a small prov- councillor Tuscher a work of his, yet unpublished’. Since the Pastoral score
ince, and an even smaller nation prevented by destiny and other forces was printed in 1826 but had been performed earlier in Ljubljana, and, as
from living together, in a single political entity. Aside from their duties this symphonic work is, among Beethoven’s manuscripts, the composer’s
as subjects, Slovenes were also acknowledged specific language and citi- only musical manuscript present in Ljubljana since then, the presumption
zen rights by the Habsburg monarchy, but denied the status of a ‘histor- is firmly grounded for these reasons. Other written testimonies have been
ical nation’. Organisationally and socio-politically, the Slovenian territo- mislaid, or even destroyed in fatal historical shifts over the centuries.
ry remained divided into provincial units; one part – Prekmurje – even
belonged to the Hungarian part of the monarchy. The culture – mostly The wish to make this notable symphony by Beethoven available to
language and music – has since ancient times been practically the only the broader artistic and scientific public is one of the principal motives
cohesive element of identity among Slovenes: a nation small in num- for the scientific critical edition of this precious source, kept by the Na-
bers must count on arguments essentially different from the sword and tional and University Library (NUK) in Ljubljana. Thus, the edition
stands side by side with Beethoven’s manuscript and the first authorised
but heavily damaged and, therefore, in the substantial part unreadable
Prologue
In his letter of 4 May 1819, Ludwig van Beethoven made person- physical strength. The phenomena of geniuses, too, although compara-
al contact with Ljubljana and its rich musical life with an ancient ble percentage-wise due to small numerical size, are predictably rarer.
tradition dating well back to the Middle Ages. He expressed warm Therefore, an instinctive drive for curiosity and fertilisation with knowl-
thanks for the diploma granted upon his election as an honor- edge and innovations fits this context, along with the desire to also in-
ary member of the Philharmonic Society in Ljubljana, which he had re- dependently contribute something into this joint repository of humani-
ceived on 15 March the same year in Vienna as the then most famous liv- ty. Alongside this, it is natural that patriotism almost self-evidently goes
ing composer. In Ljubljana, his works had until then been performed hand-in-hand with an inquisitive cosmopolitism.
with a zeal almost similar to that in the composer’s hometown, Vien-
na. Therefore, it was not the flattering of the composer’s name that was It was in such a context that Beethoven’s Sixth Symphony in F ma-
in the foreground, but a wish to confirm, in a personal way, a more ro- jor, opus 68 – ‘Pastoral’, appeared in Ljubljana. It is presumed that this au-
bust bond with the composer and, most of all, the course of the musical thorised manuscript transcript with Beethoven’s annotations is the same
style of which Beethoven was the leading bearer. They had immediately work that the composer mentioned in a letter of gratitude while promis-
perceived the boundary in European, better yet, world musical history, ing, as proof of his ability to appreciate the honouring of his naming, to
represented by the Viennese classical music of Haydn, Mozart, and Bee- send to the Philharmonic Society ‘through the mentioned sir magistrate
thoven, and also evaluated it interpretively in the capital of a small prov- councillor Tuscher a work of his, yet unpublished’. Since the Pastoral score
ince, and an even smaller nation prevented by destiny and other forces was printed in 1826 but had been performed earlier in Ljubljana, and, as
from living together, in a single political entity. Aside from their duties this symphonic work is, among Beethoven’s manuscripts, the composer’s
as subjects, Slovenes were also acknowledged specific language and citi- only musical manuscript present in Ljubljana since then, the presumption
zen rights by the Habsburg monarchy, but denied the status of a ‘histor- is firmly grounded for these reasons. Other written testimonies have been
ical nation’. Organisationally and socio-politically, the Slovenian territo- mislaid, or even destroyed in fatal historical shifts over the centuries.
ry remained divided into provincial units; one part – Prekmurje – even
belonged to the Hungarian part of the monarchy. The culture – mostly The wish to make this notable symphony by Beethoven available to
language and music – has since ancient times been practically the only the broader artistic and scientific public is one of the principal motives
cohesive element of identity among Slovenes: a nation small in num- for the scientific critical edition of this precious source, kept by the Na-
bers must count on arguments essentially different from the sword and tional and University Library (NUK) in Ljubljana. Thus, the edition
stands side by side with Beethoven’s manuscript and the first authorised
but heavily damaged and, therefore, in the substantial part unreadable
