Page 137 - Weiss, Jernej, ur. 2020. Konservatoriji: profesionalizacija in specializacija glasbenega dela ▪︎ The conservatories: professionalisation and specialisation of musical activity. Koper/Ljubljana: Založba Univerze na Primorskem in Festival Ljubljana. Studia musicologica Labacensia, 4
P. 137
towar ds a genuine university status ...
To the departments of singing, violin, cello, double bass, piano, music the-
ory and church choir others are soon added: Winds (from 1870), Orchestra
(from 1873), History of Music (1883), Harp, Chamber Music, Choral Singing
(towards the end of the 19th century).
Another orientation of the institutional policy was to attract new
teachers, capable of forming well-trained musicians and actors who would
come close to, and eventually match the European level of education. These
were joined by highly-trained foreign musicians, graduates of renowned
European conservatories. They were first asked to help in teaching certain
specialisations which Romanian instructors hadn’t the means to tutor, and
to offer superior didactic models. Particular attention was given to the im-
provement of the curricula, disciplines were restructured and new subjects
were introduced. Graduates were given the opportunity to continue their
activity at the newly-founded Romanian concert or performing arts ven-
ues, such as the Romanian Philharmonic Society or the Romanian Opera.
During Eduard Wachmann’s4 management (1869–1903), the initiative is
taken to publish yearbooks containing numerous statistics on teachers and
students, admission requirements, school year structure, programs, artistic
events. A radiography of the Conservatory’s needs and organisational ca-
pacities, they offer even today the image of its dynamics, of conditions of-
fered, and of the results of ambitious, hard work, not infrequently checked
by obstacles, insufficient funding, and inadequate material resources.
The important step towards modernisation coincided with the begin-
ning of the 20th century, with the appointment, in 1904, by the then min-
ister of education Spiru Haret (himself an excellent organiser of modern
Romanian education), of Dimitrie Popovici-Bayreuth at the head of the
Conservatory (between 1904 and 1919)5. In his 15-year tenure, showing an
undeterred will and determination, he would leave his mark on the sys-
tematization of the Conservatory’s functioning and on its level of artistic
quality. He would address the same issues his forbearers had faced, such
as optimising the learning process, strengthening the discipline, extend-
ing the specialisation options by establishing new departments, finding,
though, much better solutions. He gave particular attention to improving
4 Composer, conductor, pianist, teacher from a family of German descent, he studied
in Vienna, Dresden, Munich, and Paris. He was also the founder and director of the
Romanian Philharmonic Society.
5 The baritone was best known for his Wagnerian roles in international productions,
many of them mounted on the Bayreuth stage – hence the adopted surname.
135
To the departments of singing, violin, cello, double bass, piano, music the-
ory and church choir others are soon added: Winds (from 1870), Orchestra
(from 1873), History of Music (1883), Harp, Chamber Music, Choral Singing
(towards the end of the 19th century).
Another orientation of the institutional policy was to attract new
teachers, capable of forming well-trained musicians and actors who would
come close to, and eventually match the European level of education. These
were joined by highly-trained foreign musicians, graduates of renowned
European conservatories. They were first asked to help in teaching certain
specialisations which Romanian instructors hadn’t the means to tutor, and
to offer superior didactic models. Particular attention was given to the im-
provement of the curricula, disciplines were restructured and new subjects
were introduced. Graduates were given the opportunity to continue their
activity at the newly-founded Romanian concert or performing arts ven-
ues, such as the Romanian Philharmonic Society or the Romanian Opera.
During Eduard Wachmann’s4 management (1869–1903), the initiative is
taken to publish yearbooks containing numerous statistics on teachers and
students, admission requirements, school year structure, programs, artistic
events. A radiography of the Conservatory’s needs and organisational ca-
pacities, they offer even today the image of its dynamics, of conditions of-
fered, and of the results of ambitious, hard work, not infrequently checked
by obstacles, insufficient funding, and inadequate material resources.
The important step towards modernisation coincided with the begin-
ning of the 20th century, with the appointment, in 1904, by the then min-
ister of education Spiru Haret (himself an excellent organiser of modern
Romanian education), of Dimitrie Popovici-Bayreuth at the head of the
Conservatory (between 1904 and 1919)5. In his 15-year tenure, showing an
undeterred will and determination, he would leave his mark on the sys-
tematization of the Conservatory’s functioning and on its level of artistic
quality. He would address the same issues his forbearers had faced, such
as optimising the learning process, strengthening the discipline, extend-
ing the specialisation options by establishing new departments, finding,
though, much better solutions. He gave particular attention to improving
4 Composer, conductor, pianist, teacher from a family of German descent, he studied
in Vienna, Dresden, Munich, and Paris. He was also the founder and director of the
Romanian Philharmonic Society.
5 The baritone was best known for his Wagnerian roles in international productions,
many of them mounted on the Bayreuth stage – hence the adopted surname.
135
