Page 271 - 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. 271
jan šlais’s contr ibution to ljubljana’s violin school
1965), who would later become well-known as a concertmaster in Helsin-
ki and Stockholm. Gerstner was also very active as a performer in numer-
ous chamber ensembles and as a soloist. He played an important role in the
promotion of chamber music, which was still very neglected before his ar-
rival in Ljubljana. Furthermore, Gerstner and his most prominent students
premièred numerous violin compositions and brought violin performance
to a completely new level.10
With the establishment of the Music Society (Glasbena Matica) in 1872,
Slovenians began their efforts to develop local violin playing. The M usic So-
ciety, with its numerous branch organizations mostly influenced by Prague
violinists, essentially characterized Slovenian violin tradition, later train-
ing an important generation of Slovenian violinists. But soon after the es-
tablishment of the music school in the 1880s, the Music Society in Ljubljana
had some difficulties with its violin teachers from Bohemia, who ended up
changing nearly every year. These included Georg Stiaral (Jurij Štaral; 1824–
1898),11 Josef Wiedemann, Johann (Ivan) Drobeček (1858–1885),12 A nton
Sochor, Anton Kučera, and Ernst Eberhart (Árnošt Eberhart; 1866–?).13A
breakthrough was achieved with the arrival of another Czech violinist in
Ljubljana in 1888, Viktor Roman Moser (1864–1939), a successful violin
teacher and performer in Ljubljana, where he founded a string quartet in
1889 and remained until 1891. He was succeeded by Prague violinist Johann
10 Zupančič, “At the Crossroads of European Violin Heritage,” 22.
11 Stiaral was born on November 4th, 1824 in Zadní Třebaň (CZ). He was the military
music director of the 2nd Tyrolean Rifle Regiment. From the 1880s, he was a teach-
er of violin, viola, wind instruments, and other instruments at the Philharmonic
and Music Society in Ljubljana. He died on January 21st, 1898 in Ljubljana. See Eu-
gen Brixel, Gunther Martin, Gottfried Pils, Das ist Österreichs Militärmusik (Graz,
Vienna, Köln: Edition Kaleidoskop, 1982) 348; Elisabeth Anzenberger Ramminger,
“České země a Penzijní spolek vojenských kapelníků,” in Vojenská hudba v kultuře a
historii českých zemí, ed. Jitka Bajgarová (Prague: Etnologický ústav Akademie věd
České republiky, 2007), 260; Budkovič, Razvoj glasbenega šolstva na Slovenskem, 84,
89, 224.
12 Johann (Ivan) Drobeček was born on October 27th, 1858 in Heřmanův Městec (CZ).
He studied violin at the Prague Conservatory with Antonín Bennewitz from 1873 to
1879. In 1884, he was a violin and piano teacher at the Ljubljana Music Society. He
died on January 31st, 1885 in Heřmanův Městec. See Haupt [...] der Schüler des Con-
servatorium in Prag, fol. 147; Budkovič, Razvoj glasbenega šolstva na Slovenskem,
205, 212.
13 Eberhart was born on October 7th, 1886 in Karlové Vary (CZ). He studied violin
with Bennewitz at the Prague Conservatory between 1879 and 1885. He was a violin
teacher at the Music Society in Ljubljana between 1885 and 1887. See Matrik 1879,
fol. 1, 212–213, SOA Praha.
269
1965), who would later become well-known as a concertmaster in Helsin-
ki and Stockholm. Gerstner was also very active as a performer in numer-
ous chamber ensembles and as a soloist. He played an important role in the
promotion of chamber music, which was still very neglected before his ar-
rival in Ljubljana. Furthermore, Gerstner and his most prominent students
premièred numerous violin compositions and brought violin performance
to a completely new level.10
With the establishment of the Music Society (Glasbena Matica) in 1872,
Slovenians began their efforts to develop local violin playing. The M usic So-
ciety, with its numerous branch organizations mostly influenced by Prague
violinists, essentially characterized Slovenian violin tradition, later train-
ing an important generation of Slovenian violinists. But soon after the es-
tablishment of the music school in the 1880s, the Music Society in Ljubljana
had some difficulties with its violin teachers from Bohemia, who ended up
changing nearly every year. These included Georg Stiaral (Jurij Štaral; 1824–
1898),11 Josef Wiedemann, Johann (Ivan) Drobeček (1858–1885),12 A nton
Sochor, Anton Kučera, and Ernst Eberhart (Árnošt Eberhart; 1866–?).13A
breakthrough was achieved with the arrival of another Czech violinist in
Ljubljana in 1888, Viktor Roman Moser (1864–1939), a successful violin
teacher and performer in Ljubljana, where he founded a string quartet in
1889 and remained until 1891. He was succeeded by Prague violinist Johann
10 Zupančič, “At the Crossroads of European Violin Heritage,” 22.
11 Stiaral was born on November 4th, 1824 in Zadní Třebaň (CZ). He was the military
music director of the 2nd Tyrolean Rifle Regiment. From the 1880s, he was a teach-
er of violin, viola, wind instruments, and other instruments at the Philharmonic
and Music Society in Ljubljana. He died on January 21st, 1898 in Ljubljana. See Eu-
gen Brixel, Gunther Martin, Gottfried Pils, Das ist Österreichs Militärmusik (Graz,
Vienna, Köln: Edition Kaleidoskop, 1982) 348; Elisabeth Anzenberger Ramminger,
“České země a Penzijní spolek vojenských kapelníků,” in Vojenská hudba v kultuře a
historii českých zemí, ed. Jitka Bajgarová (Prague: Etnologický ústav Akademie věd
České republiky, 2007), 260; Budkovič, Razvoj glasbenega šolstva na Slovenskem, 84,
89, 224.
12 Johann (Ivan) Drobeček was born on October 27th, 1858 in Heřmanův Městec (CZ).
He studied violin at the Prague Conservatory with Antonín Bennewitz from 1873 to
1879. In 1884, he was a violin and piano teacher at the Ljubljana Music Society. He
died on January 31st, 1885 in Heřmanův Městec. See Haupt [...] der Schüler des Con-
servatorium in Prag, fol. 147; Budkovič, Razvoj glasbenega šolstva na Slovenskem,
205, 212.
13 Eberhart was born on October 7th, 1886 in Karlové Vary (CZ). He studied violin
with Bennewitz at the Prague Conservatory between 1879 and 1885. He was a violin
teacher at the Music Society in Ljubljana between 1885 and 1887. See Matrik 1879,
fol. 1, 212–213, SOA Praha.
269
