Page 275 - 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
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jan šlais’s contr ibution to ljubljana’s violin school
Jan Šlais. Šlais’s mother, Anna Havlová, came from a Lutheran family in
Podbaba (Prague), where her father, Josef Havla, was a laborer.24 We know
Šlais attended secondary school (Bürgerschule/Mešťanská škola) in Smichov
(Prague), but are no known records of his early musical education.
In 1907, at the age of fourteen, he entered the Prague Conservatory to
study with Ševčík’s pupil Štěpán Suchý (1872–1920), who taught several suc-
cessful violinists. On July 4th, 1913, Šlais finished his violin studies with the
highest degree, performing the Violin Concerto in C minor by Tor Aulin
(1866–1914).25
Immediately after completing his studies, Šlais was appointed assistant
concertmaster at a theater (Svobodnyj teatr) in Moscow and one year later
at the private Zimin Opera. From 1917, he was the assistant concertmaster
of the Moscow Musicians’ Union Symphony Orchestra. At the beginning
of 1919, he returned to his homeland to become a member of the National
Theater Orchestra in Prague, with which he went on a promotional concert
tour to Paris, London, Geneva, Bern, and Zürich. In autumn of the same
year, he accepted a position at the newly-founded Music School in Maribor,
where the principal of the school was another Prague violinist: František
Topič (Fran Topič; 1881–?).26
In 1920, Šlais returned to Prague to continue with his violin studies
in Ševčík’s well-known violin master class, where he remained until June
1921. During that time, he gave concerts in Prague and in the region. On
September 15th, 1921, Šlais accepted a position as violin teacher at the Lju-
bljana Conservatory and at the end of the year, on December 29th, 1921, in
Prague, he married the pianist Růžena Deylová (1888–1969) with whom
he had become acquainted in Maribor.27 In 1939, he became a teacher and
head of the violin and violoncello department at the Academy of Music
in Ljubljana. Seven years later, he returned to his homeland to become a
teacher at the Prague Conservatory, a position he held until 1952, and from
then on at the Janáček Music Academy in Brno. During his long residen-
24 AHMP, Radlice SM N 29, B: 1879–1895, fol. 131.
25 Matrik 1879, fol. 71, SOA Praha.
26 Topič was born on September 4th, 1881 in Lipá. He studied violin with Antonín Ben-
newitz at the Prague Conservatory between 1899 and 1904. After World War I, he
was a violin teacher in Trieste and in 1919 became the first director of the newly es-
tablished Music Society in Maribor, where he remained until 1926. See Matrik 1879,
fol. 51, SOA Praha; “Franc Topič,” Jutro, February 5th, 1925, 3; Ivan Grbec, “Vsem,
ki ste željni lepote,” Edinost, April 4th, 1919, 1; “Koncert orkestra Glasbene matice v
Mariboru,” Ptujski list, March 14th, 1920, 6.
27 AHMP, Týn O14, M: 1920–1924, fol. 146.
273
Jan Šlais. Šlais’s mother, Anna Havlová, came from a Lutheran family in
Podbaba (Prague), where her father, Josef Havla, was a laborer.24 We know
Šlais attended secondary school (Bürgerschule/Mešťanská škola) in Smichov
(Prague), but are no known records of his early musical education.
In 1907, at the age of fourteen, he entered the Prague Conservatory to
study with Ševčík’s pupil Štěpán Suchý (1872–1920), who taught several suc-
cessful violinists. On July 4th, 1913, Šlais finished his violin studies with the
highest degree, performing the Violin Concerto in C minor by Tor Aulin
(1866–1914).25
Immediately after completing his studies, Šlais was appointed assistant
concertmaster at a theater (Svobodnyj teatr) in Moscow and one year later
at the private Zimin Opera. From 1917, he was the assistant concertmaster
of the Moscow Musicians’ Union Symphony Orchestra. At the beginning
of 1919, he returned to his homeland to become a member of the National
Theater Orchestra in Prague, with which he went on a promotional concert
tour to Paris, London, Geneva, Bern, and Zürich. In autumn of the same
year, he accepted a position at the newly-founded Music School in Maribor,
where the principal of the school was another Prague violinist: František
Topič (Fran Topič; 1881–?).26
In 1920, Šlais returned to Prague to continue with his violin studies
in Ševčík’s well-known violin master class, where he remained until June
1921. During that time, he gave concerts in Prague and in the region. On
September 15th, 1921, Šlais accepted a position as violin teacher at the Lju-
bljana Conservatory and at the end of the year, on December 29th, 1921, in
Prague, he married the pianist Růžena Deylová (1888–1969) with whom
he had become acquainted in Maribor.27 In 1939, he became a teacher and
head of the violin and violoncello department at the Academy of Music
in Ljubljana. Seven years later, he returned to his homeland to become a
teacher at the Prague Conservatory, a position he held until 1952, and from
then on at the Janáček Music Academy in Brno. During his long residen-
24 AHMP, Radlice SM N 29, B: 1879–1895, fol. 131.
25 Matrik 1879, fol. 71, SOA Praha.
26 Topič was born on September 4th, 1881 in Lipá. He studied violin with Antonín Ben-
newitz at the Prague Conservatory between 1899 and 1904. After World War I, he
was a violin teacher in Trieste and in 1919 became the first director of the newly es-
tablished Music Society in Maribor, where he remained until 1926. See Matrik 1879,
fol. 51, SOA Praha; “Franc Topič,” Jutro, February 5th, 1925, 3; Ivan Grbec, “Vsem,
ki ste željni lepote,” Edinost, April 4th, 1919, 1; “Koncert orkestra Glasbene matice v
Mariboru,” Ptujski list, March 14th, 1920, 6.
27 AHMP, Týn O14, M: 1920–1924, fol. 146.
273
