Page 279 - 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
cises, and he would never tolerate anything less than absolute perfection
when they performed.34 His best students had “great technical skill, pure
intonation, and noble performance.”35 Suchý successfully transferred all
of these qualities and aspirations to Šlais, who was a diligent student and
had the highest scores for violin throughout all six years of study at the
conservatory.36
Soon after Šlais completed his studies and began his teaching career in
Maribor, there are records of his successful pedagogical approach:
Šlais had his pupils play pieces that were perfectly in line with their
abilities. This is proof of a wise and selfless pedagogical view. There-
fore, the impression of his students’ playing was perfectly appropri-
ate. Correct performance, precise intonation, clear and strong fin-
ger touch and precise bowings that are difficult for a beginner, and
rhythmic play have a very pleasant effect on all the students. I con-
sider the performances of both of the Mazas duets the best pedagog-
ical success.37
After a brief period of teaching in Maribor, Šlais continued with his
violin studies in Otakar Ševčík’s master class in Prague, where he learned
about Ševčík’s violin teaching system from the master personally. Ševčík’s
violin lessons were divided into four parts and daily exercises were a very
important part. These consisted of several technical elements, including
trills, scales, double stops, bowing exercises, position changes, and so on.
Ševčík explained the entire process of practicing very thoroughly to each
student, and then continued with teaching etudes, pieces, and concerts.38
With the establishment of the Ljubljana Conservatory in 1919, a new
era began: violinists and other musicians no longer had to go to abroad for
advanced study. At a crucial time for the development of violin playing in
34 F. James Rybka, Bohuslav Martinů (Lanham, MD: Scarecrow Press, Inc., 2011), 13.
35 Žídek, Čeští houslisté tří století, 164–165.
36 Katalogové listy (1909–1920), no. 146, Jan Šlais, 1912/1913, AHMP.
37 Orig. “Šlais je svojim gojencem predložil točke, ki so bile strogo umerjene njihovim
zmožnostim. To je dokaz modrega in nesebičnega pedagogičnega stališča. Temu
popolnoma primeren je bil utisek igre njegovih učencev. Korektna izvajanja, čista
intonacija, jasni krepki udarci prstov in natančno začetniku težavno menjanje loka in
ritmična igra pri vseh učencih zelo prijetno učinkuje. Izvajanje obeh Mazasovih duov
prištevam k najboljšim pedagogičnim uspehom.” See Anon., “Glasbena šola,” Mari-
borski delavec, July 2nd, 1920, 1.
38 See Žídek, Čeští houslisté tří století, 131; Vladimir Šefl, Otakar Ševčík: Sborník statí a vz-
pomínek (Prague: Státní nakladatelství krásné literatury, hudby a umění, 1953), 76–77.
277
cises, and he would never tolerate anything less than absolute perfection
when they performed.34 His best students had “great technical skill, pure
intonation, and noble performance.”35 Suchý successfully transferred all
of these qualities and aspirations to Šlais, who was a diligent student and
had the highest scores for violin throughout all six years of study at the
conservatory.36
Soon after Šlais completed his studies and began his teaching career in
Maribor, there are records of his successful pedagogical approach:
Šlais had his pupils play pieces that were perfectly in line with their
abilities. This is proof of a wise and selfless pedagogical view. There-
fore, the impression of his students’ playing was perfectly appropri-
ate. Correct performance, precise intonation, clear and strong fin-
ger touch and precise bowings that are difficult for a beginner, and
rhythmic play have a very pleasant effect on all the students. I con-
sider the performances of both of the Mazas duets the best pedagog-
ical success.37
After a brief period of teaching in Maribor, Šlais continued with his
violin studies in Otakar Ševčík’s master class in Prague, where he learned
about Ševčík’s violin teaching system from the master personally. Ševčík’s
violin lessons were divided into four parts and daily exercises were a very
important part. These consisted of several technical elements, including
trills, scales, double stops, bowing exercises, position changes, and so on.
Ševčík explained the entire process of practicing very thoroughly to each
student, and then continued with teaching etudes, pieces, and concerts.38
With the establishment of the Ljubljana Conservatory in 1919, a new
era began: violinists and other musicians no longer had to go to abroad for
advanced study. At a crucial time for the development of violin playing in
34 F. James Rybka, Bohuslav Martinů (Lanham, MD: Scarecrow Press, Inc., 2011), 13.
35 Žídek, Čeští houslisté tří století, 164–165.
36 Katalogové listy (1909–1920), no. 146, Jan Šlais, 1912/1913, AHMP.
37 Orig. “Šlais je svojim gojencem predložil točke, ki so bile strogo umerjene njihovim
zmožnostim. To je dokaz modrega in nesebičnega pedagogičnega stališča. Temu
popolnoma primeren je bil utisek igre njegovih učencev. Korektna izvajanja, čista
intonacija, jasni krepki udarci prstov in natančno začetniku težavno menjanje loka in
ritmična igra pri vseh učencih zelo prijetno učinkuje. Izvajanje obeh Mazasovih duov
prištevam k najboljšim pedagogičnim uspehom.” See Anon., “Glasbena šola,” Mari-
borski delavec, July 2nd, 1920, 1.
38 See Žídek, Čeští houslisté tří století, 131; Vladimir Šefl, Otakar Ševčík: Sborník statí a vz-
pomínek (Prague: Státní nakladatelství krásné literatury, hudby a umění, 1953), 76–77.
277
