Page 292 - 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. 292
konservator iji: profesionalizacija in specializacija glasbenega dela
to train them as professional violinists and his students still had to perfect
their violin studies abroad.
Fifty years later, young Jan Šlais was more fortunate in this sense when
he was appointed as a violin teacher at the newly-founded Ljubljana Con-
servatory. During his twenty-five years of teaching in Ljubljana, he pro-
foundly influenced the development of violin playing for the next hundred
years, and the majority of today’s Slovenian violinists can be considered his
“violin descendants.” He was also one of the most important promoters of
Ševčík’s violin system in Ljubljana. It would remain a leading teaching sys-
tem in schools throughout the twentieth century and it is still today part of
violin curricula. Šlais influenced not only violin playing but also viola play-
ing, not only in Ljubljana but all over Slovenia. His pupils would go on to
train the next generation of successful violinists and violists, skilled musi-
cians that would take on leading positions in Slovenian symphony orches-
tras, music schools, conservatories, and academies, and were active as solo-
ists and chamber musicians. His contributions were widespread, and they
influenced the development of the Slovenian symphony orchestras that are
active today.
When another Prague violinist, Václav Talich, founded the Slovenian
Philharmonic Orchestra in 1908, most of its musicians were Czechs: they
were the best orchestra players available at that time, for lack of local com-
petence. However, by the time of the establishment of the Ljubljana Phil-
harmonic Orchestra in 1934, and its re-establishment in 1947 (as the Slo-
venian Philharmonic Orchestra), the members were already Šlais’s local
pupils, and also their pupils. The same was true of the chamber ensembles,
whose members were Šlais’s pupils as well.
Even though Ševčík’s violin system gradually declined in popularity,
and individual teachings styles began to blend, Šlais was in Ljubljana at a
crucial time and laid quality foundations of violin training for the next gen-
erations of violinists in Slovenia. In the last hundred years, thousands of
Slovenian violinists have been trained on those foundations. Some of them
have become world-famous and sought-after violin teachers that are now
sharing their knowledge, and thus Šlais’s legacy, at home and abroad.
Bibliography
Ajlec, Rafael. “Ob smrti violinista Karla Rupla,” Radio Show (Radio Slovenia, Pro-
gram 1).
290
to train them as professional violinists and his students still had to perfect
their violin studies abroad.
Fifty years later, young Jan Šlais was more fortunate in this sense when
he was appointed as a violin teacher at the newly-founded Ljubljana Con-
servatory. During his twenty-five years of teaching in Ljubljana, he pro-
foundly influenced the development of violin playing for the next hundred
years, and the majority of today’s Slovenian violinists can be considered his
“violin descendants.” He was also one of the most important promoters of
Ševčík’s violin system in Ljubljana. It would remain a leading teaching sys-
tem in schools throughout the twentieth century and it is still today part of
violin curricula. Šlais influenced not only violin playing but also viola play-
ing, not only in Ljubljana but all over Slovenia. His pupils would go on to
train the next generation of successful violinists and violists, skilled musi-
cians that would take on leading positions in Slovenian symphony orches-
tras, music schools, conservatories, and academies, and were active as solo-
ists and chamber musicians. His contributions were widespread, and they
influenced the development of the Slovenian symphony orchestras that are
active today.
When another Prague violinist, Václav Talich, founded the Slovenian
Philharmonic Orchestra in 1908, most of its musicians were Czechs: they
were the best orchestra players available at that time, for lack of local com-
petence. However, by the time of the establishment of the Ljubljana Phil-
harmonic Orchestra in 1934, and its re-establishment in 1947 (as the Slo-
venian Philharmonic Orchestra), the members were already Šlais’s local
pupils, and also their pupils. The same was true of the chamber ensembles,
whose members were Šlais’s pupils as well.
Even though Ševčík’s violin system gradually declined in popularity,
and individual teachings styles began to blend, Šlais was in Ljubljana at a
crucial time and laid quality foundations of violin training for the next gen-
erations of violinists in Slovenia. In the last hundred years, thousands of
Slovenian violinists have been trained on those foundations. Some of them
have become world-famous and sought-after violin teachers that are now
sharing their knowledge, and thus Šlais’s legacy, at home and abroad.
Bibliography
Ajlec, Rafael. “Ob smrti violinista Karla Rupla,” Radio Show (Radio Slovenia, Pro-
gram 1).
290
