Page 301 - Weiss, Jernej, ur. 2017. Glasbene migracije: stičišče evropske glasbene raznolikosti - Musical Migrations: Crossroads of European Musical Diversity. Koper/Ljubljana: Založba Univerze na Primorskem in Festival Ljubljana. Studia musicologica Labacensia, 1
P. 301
jan václav lego – a her ald of slovene-czech r eciprocity
year he left Kamnik and moved to Ljubljana where he could witness the be-
ginning of a new era, the constitutional period, with its greater political
freedom.
The Slovenes, following the Czech model, soon began organizing gath-
erings, at which they formulated demands for a united Slovenia. Various
newspapers began to be published, so there was lots of work also for Lego.
His activities were soon noticed by the authorities, and in 1860 he had to
leave for Triest. It was a new opportunity for him to cooperate with Slo-
vene intellectuals such as Fran Levstik. They all were striving to put for-
ward Slovene national idea which led them to found Slovanska čitalnica
(Slavic Reading Society), first Slovene society at all. Jan Lego’s organiza-
tional skills helped to organize and activate social life among the Slovenes
in Triest. Among many other activities he successfully founded choir and
he became its first choir leader and he also sang himself. His activities and
enthusiasm in Triest were highly appreciated also among intellectuals and
national workers in Ljubljana. They were pleased when in 1862 he returned
to Ljubljana. Soon he began to cooperate with the most active Slovene cul-
tural workers, which resulted in founding Slovene Reading societies in Lju-
bljana, Maribor and Celje, which all became centers of national and cultur-
al work. In 1864 Ljubljana reading society became Slovenska Matica. The
same year he helped Fran Levstik to translate Božena Nĕmcova Babička, as
the first translation from Czech literature.
In 1863, following the Czech example, the Slovenes founded Južni
Sokol (Southern Falcon). Lego engaged in founding a mountaineering sec-
tion, which later grew to a Slovene mountaineering Society. He also sup-
ported the founding of the Czech branch of this society, which would en-
courage Czech climbers and tourists to visit Slovene mountains.
One of his very important achievements was that he aroused interest
in Slovene music, interest, which later developed into the Glasbena Mati-
ca (Musical Society).2 His ideas and work were also frequently supported fi-
nancially by the public. For example, he collected money for a reward for
the best composition. It was received by Janez Bleiweis, then the chairman
of Slovenska Matica.
On the whole, Lego played an exceptional role in national awakening
of young Slovenes. Since he was convinced that the work with young peo-
ple was of the greatest importance for raising national consciousness and
2 Dragotin Cvetko, “Stiki Jana Lega s slovensko glasbo,” Naša sodobnost, 3 (1955): 916–
929, 1080–1084.
299
year he left Kamnik and moved to Ljubljana where he could witness the be-
ginning of a new era, the constitutional period, with its greater political
freedom.
The Slovenes, following the Czech model, soon began organizing gath-
erings, at which they formulated demands for a united Slovenia. Various
newspapers began to be published, so there was lots of work also for Lego.
His activities were soon noticed by the authorities, and in 1860 he had to
leave for Triest. It was a new opportunity for him to cooperate with Slo-
vene intellectuals such as Fran Levstik. They all were striving to put for-
ward Slovene national idea which led them to found Slovanska čitalnica
(Slavic Reading Society), first Slovene society at all. Jan Lego’s organiza-
tional skills helped to organize and activate social life among the Slovenes
in Triest. Among many other activities he successfully founded choir and
he became its first choir leader and he also sang himself. His activities and
enthusiasm in Triest were highly appreciated also among intellectuals and
national workers in Ljubljana. They were pleased when in 1862 he returned
to Ljubljana. Soon he began to cooperate with the most active Slovene cul-
tural workers, which resulted in founding Slovene Reading societies in Lju-
bljana, Maribor and Celje, which all became centers of national and cultur-
al work. In 1864 Ljubljana reading society became Slovenska Matica. The
same year he helped Fran Levstik to translate Božena Nĕmcova Babička, as
the first translation from Czech literature.
In 1863, following the Czech example, the Slovenes founded Južni
Sokol (Southern Falcon). Lego engaged in founding a mountaineering sec-
tion, which later grew to a Slovene mountaineering Society. He also sup-
ported the founding of the Czech branch of this society, which would en-
courage Czech climbers and tourists to visit Slovene mountains.
One of his very important achievements was that he aroused interest
in Slovene music, interest, which later developed into the Glasbena Mati-
ca (Musical Society).2 His ideas and work were also frequently supported fi-
nancially by the public. For example, he collected money for a reward for
the best composition. It was received by Janez Bleiweis, then the chairman
of Slovenska Matica.
On the whole, Lego played an exceptional role in national awakening
of young Slovenes. Since he was convinced that the work with young peo-
ple was of the greatest importance for raising national consciousness and
2 Dragotin Cvetko, “Stiki Jana Lega s slovensko glasbo,” Naša sodobnost, 3 (1955): 916–
929, 1080–1084.
299
