Page 136 - 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. 136
konservator iji: profesionalizacija in specializacija glasbenega dela
tion) to Romania in 1918, or which would have to withstand the great trials
of the turbulent 20th century – the two world wars or Communism taking
power in our country.
To support the wish for emancipation and for compensating the delay
in progress compared to Western societies, measures and concrete reforms
were needed, so as to change mentalities, habits, to build coherent political,
economic, and cultural structures, for “progress, streaming in from Europe,
takes [a willing] Romania by storm”.2 Among the institutions to be founded
then, with the purpose of offering proper assistance to the new direction,
was also the Conservatory of Music and Declamation,3 established on Oc-
tober 6, 1864, by the decree of Alexandru Ioan Cuza – the ruler of Romania
at that time. The decision was in agreement with the country’s new musi-
cal landscape, which, over half a century, had escaped from Orient and its
influence. The official music of the royal court, church music, all types of
music undergo important changes – by as early as 1830 the Turkish mehter-
hane is a distant memory, the current of an increasingly Romanian sacred
music is stronger and stronger, and popular music is open to repertoires
imported from the West.
The founding of the Bucharest Conservatory of Music and Declama-
tion is part of a larger set of similar initiatives in 19th century Europe. It
aimed, right from the beginning, at becoming an artistic institution dedi-
cated to the advancement of its students, musicians or actors, and to offer-
ing a high-level education.
The Conservatory’s history, at least from its beginnings and until after
World War II, shows a positive pace of development, owing in a great meas-
ure to its leaders, who identified with the needs and artistic aspirations
of their times. Alexandru Flechtenmacher, Eduard Wachmann, Dimitrie
Popovici-Bayreuth are the most important leaders who, until the first dec-
ade of the 20th century, ensured that the Conservatory would progress and
yield results, with a strategy focusing on specific fundamental directions.
If at first they strove towards a balance between vocal and instrumental
music, between sacred and secular music, which also considered the mar-
ket requirement, they arrived, in time, at a diversification of specialization.
2 Ioana Pârvulescu, În intimitatea secolului 19 [In the Intimacy of the 19th Century]
(Bucharest: Humanitas, 2005), 66.
3 In time, the institution has been called in different ways. In between wars, its names
were: Conservatory of Music and Dramatic Art, Acadamy of Music and Dramatic
Art, Royal Academy of Music and Dramatic Art. See Antigona Rădulescu, Odiseea
muzicală / Musical Odyssey 1864–2014 (Bucharest: Editura UNMB, 2014), 186–189.
134
tion) to Romania in 1918, or which would have to withstand the great trials
of the turbulent 20th century – the two world wars or Communism taking
power in our country.
To support the wish for emancipation and for compensating the delay
in progress compared to Western societies, measures and concrete reforms
were needed, so as to change mentalities, habits, to build coherent political,
economic, and cultural structures, for “progress, streaming in from Europe,
takes [a willing] Romania by storm”.2 Among the institutions to be founded
then, with the purpose of offering proper assistance to the new direction,
was also the Conservatory of Music and Declamation,3 established on Oc-
tober 6, 1864, by the decree of Alexandru Ioan Cuza – the ruler of Romania
at that time. The decision was in agreement with the country’s new musi-
cal landscape, which, over half a century, had escaped from Orient and its
influence. The official music of the royal court, church music, all types of
music undergo important changes – by as early as 1830 the Turkish mehter-
hane is a distant memory, the current of an increasingly Romanian sacred
music is stronger and stronger, and popular music is open to repertoires
imported from the West.
The founding of the Bucharest Conservatory of Music and Declama-
tion is part of a larger set of similar initiatives in 19th century Europe. It
aimed, right from the beginning, at becoming an artistic institution dedi-
cated to the advancement of its students, musicians or actors, and to offer-
ing a high-level education.
The Conservatory’s history, at least from its beginnings and until after
World War II, shows a positive pace of development, owing in a great meas-
ure to its leaders, who identified with the needs and artistic aspirations
of their times. Alexandru Flechtenmacher, Eduard Wachmann, Dimitrie
Popovici-Bayreuth are the most important leaders who, until the first dec-
ade of the 20th century, ensured that the Conservatory would progress and
yield results, with a strategy focusing on specific fundamental directions.
If at first they strove towards a balance between vocal and instrumental
music, between sacred and secular music, which also considered the mar-
ket requirement, they arrived, in time, at a diversification of specialization.
2 Ioana Pârvulescu, În intimitatea secolului 19 [In the Intimacy of the 19th Century]
(Bucharest: Humanitas, 2005), 66.
3 In time, the institution has been called in different ways. In between wars, its names
were: Conservatory of Music and Dramatic Art, Acadamy of Music and Dramatic
Art, Royal Academy of Music and Dramatic Art. See Antigona Rădulescu, Odiseea
muzicală / Musical Odyssey 1864–2014 (Bucharest: Editura UNMB, 2014), 186–189.
134
