Page 430 - 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. 430
konservator iji: profesionalizacija in specializacija glasbenega dela
Darja Koter
The founding of the Ljubljana Academy of Music
and its first years of activity (1939–1945)
The first efforts that led to a higher education music institution on the Slo-
venian national level date back to 1872, when the central music institute, the
Glasbena Matica, was created. Its governing board was aware of the impor-
tance of musical education at the highest possible level, and was prepared
to assume responsibility for its development. These efforts began yielding
results in the newly created Slavic State of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes af-
ter 1919, when the Glasbena Matica secured a decision on the founding of
what was called the First Yugoslav Conservatory of Music and Perform-
ing Art, which was a private institution. Why it took the name “First” is
not explained, since before then a conservatory had been established in Za-
greb. In 1926 the Ljubljana Conservatory was nationalised and renamed the
State Conservatory. It comprised a lower and secondary level. Efforts to-
wards the higher education level were rewarded in 1939 with the founding
of the Academy of Music, which had the status of a faculty and had an af-
filiated Secondary Music School. This achievement can be credited to cer-
tain prominent Slovenian politicians, professors of the State Conservatory
and members of the Glasbena Matica board. The “Academy of Music Soci-
ety” established in support of the movement in early 1937 brought togeth-
er numerous influential individuals. The creation of the Academy marked
the termination of the State Conservatory, while the Glasbena Matica took
charge of education on the lower level. The Academy’s first rector was the
internationally acclaimed pianist Anton Trost. Graduates of academies
of music in Vienna and Prague were appointed as professors, with Anton
Trost being joined by the opera singer Julij Betetto, the organist and com-
poser Stanko Premrl and the pianist Janko Ravnik. The organisation of the
Academy followed German and Czech models. The Academy proper com-
prised eight departments: composition and conducting, singing, piano, vi-
olin, cello, organ, theatrical arts, and musical pedagogy. Wind and brass
instruments were only taught at the secondary level. The Academy of Mu-
sic began life in a period marked by the threat of war, a factor that affected
its development, yet it continued to work without interruption. The Italian
occupying authorities (from the start of war in 1941 to autumn 1943) main-
tained all important cultural institutions and supported their operation,
and the Germans made no significant change to this practice. In this way
the Ljubljana Academy of Music operated without interruption until 1945.
428
Darja Koter
The founding of the Ljubljana Academy of Music
and its first years of activity (1939–1945)
The first efforts that led to a higher education music institution on the Slo-
venian national level date back to 1872, when the central music institute, the
Glasbena Matica, was created. Its governing board was aware of the impor-
tance of musical education at the highest possible level, and was prepared
to assume responsibility for its development. These efforts began yielding
results in the newly created Slavic State of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes af-
ter 1919, when the Glasbena Matica secured a decision on the founding of
what was called the First Yugoslav Conservatory of Music and Perform-
ing Art, which was a private institution. Why it took the name “First” is
not explained, since before then a conservatory had been established in Za-
greb. In 1926 the Ljubljana Conservatory was nationalised and renamed the
State Conservatory. It comprised a lower and secondary level. Efforts to-
wards the higher education level were rewarded in 1939 with the founding
of the Academy of Music, which had the status of a faculty and had an af-
filiated Secondary Music School. This achievement can be credited to cer-
tain prominent Slovenian politicians, professors of the State Conservatory
and members of the Glasbena Matica board. The “Academy of Music Soci-
ety” established in support of the movement in early 1937 brought togeth-
er numerous influential individuals. The creation of the Academy marked
the termination of the State Conservatory, while the Glasbena Matica took
charge of education on the lower level. The Academy’s first rector was the
internationally acclaimed pianist Anton Trost. Graduates of academies
of music in Vienna and Prague were appointed as professors, with Anton
Trost being joined by the opera singer Julij Betetto, the organist and com-
poser Stanko Premrl and the pianist Janko Ravnik. The organisation of the
Academy followed German and Czech models. The Academy proper com-
prised eight departments: composition and conducting, singing, piano, vi-
olin, cello, organ, theatrical arts, and musical pedagogy. Wind and brass
instruments were only taught at the secondary level. The Academy of Mu-
sic began life in a period marked by the threat of war, a factor that affected
its development, yet it continued to work without interruption. The Italian
occupying authorities (from the start of war in 1941 to autumn 1943) main-
tained all important cultural institutions and supported their operation,
and the Germans made no significant change to this practice. In this way
the Ljubljana Academy of Music operated without interruption until 1945.
428
