Page 167 - Glasbenopedagoški zbornik Akademije za glasbo v Ljubljani / The Journal of Music Education of the Academy of Music in Ljubljana: Mostovi med formalnim in neformalnim glasbenim izobraževanjem, leto 15, zvezek 31 / Year 15, Issue 31, 2019
P. 167
Vedrana Markoviæ, INFLUENCE OF SLOVENIAN CULTURE AND MUSIC PEDAGOGY...
music elements. In the initial phase of her musical-stage work for children, Vida Matjan
used popular works of music literature, linking them with her compositions (Forest
Fairytale and Images from Children’s Stories). Later on, she composed, designed and
created scenography, directed while closely cooperating with colleagues and insisting on
children as performers. It is worth mentioning that she conducted each of the
performances herself.
The line of music fairytales continued with creation of new ones: in 1967 Dolls Clinique
was created, based on Jovan Aleksiæ’s text followed by music fairytale Little Wolf based
on the text by Vojmil Rabadan in 1968. Vida Matjan was also the author of children’s
opera To Meet the Fish created in 1989. Each of the works listed is kept in the State
Archives of Montenegro and the Historical Archives of Kotor. These are all manuscripts.
Music fairytale Sleepless Night in the Woods
The greatest success and probably the most mature piece of Vida Matjan’s work is a
musical fairytale Sleepless Night in the Woods created in 1963 based on the text by Miloš
Miloševiæ. The performance of this work involves instruments of the Orff approach,
guitar, piano, vocal soloist, choir and ballet. The fairytale takes place in the woods where
dwarfs and forest animals all play, sing and dance together, in peace and friendship,
conveying the messages of love. Currently available is only the version of Vida Matjan’s
original manuscript, 111 pages long. The work definitely deserves to be published in order
to be made more available to interested teachers and their students.
At the time it was created the fairytale was performed in Kotor, across the Republic of
Montenegro and even in the former common state of Yugoslavia. Its performance at
Music Pedagogues’ Congress on 26th August 1964 attracted a lot of attention. The authors
of this musical-scene work were awarded the Republic of Montenegro’s Trinaestojulska
Award. Critics were extremely positive. In the magazine Music and School no.1, in 1965,
Bojana Dunðerski, a participant of the above mentioned Congress, wrote: “This
performance has showed that nice results can be achieved in minimal conditions, if music
school does not confine itself only to the use of classical instruments and if it finds the
right place in its surroundings.”
Worth mentioning is the statement by professor Branko Pivnièki, a President of
Coordination Board of Yugoslav Composers Association, published in daily newspapers
Pobjeda no. 2336 on 30th July 1964: “This fairytale performed by Kotor music school
students has impressed me and entirely won me over. When it is known that all authors
come from Kotor, the term “own power” get special weight and seriousness. Performers
did their poetic and stage tasks spontaneously and gleefully which inevitably transmitted
to listeners and viewers filling them with tenderness and joy of children’s play”.
Recently the fairytale has been performed in celebration of 70 years of the foundation of
music school in Kotor.
165
music elements. In the initial phase of her musical-stage work for children, Vida Matjan
used popular works of music literature, linking them with her compositions (Forest
Fairytale and Images from Children’s Stories). Later on, she composed, designed and
created scenography, directed while closely cooperating with colleagues and insisting on
children as performers. It is worth mentioning that she conducted each of the
performances herself.
The line of music fairytales continued with creation of new ones: in 1967 Dolls Clinique
was created, based on Jovan Aleksiæ’s text followed by music fairytale Little Wolf based
on the text by Vojmil Rabadan in 1968. Vida Matjan was also the author of children’s
opera To Meet the Fish created in 1989. Each of the works listed is kept in the State
Archives of Montenegro and the Historical Archives of Kotor. These are all manuscripts.
Music fairytale Sleepless Night in the Woods
The greatest success and probably the most mature piece of Vida Matjan’s work is a
musical fairytale Sleepless Night in the Woods created in 1963 based on the text by Miloš
Miloševiæ. The performance of this work involves instruments of the Orff approach,
guitar, piano, vocal soloist, choir and ballet. The fairytale takes place in the woods where
dwarfs and forest animals all play, sing and dance together, in peace and friendship,
conveying the messages of love. Currently available is only the version of Vida Matjan’s
original manuscript, 111 pages long. The work definitely deserves to be published in order
to be made more available to interested teachers and their students.
At the time it was created the fairytale was performed in Kotor, across the Republic of
Montenegro and even in the former common state of Yugoslavia. Its performance at
Music Pedagogues’ Congress on 26th August 1964 attracted a lot of attention. The authors
of this musical-scene work were awarded the Republic of Montenegro’s Trinaestojulska
Award. Critics were extremely positive. In the magazine Music and School no.1, in 1965,
Bojana Dunðerski, a participant of the above mentioned Congress, wrote: “This
performance has showed that nice results can be achieved in minimal conditions, if music
school does not confine itself only to the use of classical instruments and if it finds the
right place in its surroundings.”
Worth mentioning is the statement by professor Branko Pivnièki, a President of
Coordination Board of Yugoslav Composers Association, published in daily newspapers
Pobjeda no. 2336 on 30th July 1964: “This fairytale performed by Kotor music school
students has impressed me and entirely won me over. When it is known that all authors
come from Kotor, the term “own power” get special weight and seriousness. Performers
did their poetic and stage tasks spontaneously and gleefully which inevitably transmitted
to listeners and viewers filling them with tenderness and joy of children’s play”.
Recently the fairytale has been performed in celebration of 70 years of the foundation of
music school in Kotor.
165
