Classical and Modern Music
Format: CD
Code: 112201
EAN: 3838898112201
Foreign platforms:
NOVI AKORDI
(New Chords)
1901–1914
A selection of songs
This CD is based on a music magazine, published in Ljubljana one hundred and ten years ago, namely a collection of vocal and instrumental music with the telling title Novi akordi (New Chords). The founders of the magazine were the composer and barrister Gojmir Krek and the publisher Lavoslav Schwenter: both driven by the desire to develop and improve Slovene music. Krek took over the conceptual work as the editor-in-chief, while Schwentner was responsible for the publishing of the magazine,
which surely wasn’t printed with the making of profits in mind.
The magazine was published during the rule of the Austro-Hungarian Empire. Its capital had a very rich and diverse cultural, artistic and scientific life, where decadence, Jugendstil or Art Noveau and Modernism thrived. Nevertheless, on the territory of that huge state, other cities and towns began to “develop their own individual image and future out of their own spiritual strength and traditions”, as Helmut Rumpler put it. Ljubljana, which was from the perspective of the great monarchy only
“an idyllic village on the very edge of the urban territory”, was no exception. Even in this provincial town, an image of a unique art and culture was persistently taking shape. Near the end of the 19th century, Slovene music reached a level of development which allowed it to free itself of some of its utilitarian elements. The tradition of national-cultural societies was slowly, but surely upgraded and improved by the awareness of some basic questions regar- ding Slovene musical life: about
the necessity for professional and educated musicians; the need for composers, performers and teachers with broad professional knowledge; and about an understanding and meaning of an original national music and also professional reviews. Some individuals – mainly those who could estimate the con- sequences of the fact that music played an insufficient part in the national culture – felt that the problems stemmed from not being able to keep in touch with the musical trends outside our ethnic
borders. In this field, the mould was broken by the charismatic Gojmir Krek, who knew what he wanted to achieve. His qualities – personal integrity, musical knowledge, a talent for writing, reinforced by a delberate plan and solid and clear editorial principles – all contributed to the making of Novi akordi, a systematically edited musical magazine, which left an indelible mark on the musical sphere in Slovenia through its effectiveness, consistency and professional integrity.
Gojmir Krek was by then already an accomplished musical personality and also a lawyer, working in Ljubljana. During his law studies in Graz, Krek became familiar with the lively Graz musical scene and obtained a profound knowledge of international magazines and literature. He was deliberately adding depth to his musical knowledge and broadening his horizons: his studies enabled him to delve deep into professional problems and to master the issues at hand. This significantly strengthened his
self-confidence. The lively music scene in this Styrian centre helped Krek to become familiar with the music of other nations, while his inquisitiveness, determination and acquired knowledge regarding other artistic forms honed his ideas and views about art. He was therefore systematically developing and building his own stance with respect to the meaning and purpose of music literature, and above all regarding the professional review as the bedrock for the
evaluation of Slovene music culture. Krek prepared thoroughly before he decided to publish his magazine. He was well aware that he couldn’t do all the work single handed. In his fight against the bad habits of national-cultural societies and all oppositions amongst the political parties which considerably undermined the independent development of music.
What Krek had in mind was “a musical collection with compositions of a more evolved form”. To prevent the untimely death of his offspring due to financial vulnerability, he found a “managing” partner, Lavoslav Schwentner who had already proved himself as a beneficiary for young original Slovene literature, both fictional and musical. He accepted Krek’s publishing plan, without reservation, and so they established “a company” for publishing a new musical magazine at the beginning of 1901. They
aptly chose its title, which exposed the magazine’s main topical credo: Novi akordi, zbornik za vokalno in instrumentalno glasbo (New Chords, a Journal for Vocal and Instrumental Music). The magazine had sound musical, publishing and financial foundations from its outset, and since its editor-in-chief was also an experienced lawyer, it was immune to various harmful parasites. There were plenty of them, even at the inception of the magazine, which was quite regularly published as a bimonthly,
i.e. six times a year up to 1914, when the war disrupted its conti- nuity. Krek, the editor-in-chief moved twice during this time (first to Leipzig and then to Vienna) and changed his professional lawyer posts several times. This didn’t have any adverse influence with regard to the work process and high professional standard – quite the contrary, the distance from Ljubljana was even beneficial to the magazine, as its editor-in-chief more easily preserved his absolute authority and dedication
to non-party politics. The magazine was enlarged by a rich literary supplement in 1910. It enabled Krek to strengthen his musical views with the written word and the magazine offered its pages up for debate. Krek gained a few permanent collaborators, amongst them Anton Lajovic and Emil Adamič, who contributed some of the most important articles. A year later (1911), Krek partly changed the design of the magazine. He entrusted the redesign to one of Novi akordi musicians, Sašo Šantl. The first
volume of the tenth year had a new pretty image with drawings in the then popular Art Nouveau style.
We must not overlook the fact that Krek’s great editorial work has guaranteed that his music magazine is hailed as excellent, even by today’s standards. It watchfully monitored all forms of Slovene music life and set the criteria for artistic values straight from the beginning of its existence. The evaluation criteria didn’t change: quality and aesthetical irreproachableness were the decisive factors. Gojmir Krek was therefore justly seen as a strict, but honest musical critic and Novi akordi
reflected the best creations and achievements in Slovene music, before the disintegration of the Austro-Hungarian Empire.
The period of Novi akordi (1901–1914) is thus a complete developmental phase and represents an important part in the history of Slovene music. During this period, the concept and compositional form of participating musicians were refined. The highest artistic level was achieved by the following composers: Benjamin Ipavec (1829–1908), Josip Procházka (1874–1956), Risto Savin (1859–1948), Viktor Parma (1858–1924), Emil Adamič (1877–1936), Anton Lajovic (1878–1960), Josip Pavčič (1870–1949),
Anton Ravnik (1891–1982), Vasilij Mirk (1884–1962) and Oskar Dev (1868–1932), while the pinnacle of the modern style was achieved in two vocal forms, that of choir and solo singing – all under the professional and organisational auspices of Gojmir Krek (1875–1942).
In those times, the composers had to deem themselves lucky if their compositions were performed in concert halls and reached audiences, hungry for music. Nowadays, the situation is completely different and it seems only right that the pieces, important for the development of music are presented in modern interpretations and recorded in studios. Thus we wish to draw your attention to the classical sources of Slovene music. From the extensive Novi akordi archive of
music, we chose some outstanding choral, solo and piano compositions and chronologically followed their publication in the magazine. Next to the information regarding the recordings you can find the data relating to their publication in Novi akordi (year, volume and page).
The recordings were made in the studios of the national radio Radio Slovenija over several years.
The compositions were interpreted by the RTV Slovenia Chamber Choir under the baton of Urša Lah (4-6, 9, 14-16, 18, 20-23), Bass-Baritone Marko Fink and pianist Nataša Valant (2, 7, 10-13, 19), pianist Maja Mancini (1) and the late pianist Aci Bertoncelj (3, 8 in 17). Technical excellence was provided by the following sound engineers: Zvone Ažman (8, 17), Rado Cedilnik (1), Mitja Gobec (3), Branko Škrajnar (2, 4-7, 9, 10-16, 18, 20-23) and music producers: Leon Engelman (3), Marinka Strenar
(2, 4-7, 9-16, 18-23) and Irena Urbanc (1). The unified sound was masterfully created by Miro Prljača.
Mag. Simona Moličnik, transl. by Polona Mertelj
COMPOSITIONS:
1. Anton Lajovic: Sanjarija za klavir (listen!)
(1/1901, 2. zv., str. 21).
Izvaja/performed by Maja Mancini.
2. Benjamin Ipavec, besedilo Josip Murn: Če na poljane rosa pade (1/1901, 2. zv., str. 22).
Izvajata Marko Fink in Nataša Valant.
3. Benjamin Ipavec: Valček za klavir
(2/1902, 1. zv., str. 1).
Izvaja Aci Bertoncelj.
4. Gojmir Krek, besedilo Josip Murn: Zvečer
(2/1903, 6. zv., str. 98).
Izvaja Komorni zbor RTV Slovenija, dirigentka Urša Lah.
5. Emil Adamič, besedilo Josip Murn: Prišla je jesenska noč (4/1904, 1. zv., str. 10).
Izvaja Komorni zbor RTV Slovenija, dirigentka Urša Lah.
6. Emil Adamič, besedilo Josip Murn: Pomladanska slutnja (4/1904, 2. zv., str. 21).
Izvaja Komorni zbor RTV Slovenija, dirigentka Urša Lah.
7. Benjamin Ipavec, besedilo Alojz Gradnik: Iz gozda so ptice odplule (4/1905, 5. zv., str. 57).
Izvajata Marko Fink in Nataša Valant.
8. Benjamin Ipavec: Scherzo za klavir
(4/1905, 6. zv., str. 61).
Izvaja Aci Bertoncelj.
9. Stanko Premrl, besedilo Simon Jenko: Lilije (6/1906, 2. zv., str. 24).
Izvaja Komorni zbor RTV Slovenija, dirigentka Urša Lah.
10. Benjamin Ipavec, besedilo Janko Pretnar: Menih
(6/1907, 5. zv., str. 51).
Izvajata Marko Fink in Nataša Valant.
11. Anton Lajovic, besedilo Aleksander Puškin, prev.
Cvetko Golar: Serenada (7/1907, 2. zv., str. 17).
Izvajata Marko Fink in Nataša Valant.
12. Benjamin Ipavec, besedilo Oton Župančič:
Božji volek (7/1908, 4.-5. zv., str. 40).
Izvajata Marko Fink in Nataša Valant.
13. Benjamin Ipavec, besedilo Oton Župančič:
Pomladni veter (7/1908, 6. zv., str. 64).
Izvajata Marko Fink in Nataša Valant.
14. Ivan Laharnar, besedilo Zvonimir Kosem:
Spomin (9/1910, 5. zv., str. 62).
Izvaja Komorni zbor RTV Slovenija, dirigentka Urša Lah.
15. Anton Lajovic, besedilo Apollon Majkov, prev. Cvetko Golar: Z daljnega je morja (9/1910, 6. zv., str. 73).
Izvaja Komorni zbor RTV Slovenija, dirigentka Urša Lah.
16. Josip Pavčič, besedilo Radivoj Peterlin: Kaj ve, misli?
(10/1911, 1. zv., str. 12).
Izvaja Komorni zbor RTV Slovenija, dirigentka Urša Lah.
17. Stanko Premrl: Sonatina za klavir
(10/1911, 3. zv., str. 25).
Izvaja Aci Bertoncelj.
18. Ferdinand Juvanec, besedilo Simon Gregorčič:
Izgubljeni cvet (10/1911, 4. zv., str. 47).
Izvaja Komorni zbor RTV Slovenija, dirigentka Urša Lah.
19. Emil Adamič, besedilo Josip Murn: Kot iz tihe zabljene kapele (10/1911, 6. zv., str. 69).
Izvajata Marko Fink in Nataša Valant.
20. Emil Adamič, besedilo Cvetko Golar: Bela breza je zdramila (11/1912, 3. zv., str. 31).
Izvaja Komorni zbor RTV Slovenija, dirigentka Urša Lah.
21. Josip Pavčič, besedilo Milan Pugelj: Če rdeče rože zapade sneg (11/1912, 5. zv., str. 53).
Izvaja Komorni zbor RTV Slovenija, dirigentka Urša Lah.
22. Viktor Šmigovc, besedilo Simon Gregorčič: V gaji
(11/1912, 6. zv., str. 40).
Izvaja Komorni zbor RTV Slovenija, dirigentka Urša Lah.
23. Emil Adamič, besedilo Valentin Spindler: Vasujejo
(11/1913, 5. zv., str. 40).
Izvaja Komorni zbor RTV Slovenija, dirigentka Urša Lah.
