Josip Štolcer-Slavenski
Encyclopedia
Josip Štolcer-Slavenski (Čakovec
, Croatia
, then Austro-Hungary 11 May 1896 - Belgrade
, Serbia
, then Yugoslavia
30 November 1955) was a Yugoslav composer
(ethnic Croat) and professor at the Music Academy in Belgrade.
, Austria-Hungary (present day Croatia
) into the Štolcer family. Here he attended elementary school but later studied music in the class of Zoltán Kodály
in Budapest
and Vítězslav Novák
in Prague
. He also studied in Paris
, France
.
in 1923 but soon, in 1924, he moved to Belgrade
. Like another Yugoslav composer, Jakov Gotovac
, he was a Pan-slavic
and Yugoslav national romantic whose work was strongly influenced by regional and national heritage. The sounds of home, its own history and heritage were in his works masterfully expressed new sequence of universal time. He observed the sound heritage of the cultures of the east, hoping to find the environments unchanged by the influence of the modern world. Josip Štolcer's Memorial Collection, established in 1965 in Belgrade contains original manuscripts and scores, tapes and records, as well as numerous other objects and musical instruments from the composer's home. Several music schools in Serbia
and Croatia
were named after him.
s, string quartet
s, and solos; his best-known choir
songs are Voda zvira and Romarska.
Cakovec
Čakovec is a city in northern Croatia, located around 90 kilometres north of Zagreb, the Croatian capital. Čakovec is both the county seat and largest city of Međimurje County, the northernmost, smallest and most densely populated Croatian county.-Population:...
, Croatia
Croatia
Croatia , officially the Republic of Croatia , is a unitary democratic parliamentary republic in Europe at the crossroads of the Mitteleuropa, the Balkans, and the Mediterranean. Its capital and largest city is Zagreb. The country is divided into 20 counties and the city of Zagreb. Croatia covers ...
, then Austro-Hungary 11 May 1896 - Belgrade
Belgrade
Belgrade is the capital and largest city of Serbia. It is located at the confluence of the Sava and Danube rivers, where the Pannonian Plain meets the Balkans. According to official results of Census 2011, the city has a population of 1,639,121. It is one of the 15 largest cities in Europe...
, Serbia
Serbia
Serbia , officially the Republic of Serbia , is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central and Southeast Europe, covering the southern part of the Carpathian basin and the central part of the Balkans...
, then Yugoslavia
Yugoslavia
Yugoslavia refers to three political entities that existed successively on the western part of the Balkans during most of the 20th century....
30 November 1955) was a Yugoslav composer
Composer
A composer is a person who creates music, either by musical notation or oral tradition, for interpretation and performance, or through direct manipulation of sonic material through electronic media...
(ethnic Croat) and professor at the Music Academy in Belgrade.
Early life
He was born in ČakovecCakovec
Čakovec is a city in northern Croatia, located around 90 kilometres north of Zagreb, the Croatian capital. Čakovec is both the county seat and largest city of Međimurje County, the northernmost, smallest and most densely populated Croatian county.-Population:...
, Austria-Hungary (present day Croatia
Croatia
Croatia , officially the Republic of Croatia , is a unitary democratic parliamentary republic in Europe at the crossroads of the Mitteleuropa, the Balkans, and the Mediterranean. Its capital and largest city is Zagreb. The country is divided into 20 counties and the city of Zagreb. Croatia covers ...
) into the Štolcer family. Here he attended elementary school but later studied music in the class of Zoltán Kodály
Zoltán Kodály
Zoltán Kodály was a Hungarian composer, ethnomusicologist, pedagogue, linguist, and philosopher. He is best known internationally as the creator of the Kodály Method.-Life:Born in Kecskemét, Kodály learned to play the violin as a child....
in Budapest
Budapest
Budapest is the capital of Hungary. As the largest city of Hungary, it is the country's principal political, cultural, commercial, industrial, and transportation centre. In 2011, Budapest had 1,733,685 inhabitants, down from its 1989 peak of 2,113,645 due to suburbanization. The Budapest Commuter...
and Vítězslav Novák
Vítezslav Novák
Vítězslav Novák was one of the most well-respected Czech composers and pedagogues, almost singlehandedly founding a mid-century Czech school of composition...
in Prague
Prague
Prague is the capital and largest city of the Czech Republic. Situated in the north-west of the country on the Vltava river, the city is home to about 1.3 million people, while its metropolitan area is estimated to have a population of over 2.3 million...
. He also studied in Paris
Paris
Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...
, France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
.
Career
Štolcer started his career as a music teacher in ZagrebZagreb
Zagreb is the capital and the largest city of the Republic of Croatia. It is in the northwest of the country, along the Sava river, at the southern slopes of the Medvednica mountain. Zagreb lies at an elevation of approximately above sea level. According to the last official census, Zagreb's city...
in 1923 but soon, in 1924, he moved to Belgrade
Belgrade
Belgrade is the capital and largest city of Serbia. It is located at the confluence of the Sava and Danube rivers, where the Pannonian Plain meets the Balkans. According to official results of Census 2011, the city has a population of 1,639,121. It is one of the 15 largest cities in Europe...
. Like another Yugoslav composer, Jakov Gotovac
Jakov Gotovac
Jakov Gotovac was a Croatian composer and conductor of classical music. He is the author of the most famous Croatian opera, the comic Ero s onoga svijeta , which first played in Zagreb in 1935....
, he was a Pan-slavic
Pan-Slavism
Pan-Slavism was a movement in the mid-19th century aimed at unity of all the Slavic peoples. The main focus was in the Balkans where the South Slavs had been ruled for centuries by other empires, Byzantine Empire, Austria-Hungary, the Ottoman Empire, and Venice...
and Yugoslav national romantic whose work was strongly influenced by regional and national heritage. The sounds of home, its own history and heritage were in his works masterfully expressed new sequence of universal time. He observed the sound heritage of the cultures of the east, hoping to find the environments unchanged by the influence of the modern world. Josip Štolcer's Memorial Collection, established in 1965 in Belgrade contains original manuscripts and scores, tapes and records, as well as numerous other objects and musical instruments from the composer's home. Several music schools in Serbia
Serbia
Serbia , officially the Republic of Serbia , is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central and Southeast Europe, covering the southern part of the Carpathian basin and the central part of the Balkans...
and Croatia
Croatia
Croatia , officially the Republic of Croatia , is a unitary democratic parliamentary republic in Europe at the crossroads of the Mitteleuropa, the Balkans, and the Mediterranean. Its capital and largest city is Zagreb. The country is divided into 20 counties and the city of Zagreb. Croatia covers ...
were named after him.
Opus
His best works are incorporated in a symphony named Simfonija Orienta (Symphony of the Orient) for soloists, choir and orchestra as well as in another symphony Balkanofonija (Symphony of the Balkans). Further he composed numerous piano works, violin sonataViolin sonata
A violin sonata is a musical composition for violin, which is nearly always accompanied by a piano or other keyboard instrument, or by figured bass in the Baroque period.-A:*Ella Adayevskaya**Sonata Greca for Violin or Clarinet and Piano...
s, string quartet
String quartet
A string quartet is a musical ensemble of four string players – usually two violin players, a violist and a cellist – or a piece written to be performed by such a group...
s, and solos; his best-known choir
Choir
A choir, chorale or chorus is a musical ensemble of singers. Choral music, in turn, is the music written specifically for such an ensemble to perform.A body of singers who perform together as a group is called a choir or chorus...
songs are Voda zvira and Romarska.
Međimurje songs
- Međimorje kak si lepo zeleno (Međimurje, how beautifully green you are)
- Raca plava po Dravi (Swimming duck on the DravaDravaDrava or Drave is a river in southern Central Europe, a tributary of the Danube. It sources in Toblach/Dobbiaco, Italy, and flows east through East Tirol and Carinthia in Austria, into Slovenia , and then southeast, passing through Croatia and forming most of the border between Croatia and...
river) - Tu za repu tu za len (Catch for turnip and catch for flax)
- Imala majka tri jedine kceri (A mother had three daughters)
External links
- Biography at the Music Information Centre of Serbias website
- On the page is talking composer Josip Štolcer-Slavenski has 'written for the Bosanquet EnharmoniumRobert Holford Macdowall BosanquetRobert Holford Macdowall Bosanquet was an English scientist and music theorist, and brother of Admiral Sir Day Bosanquet, and philosopher Bernard Bosanquet....
with 53 tones in an octave53 equal temperamentIn music, 53 equal temperament, called 53-TET, 53-EDO, or 53-ET, is the tempered scale derived by dividing the octave into 53 equal steps . Each step represents a frequency ratio of 21/53, or 22.6415 cents , an interval sometimes called the Holdrian comma.- History :Theoretical interest in this...
' - Facsimile of the 53EDO piece preface by J. Slavenski.
- Josip Štolcer-Slavenski Legacy, Belgrade
- Biography in Serbian on muzickacentrala.com
