PREFACE. Uroš Dojčinović

Transcription

1 PREFACE This second volume of Guitar Compositions from Yugoslavia, from a set of six volumes dedicated to the music for classical guitar in the in former Yugoslavia, includes the musical works of the most active and representative guitarist/composers from Croatia during the 19th and 20th centuries. All of the included pieces, except one, were never before presented outside of the former Yugoslavia, and half of this selection was never even officially published in Croatia nor in any other former Yugoslav republic. The intention was to bring to the public information and selected works by our great classical guitar pioneers, thanks to whose admirable passion for the instrument, as well as incredible tenacity, the guitar was elevated to a significant level, becoming our most popular instrument. The fact that Ivan Padovec was Croatia s only professional guitarist and composer in the 19th century, and that all others were mostly self-taught guitarists (many having quite different professions for making a living), the value of the works presented here is even more special. We also have to remember that after a golden age for the guitar in our country, the late sixties of the 19th century, when almost every house in our country had a guitar, and almost everybody claimed to be able to play it, better or worse, according to Franjo Kuhač, the Croatian musicologist, we had decades of guitar decadence. Thanks to the influence of music from other countries, and to the great optimism of our amateur guitarists, especialy those working in the first decades of 20th century, a rapid development of the guitar in our country was successfully under way. And then, in the early 1960s, we could proudly announce an original domestic school of classical guitar, with a newly created tradition present in almost every former Yugoslav republic. Selecting pieces for this album, we chose works by those composers who were guitarists, both players and/or teachers. Most of them created their own guitar editions (in those days the number of printed copies and their technical quality were very limited), and invented their own guitar methods. We should remember that from the beginning of the 20th century up to the late 60s, it was very hard to find or get any professional guitar literature in this country. Anyone who managed to acquire albums of guitar methods like those of Carcassi or Carulli were lucky. No wonder that our pioneers of guitar pedagogy had to make their own didactic materials. Unfortunately, much of this is lost or forgotten today. This publication gives me an opportunity to present a small part of probably the most important works for guitar done in Croatia, and commemorate some of the greatest guitar enthusiasts we have had. Most of the world has likely never before heard of any these men, and knowing the great love, strength and perseverence exerted by all of them, it makes me very happy to know that with our edition we have managed to give, if not much, then a little in return. Uroš Dojčinović 1

2 NOTES ON THE COMPOSERS Ivan Padovec ( ), born in Varaždin, was among the first of our professional guitarists, performers and composers with an international reputation. He was giving successful concerts both at home and abroad, and composed over 200 compositions, instrumental (mostly for one and two guitars) and vocal (songs for different voices accompanied by guitar or piano). Many of his compositions were published during his lifetime, by well-known publishers in Vienna, Prague, etc. But some of his works were kept in his, or his friends handwriting. We present here his two Monferrin marches in A-major and D-major, both kept in the city museum of Varaždin. The manuscript was made by Padovec s friend Lavoslav Vojska, probably when the old guitarist was already totally blind. The original title in the latter s handwriting is Monferrin March. Equally so the manuscript of Polonaise in A- minor, which is in Vojska s handwriting. Polonaise in A-major is probably one of the most famous short Padovec pieces, and is taken from his Unterhaltungen Eine Reihe leichter und angenehmer original Stücke vorzüglih für den Unterricht, Op. 6, published by Haslinger in Vienna. Russian concert could be the piece which Padovec composed for a Russian competition for the best guitar piece, probably organized by Makarov, the same guitarist who had years earlier held a competition for the best guitar method, in which Padovec won first prize. Again he asked his friend Vojska to rewrite this piece in his fine handwriting in l846, and sent it to this competition, but this time he did not win the prize of 10 ducats. If a copy of that concert piece in A-major was saved, the one kept in the Varaždin museum entitled Russian concert could be the same one. Franjo Ksaver Kuhač (Osijek l834 Zagreb 1911) was a famous Croatian musicologist who himself played the guitar. Being close with Padovec, Kuhač left much important information about his much older colleague, as well as about several other guitar amateurs. Among his other works we can find a few guitar pieces, for solo and duo guitars. Bagpiper is one of them, with light technical demands and with pure traditional folk influence. Anonymous Guitar Album from Samobor Most guitarists, both beginners and more advanced used handwritten pieces collected in various albums in their practice. Often this kind of guitar album went from hand to hand, changing owner several times. Album for the Guitar (and Zither) from Samobor is one of these collections made 2

3 during the second half of the 19th century. According to the written date under the title, most of the pieces in it were collected in 1888, by a priest named Filipec living in the area around the city of Samobor, near Zagreb. Most of the compositions are very easy didactic works in which we can hear the influence of Padovec and Croatian folk music of the period. Nonetheless we include these three short pieces to show the type of music being played at the time by nonprofessional guitarists. Milan Stahuljak (Bjelovar 1878 Zagreb 1962) was a composer and conductor, teaching ancient Greek and Latin at the high school level. His musical work especially emphasized the tambour. He cooperated with Kuhač, and left among his more than 300 compositions, mostly for tambours, several works for guitar. His Memory Page in this album was signed in 1946, and has never before been published. Josip Stojanović and Nikola Vukašinović were both authors of original guitar-method books, very famous in the early 1930s. Both published their editions with the music company of Franjo Schneider (Končanica 1903 Zagreb 1966), who had a great reputation as a fine instrument maker (especially different kinds of tambours and guitars). Schneider arrived in Zagreb in 1928 and started his large music enterprise, making and repairing instruments as well as pub1ishing music literature. Both above-mentioned guitar methods, which had several later editions, were probably first published around Each author was a very popular player, and most of the pieces included in their schools (see next page) are their own short compositions based on traditional folk themes. They were active before and after World War I in Zagreb. Cover of Compositions for Solo Guitar vol. II by the Fumić brothers, Zagreb, 1956 The brothers Slavko Fumić ( ) and Rudolf Fumić ( ) were both born in Zagreb, where they began their guitar careers before World War II. Thanks to another guitar-builder, their friend Ernest Köröskènyi, we have today two of their albums with their selected pieces published in Zagreb in They were very active, both as composers and as solo and duo guitarists, who even recorded for radio in those early days of broadcasting. Unfortunately, Slavko died prematurely as a war victim and Rudolf didn t live much longer. Some of their pieces, like Slavko s Nocturne, continued to be some of the most popular domestic works among our guitarists in the post-war period, while one of his preludes was performed by the great Austrian guitarist Luise Walker. 3

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5 Milan Grakulić ( ) was born in Medulin and spent the first five years of his childhood in Istra, after which, like so many others faced with the tragedy of World War I, he was taken to Austria, Hungary and Czechoslovakia. Following the annexation of Istria after the war, he continued living the hard life of an Istrian refugee in the country. Working very hard, often as a physical laborer, he managed to finish school and became one of our most prominent architects. He was first introduced to the guitar when he was 13, during his school years in Karlovac, and never abandoned it afterwards. All his life he has divided between his professional career and his love for the guitar. He managed to take some master courses given at that time by Luise Walker in Vienna, as well as to attended master classes held by Andres Segovia at the Chigiana Music Academy in Siena, Italy. Grakulić made recordings for the Croatian record company Jugoton in Zagreb, and composed a few very interesting virtuoso solo pieces. His music has never before been published, and the Song and Kolo Dance from Slavonia in this album are among his favorite pieces. The brothers Marko Jelčić ( ) and Vincenco Jelčić ( ) were clearly among our greatest guitar enthusiasts in the first half of the 20th century. At the same time, just as with the Fumić brothers, the Jelčić were the second official guitar duo in our country. Their activities were mostly centered in Dalmatia, the coastal province of Croatia (they lived and worked most of the time in the city of Split), although they performed in other parts of the country and organized a number of different courses. In their own edition dozens of little guitar methods for the self-taught were published, as well as several other albums including their own compositions. (right) Title page of the Jelčić brothers Modern Guitar School, Split, Croatia,

6 Vjenceslav Samboliček ( ) was also introduced to the guitar as a very young boy, and later managed to acquire a better instrument thanks to a job he had at an instrument factory, where he received a guitar instead of a salary for work he did there. After the upheavalof World War II, in1949, Samboliček enrolled in the music school in Virovitica, where he would be teaching the classical guitar for about a decade. He was also active as a guitar lecturer in various Croatian cities around Virovitica such as Daruvar and Podravska Slatina. Although he was a professional house painter, as an amateur musician Samboliček composed over 120 different pieces, mostly for one and two guitars, but also for tambour orchestras which he also conducted, and music for one operetta. He wrote down many traditional Slavonic folk melodies, and. some of them he published in his music editions. Viktor Himelrajh, born in the city of Čepun in l922, is another guitar-lover who started to practice on this instrument when he was young. Later, working as a professional artist (professor of art in various schools in Osijek), Himelrajh continued to study the instrument, paying special attention to guitar history, pedagogy, and even a flamenco playing style. He self-published different albums and collections of guitar works, which included dozens of his own pieces. Edo Đuga, born in Zagreb in 1916, turned very early to professional guitar teaching first in primary schools, also teaching solfeggio and conducting various youth choirs and orchestras. After 1962 his attention was focused on classical guitar pedagogy and his first guitar editions were published in Zagreb in l965. He also established a career as a successful guitar professor. Title page of Edo Đuga s Guitar Album, Zagreb,