25.11.2012

The Society of Slovene Composers presented this year's accomplishments

Despite the present difficult times the Society managed to release new CDs in the Ars SlovenicA series, which the Society has been regularly releasing in cooperation with Radio Slovenia since 1996. All together, 6 CDs were released along with 49 editions, which exceeds the Ministry of Culture normative (5 CDs and 30 editions yearly).

The series Ars SlovenicA now comprises 88 CDs of contemporary Slovene music. By coincidence, the first release in 1996 was the recording of pieces from Bojan Adamič's symphonic repertoire. To commemorate the composer's 100th anniversary, the CD has been re-released, illustrated and accompanied by comprehensive information about the composer's life and work. The selection covers three areas of his musical production: symphonic works, some of which feature piano solo, three excellent arrangements of Slovene folk songs, and two works from his extensive movie soundrack repertoire.

The second CD features a recording of the opera Medeja (Medea) by Jani Golob with libretto by Vinko Möderndorfer. The CD entitled EVOCATIONS features music by Božidar Kos, whilst Zvočne pokrajine (Sonic Landscapes) contains various chamber pieces by Bojan Glavina. The Slovene Philharmonic Brass Ensemble - TASF interprets the works of seven Slovene musicians: Milko Lazar, Jani Golob, Slavko Ludvik Šuklar, Štefan Mauri, Nenad Firšt in Stanko Premrl (the latter with instrumentation by Alojz Srebotnjak). The sixth CD Contrasts in Colour features the symphonic works of Črt Sojar Voglar, one of the more productive composers of the younger generation.

The DSS Edition is one of the rare national professional music publishers, which systematically publishes Slovenian contemporary music works. The DSS Edition catalogue features 2154 works, more than half of which are editions, whilst the remaining works are mostly large orchestral works. These, together with the performance materials, can be borrowed in the form of copies of scores and in compliance with publishing contracts. Thus, performances and recordings of large Slovene compositions (in terms of scope and instrumentation) are made possible.

The editions also contain four collections, each comprising several authors: Zborovska glasba 2011 DSS (Choral Music 2011, 8 authors), Oboa & klavir (Oboe & Piano, 8 authors), Kolo – zbirka samospevov in duetov (Round Dance – collection of solo and duet pieces, 10 authors) and Razpoloženja – skladbe za flavto in klavir (Moods - Compositions for Flute and Piano, 9 authors).

Among the printed symphonic works special mention goes to the 1st symphony by Božidar Kos and the 8th symphony by Blaž Arnič as well as the two editions of evergreen melodies by Bojan Adamič with the title You are Beautiful White Ljubljana (Prelepa si bela Ljubljana) and the reissue of the collection  Roundabout of Melodies (Vrtiljak melodij) by Jure Robežnik.

DSS presents its editions abroad. In March 2012, the society participated for the tenth time at the international music fair in Frankfurt (Musikmesse) where all important publishing companies exhibit their materials. Thanks to its continued presence at the fair, it is now regarded as one of the progressive European publishers and has increased its visibility among visitors of the fair. Consequently, interest in Slovene works has been growing slowly but steadfastly. The Society follows the work of more important foreign publishers and in this way has the opportunity to compare the best foreign and domestic publishing activities.  This is also an incentive for real progress in the field of publishing. In terms of representation of foreign performance materials in Slovenia, the contractual relations between DSS Edition and publishers abroad have been spreading at the request of foreign publishers, thanks to many years of trustworthy cooperation. Profits of this cooperation are thus used to enhance domestic production. The fair also provides the possibility for establishing contacts and cooperation with the most advanced partners in the field of internet promotion and trade, which is currently (also due to the cuts in financial support by the SAZAS Association) one of the main projects of DSS Edition.


(from the left: Uroš Lajovic, Tomaž Habe, Nenad Firšt, Aleksij Valentinčič, Klemen Weiss)

At the Frankfurt Fair, DSS Edition presented for the first time its new Catalogue of Music Works 2012, which will also be available in electronic form. The Catalogue contains, in addition to society's own, also music editions by other publishing houses, such as the Publishing House Pizzicato Verlag Helvetia, the Slovene Academy of Arts and Sciences, the Musicological Institute ZRC SAZU and the Cultural Society of Glasbena matica Ljubljana. The society will continue to produce compilations of Slovene music works and to present them in a single edition to the broader public also in the future.

In addition to the individual editions, the DSS Edition prepared (in 2012) music manuscripts and all together 39 orchestral materials of Slovene works for performers; thus responding to the interest of our most prominent orchestras in the field of contemporary Slovene production.

This year, the Society of Slovene Composers prepared scores for four opera works, namely: Peter Šavli – Pastir (Shepherd), Vitja Avsec – Kdor upa, ne odneha (One who Hopes Never Stops), Jani Golob – Ljubezen kapital (Love Capital) and Marij Kogoj – Črne maske (Black Masks).

With the first publication of the opera Black Masks (Editor: Uroš Lajovic) an important milestone in publishing has been crossed and an agreement reached between Kogoj's heirs, editor, translator and notograph on the one side and DSS on the other, as the condensed piano score (Ed. DSS 1980 a) and the complete score (Ed. DSS 1980) were also published. In addition to the mentioned publications, an electronic recording of the integral version of the score was made available for future generations of researchers and editors, allowing access to this score, which until now was only partly known and not yet presented in its entirety.