Blaž Arnič

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Blaž Arnič (born January 31, 1901 in Luče ; † February 1, 1970 in Ljubljana ) was a Yugoslav composer.

Life

Arnič grew up on a mountain farm in the Savinja Valley . His first musical impressions came from family and friends, where he learned to play the accordion. Fascinated by the sound of the church organ, he went to Ljubljana at the age of 19, where he took organ lessons from Stanko Premrl . He then worked for a short time as an organist in the Lower Carniola , before studying composition and organ from 1926 to 1930 at the Ljubljana Music Academy (with Lucijan Marija Škerjanc and again Stanko Premrl).

Arnič then moved to the New Vienna Conservatory , where he studied composition with Egon Lustgarten and Eugene Zádor and conducting with Rudolf Nilius until 1932 . Study visits to Krakow and Warsaw (1937) and Paris (1938, with Rhené-Baton ) followed. From 1934 he worked briefly as a music teacher at the monastery high school in Bol on Brač , but soon returned to Ljubljana, where he performed various odd jobs (mainly in the musical field). From 1941 to 1944 he was a teacher at the secondary school of the Ljubljana Music Academy.

Registration card of Blaž Arnič as a prisoner in the National Socialist concentration camp Dachau

In 1941 Arnič joined the Communist Party and the Liberation Front against the German occupation. He was arrested in June 1944 and interned a little later in Dachau concentration camp . There he fell seriously ill and was blind in one eye in 1949 due to the late effects. After the liberation he returned to Ljubljana and became a professor of composition at the Ljubljana Music Academy, which he remained until his death. In the course of the internal party "purges" in Yugoslavia in 1948/49, Arnič was expelled from the party, but without subsequently breaking his political convictions. One day after his 69th birthday, Arnič was killed in a car accident. His son is the conductor Lovrenc Arnič .

style

Arnič's tonal language is basically traditional and is based on the music of Anton Bruckner , and to a lesser extent Gustav Mahler , as well as the group of five . Arnič tried to use an explicit Slovene tone, but usually not in the form of folk song quotations. His music has been described as "neo-romantic realism". Characteristic is a mosaic-like structure based on constantly repeated, slightly changing motivic cells. In this way, Arnič creates large arcs of tension that are accompanied by intense, suction-like effects. Overall, despite reference to musical role models, Arnič succeeds in developing a distinctive tone of his own that is difficult to confuse.

Arnič can be described primarily as a symphonic composer, although his oeuvre includes all musical genres (with the exception of opera). At the center of his work are his nine symphonies and numerous symphonic poems, which with playing times of up to 95 minutes (Symphony No. 3) tend to be large-format and panoramic. Individual works are autobiographical, such as the symphony No. 8 Auf heimatlicher Scholle , which is considered one of his main works.

Various works by Arnič have been recorded on record or CD, in particular the symphonies 3 and 8 as well as a number of symphonic poems.

Works

  • Symphonies
    • Symphony No. 1 op.10 Te Deum for orchestra, organ and mixed choir (1932, rev. 1969)
    • Symphony No. 2 op.12 Symphonic Rhapsody for piano and orchestra (1933)
    • Symphony No. 3 op. 17 (1st – 3rd movement) and op. 24 (4th movement) Duma based on words by Oton Župančič for baritone, mixed choir and orchestra (1st – 3rd movement 1929–31, rev. 1936–38, 4th movement Duma 1942)
    • Symphony No. 4 op.15 Resurrectionis for organ and orchestra (1933)
    • Symphony No. 5 op.22 The Storms of War (particularist) (1941)
    • Symphony No. 6 op.36 The Wildwüchsling (1950)
    • Symphony No. 7 op.35 Symphony of Work for small orchestra and piano (1948)
    • Symphony No. 8 in D minor, Op. 40 On home soil (1951)
    • Symphony No. 9 op.63 War and Peace after Jože Tiran for soprano, alto, bass, mixed choir and orchestra (1960)
  • Symphonic poems
    • Memento mori , symphonic poem op.14 (1934)
    • Hexentanz , symphonic poem op.18 (1938, rev. 1955)
    • The seducer , symphonic poem op.19 (1937)
    • The song of the mountains , symphonic poem op.20 (1940)
    • Expectation , symphonic poem op.26 (1943)
    • Singing the woods , symphonic poem op.27 (1945)
    • Der Nix , ballet-symphonic poem op.38 (1950)
    • First Elan , concertante symphonic poem op.52 for piano and small orchestra (1952)
    • Wilde Jagd , symphonic poem op.72 (1st version as op.53, 1956, rev. 1965/66)
    • Der Freier , symphonic poem op.79 (1969)
  • Other orchestral works and concerts
    • Overture to a comic opera op.11 (1932)
    • Suite on the Fountain, Op. 56 (1957)
    • Violin Concerto No. 1 in D minor op.41 (1952)
    • Violin Concerto No. 2 op.47 (1953)
    • Violin Concerto No. 3 op.73 (1966)
    • Concerto for violin and small orchestra op.59 (1958)
    • Viola Concerto op.75 (1967)
    • Pastoral symphonic poem for violoncello and orchestra op.64 (1960)
    • Concerto for flute, strings, harp, celesta and orchestra op.54 (1956)
    • Clarinet Concerto op.69 (1963)
    • Temporal symphonic poem for trombone and orchestra op.78 (1969)
  • Vocal music
    • The Train ride , cantata based on words by Oton Župančič for soprano, alto, baritone, mixed choir and orchestra op.48 (1954)
    • My song is not just my song , cantata based on words by Karel Destovnik for soprano, tenor, baritone, youth choir, mixed choir and wind orchestra op.71 (1963)
  • Chamber and piano music
    • String Quartet op.16 (1937)
    • Piano trio No. 1 op.6 (1929)
    • Piano Trio No. 2 Op. 23 (1941)
    • Sonata concertante (concert) for violin and piano op.25 (1943)
    • Concerto for violoncello and piano op.28 (1947)
    • Stories for clarinet and piano op.46 (1955)
    • Devil's Serenade for piano op.21 (1942)
    • Pictures from the youth , suite for piano op.39 (1950)

literature

personal data
SURNAME Arnič, Blaž
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Yugoslav composer
DATE OF BIRTH January 31, 1901
PLACE OF BIRTH Luče
DATE OF DEATH 1st February 1970
Place of death Ljubljana