The Work of Slovak ComposersAuthor(s): Victoria de Bray and Jozef KresánekSource: The Slavonic and East European Review, Vol. 25, No. 64 (Nov., 1946), pp. 171-175Published by: the Modern Humanities Research Association and University College London, School ofSlavonic and East European StudiesStable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/4203804 .

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THE WORK OF SLOVAK COMPOSERS (Translated from the Slovak by VICTORIA DE BRAY.)

UP to now the musical centres of Europe have tended to pass Slovakia by, even though it lies at the centre of Europe. The musical centres have shifted from south to west, sometimes far away from Slovakia, though sometimes quite near. (It is only a matter of a few miles from Vienna to Bratislava.) But even so, their influence has been felt but slightly. The social conditions and- even more important in recent times-the national and state pre- requisites for the forming of a cultural centre have been lacking.

Before I918 the Slovaks had almost no cultural centre. Con- sequently any talented musician among them was left with no choice but to sink his individuality in folklore, or to serve the demands of the church, which tended to be sporadic and excessive, or to leave his country altogether.

To the first we owe some precious gems of perhaps primitive, but nevertheless profound, artistic feeling still to be found in Slovak folk songs to this day.

The second group is formed by those tireless teachers who would spend whole nights endlessly writing out music, forced to devote their whole life to dealing with rudimentary training. A great deal of their work has been preserved, and there were some gifted musicians among them, such as Jan Levoslav Bella who wrote his symphonic poem " Osud a ideal" in the same year as Smetana composed " Vysehrad" (I874). He also .wrote the opera " Kovac Wieland." But these men had to strike a hard and lonely path, and could not but fail to realise their genuine artistic ideals.

The third group-the emigre musicians-represent a very sad chapter in Slovak musical history. All the sadder, as they were relatively so numerous. The majority of them became so estranged from their own people that they were a priori lost to Slovak music. Even Bella belongs to this group during the latter half of his life.

It was only after I918 that social and economic conditions became such as to allow the creation of a musical centre. In the field of the other arts, though little as regards music, the ground had been prepared. But a School of Music was set up in Bratislava, and later a Conservatory of Music; the National Theatre was founded, the Slovak Philharmonic Orchestra came into existence for a time, then there was the Broadcasting Station and other essential institutions. Although these were not all, and still are not in every respect, of

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the standard that might be desired, they did give the conscious feeling and hope that it was now possible to create something real and that it rested with the Slovaks themselves to show their will to do so. And in comparison with the hopelessness felt by Bella and his contemporaries this reawakened hope came as a real resurrec- tion. It was no longer a hopeless folly for a Slovak to dedicate his life wholly to music.

There were two trends in the first efforts of Slovak music after I918. There was, of course, the effort to create a purely Slovak national art as a new and valuable contribution, just as the older generation of composers during the national revival had striven to do. But alongside this, the young generation was eagerly anxious to create music worthy of, and in line with, the developments of contemporary music in the musical world as a whole. The first tendency culminated in V. Figus-Bystry, who carried the folklore element so far that King Matthias, in his opera " Detvan," becomes a figure that might well be straight out of a folk tale. The second tendency was heralded by Fric Kafenda; but, as a composer, he remained more of a prophet than a messiah. Mikulas Moyzes and M. Schneider-Trnavsky strove to achieve a synthesis; but before they had reached that point they were.overtaken by the younger generation. Their finest works, reflecting this trend, are the " Mala vrchovska symf6nia" of Mik. Moyzes and the symphonic poem "Pribinov sl'ub" of Schneider-Tmavsky.

In Smetana's time these two tendencies-national and of a wider field-had gone more or less hand in hand; but after I918 they were already turbulently opposed. Finding a synthesis meant creative work in the true sense of the word; and it was here that the Czech composer, Vit&zslav Novak, set such an invaluable example to the Slovaks. It sometimes seems to the uninitiated that Novak, simply by virtue of being the professor who taught almost all the young Slovak composers pursuing these new ideas, handed out to them ready-made formulae for dealing with the Slovak element in music. But such a conception of Novak's school would be an insult to Novak himself as an artist. It was Prague, as a musical centre led by Novak, which gave these young composers what they most needed: a sense of musical structure and a new world orientation. It was the Prague Conservatory, the Czech Philharmonic, the National Theatre, the UmNlecka Beseda, Pritomnost, etc.

The first of the young Slovak generation to pursue this trend was Alexander Moyzes (the son of Mikulas Moyzes), and he was immediately followed by Eugen Suchoni. They both come, bringing

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a new element into Slovak music, yet each is distinctive. Moyzes is a man with a very vital sense of life. He turns away from nothing. Every artistic event, even events outside the realm of art, leaves due mark on him. The most modern harmonic innovations, jazz elements, Slovak folk song, music introduced on the wireless, classical symphony structure as well as melodic lines savouring of the romantics-all these are linked together in his work, or rather, are a vital element in it. Moyzes knows how to deal with the formal side of his work, his instrumentation is magnificent. And indeed, his instrumentation is most characteristic of his attitude to music and to the world.

On the other hand, Suchoin gives the impression that he does not live for this world, his is concentrated within himself. As a result he achieves a stable distinctive style, in which every note has its place in the structure of the whole. In Suchon's instrumental works, although the instrumental play is undeniable, we can find no turns of phrase introduced merely for the sake of colour; they are all linked with the thematic and structural development. To Suchofn form is no fixed construction laid down in advance. His form is built up out of the music itself by following out the full range of expressive power inherent in his themes. Suchoin is a master of form, and makes it serve as a means to say what he is seeking to express.

The most representative works so far written by Moyzes are: two symphonies, the cantata " Kral' Svatopluk," concertino for orchestra, wind quintet, the orchestral suite " Dolu Vahom," the overture " Janosikovi chlapci," the song cycle "Cesta," etc. Suchon's work is best represented by: " Baladickg suita," Burlesque for violin and orchestra, sonata and sonatina for violin and piano, the song cycle " Nox et solutudo," the overture " Kral' Svatopluk," Serenade for strings, the cantata " Zalm zeme podkarpatskej," etc.

Two others developing on somewhat opposed lines are Jan Cikker and Ondrej Ocenas. Unlike the preceding two, a lack of economy in turns of phrase and construction is to be found in both Cikker and Ocenas. This would be inadmissible by Moyzes, with his careful balance, or by Suchofn, with his concentrated and profound thought; but it bubbles over in the youthful elan of these two. Their work differs considerably, however, in structure. Cikker's work is based on a thematic polyphony rather in the style of Suk's " Zrani," but then the rhythmic force, sometimes unbounded, predominates. The source of Ocenas's music is to be found somewhere in the I6th century-in pure melodic line. Cikker reaches his climaxes by

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rhythmic ferocity, while Ocenas's climaxes are reached by binding together several echoes of one theme or several themes. Cikker achieves greatest effect in his quick movements, Ocenas in free, singing movements.

Cikker has already produced many works: Prologue, Capriccio, the song cycle " To my mother," two string quartets, Spring Sym- phony, the cantata " Cantus filiorum," the symphonic poem " Leto," Concertino for piano and orchestra, Slovak Suite, the symphonic poem " Boj " and a Symphonic Idyll. Ocenas works more slowly and his development bears its traces in his work. He has written mostly large-scale works: Burlesque Overture, string quartet " Obrazky duse," the song cycle " Moja rodna," a three-act miming play " Na zbojnickom tanci," the cantata " Sumeju hory zelene," an orchestral suite " Povesti o rodnom kraji." His greatest work is his last: the trilogy " Resurrection."

No picture of the other composers can yet be given with any final validity (even the preceding have only been sketches in outline, on account of their age), for various reasons. With some, because they have not yet achieved a personal style which would determine their place in musical development, as Moyzes, Suchofn, Cikker and Ocenas have done. With others, because they have not yet produced representative work in sufficient quantity.

The first group includes Frantisek Babusek, more conductor than composer. He has not yet succeeded in fusing the Slovak element with the wider field. Indeed, neither the one nor the other seems to have crystallised in him. Examples of his work are: Slovak rhapsody, Prelude for string orchestra, etc.

Another conductor, of wider range and greater skill both techni- cally and particularly in his instrumentation, is Tibor Freso. His works are technically excellent, but they do not express a powerful individuality. His best works are: Symphonic Prologue, Medita- tion, Concert Overture, a cantata "Stabat Mater," and his string quartet " In the country."

A third conductor, Ladislav Holoubek, is musically the most mature. He is ploughing a somewhat neglected furrow in Slovak music-he has composed three operas: " Stella," " Svitanie" and " Tuzba." In writing operas, Holoubek has at the same time not neglected chamber music, as shown by his string quartet " 0 laske a nenavisti." He has also written songs " Spevy o zene," and a symphony. Holoubek has shown himself to have a subtle sense of melody.

Between this group and the second, which promises rather than

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has produced good work, stands Simon Jurovsky. By this I do not mean that Jurovsky has not yet achieved a distinctive style-I could mention a kind of impressionistic use of harmony, reminiscent of older music, and other traits of his-but he does not clearly follow the general line of Slovak development nor a line of his own in a way we might look for.

Two other composers, Dezider Kardos and Jozef Kresanek, belong to that unhappy generation whose best years have been disrupted by the war. Consequently they have not yet come for- ward with works of outstanding credit either to themselves or to Slovakia. Kardos's song cycle "0 laske," his string quartet, his wind quintet and his best work, the first symphony, all deserve mention. Kresanek is torn between composition and musical scholarship, but the following works of his should be mentioned: string quartet, piano trio, songs for tenor and orchestra, the cantata "Hore ho ! ", etc.

In such a brief review of Slovak composers we should mention two others, Michal Vilec and Ladislav Stancek, though space compels us to omit further names.

Slovak music, in its striving to take a worthy place in world music, is, in comparison to Czech music, a much younger sister-and it appears even younger still, when we consider the age of the different composers mentioned here. None of them has yet produced his chef d'ceuvre; but there is elan and promising vitality in their work. But while they are living on the cream of the world's music, and while they are themselves contributing to this, it is hard to determine their place in it (indeed, that is only relatively possible at any time). But it is only fair to grant that they have earned a place in it. A concert at which Moyzes's suite " Dolu Vahom," Suchon's " Bala- dicka suita," Cikker's symphonic poem "Leto" and Ocenas's trilogy " Resurrection" were played, would certainly convince anyone of this.

DR. JOZEF KRESANEK.

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