Blaž Arnič (31 January 1901 – 1 February 1970) was a

Slovenia Slovenia, officially the Republic of Slovenia, is a country in Central Europe. It borders Italy to the west, Austria to the north, Hungary to the northeast, Croatia to the south and southeast, and a short (46.6 km) coastline within the Adriati ...

n symphonic

composer A composer is a person who writes music. The term is especially used to indicate composers of Western classical music, or those who are composers by occupation. Many composers are, or were, also skilled performers of music. Etymology and def ...

. Born in

Luče Luče (; sometimes ''Luče ob Savinji'', ) is the largest settlement and the centre of the Municipality of Luče in northern Slovenia. It belongs to the traditional region of Styria and is now included in the Savinja Statistical Region. Geography ...

Lower Styria Styria (, ), also known as Slovenian Styria (; ) or Lower Styria (; ) to differentiate it from Austrian Styria, is a traditional region in northeastern Slovenia, comprising the southern third of the former Duchy of Styria. The population of St ...

Austria-Hungary Austria-Hungary, also referred to as the Austro-Hungarian Empire, the Dual Monarchy or the Habsburg Monarchy, was a multi-national constitutional monarchy in Central Europe#Before World War I, Central Europe between 1867 and 1918. A military ...

, Arnič grew up on an isolated farmstead near Mount Raduha in the

Kamnik Alps Kamnik (; ''Leksikon občin kraljestev in dežel zastopanih v državnem zboru,'' vol. 6: ''Kranjsko''. 1906. Vienna: C. Kr. Dvorna in Državna Tiskarna, pp. 26–27. or ''Stein in Oberkrain'') is the List of cities and towns in Slovenia, ninth-l ...

. He taught himself how to play the accordion, and at the age of nineteen moved to

Ljubljana {{Infobox settlement , name = Ljubljana , official_name = , settlement_type = Capital city , image_skyline = {{multiple image , border = infobox , perrow = 1/2/2/1 , total_widt ...

to study music.

Life

Arnič studied composing at the Ljubljana Conservatory, and later (1930-1932) at the New Vienna Conservatory, under the tutelage of Professor Rudolf Nilius, with advanced composition in

Warsaw Warsaw, officially the Capital City of Warsaw, is the capital and List of cities and towns in Poland, largest city of Poland. The metropolis stands on the Vistula, River Vistula in east-central Poland. Its population is officially estimated at ...

Kraków , officially the Royal Capital City of Kraków, is the List of cities and towns in Poland, second-largest and one of the oldest cities in Poland. Situated on the Vistula River in Lesser Poland Voivodeship, the city has a population of 804,237 ...

and

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(1938-1939). He taught music at Bol on the island of

Brač Brač is a Croatian island in the Adriatic Sea, with an area of , making it the largest island in Dalmatia, and the third largest in the Adriatic. It is separated from the mainland by the Brač Channel, which is wide.Croatia Croatia, officially the Republic of Croatia, is a country in Central Europe, Central and Southeast Europe, on the coast of the Adriatic Sea. It borders Slovenia to the northwest, Hungary to the northeast, Serbia to the east, Bosnia and Herze ...

(1934-1935) and in Ljubljana in

Yugoslavia , common_name = Yugoslavia , life_span = 1918–19921941–1945: World War II in Yugoslavia#Axis invasion and dismemberment of Yugoslavia, Axis occupation , p1 = Kingdom of SerbiaSerbia , flag_p ...

(1940-1943). Arnič joined the Communist Party in 1941 and started collaborating with the Liberation Front.Blaž Arnič. ''Novi Slovenski biografski leksikon.''
In 1943 Arnič was arrested for his political views, and in 1944 he was sent to the

Dachau concentration camp Dachau (, ; , ; ) was one of the first concentration camps built by Nazi Germany and the longest-running one, opening on 22 March 1933. The camp was initially intended to intern Hitler's political opponents, which consisted of communists, s ...

, where he became seriously ill (eventually causing him to go blind in one eye). After

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

, he was appointed full professor of composing at the Academy of Music in Ljubljana, where he taught until his death in a car crash. He fell out of favor with the Communist Party after the war (and was expelled from the party in 1949), but his illness prevented him from being prosecuted in the show trials connected with the

Informbiro period The Informbiro period was an era of Yugoslavia's history following the Tito–Stalin split in mid-1948 that lasted until the country's partial rapprochement with the Soviet Union in 1955 with the signing of the Belgrade declaration. After ...

and in the

Dachau trials The Dachau trials, also known as the Dachau Military Tribunal, handled the prosecution of almost every war criminal captured in the U.S. military zones in Allied-occupied Germany and in Allied-occupied Austria, and the prosecutions of military ...

. Arnič wrote choral pieces, ''

lied In the Western classical music tradition, ( , ; , ; ) is a term for setting poetry to classical music. The term is used for any kind of song in contemporary German and Dutch, but among English and French speakers, is often used interchangea ...

er'', piano and chamber pieces and even film music, but he is particularly well known for his nine symphonies. The Society of Slovene Composers considers him one of the great Slovenian symphonic masters of the 20th century, "whose musical language is deeply connected to the spirit of the native soil." His music has been compared to that of Bruckner and classified as "neo-romantic realism." Arnič developed from a neo-romantic base, but avoided the dissonance of the

Expressionists Expressionism is a modernist movement, initially in poetry and painting, originating in Northern Europe around the beginning of the 20th century. Its typical trait is to present the world solely from a subjective perspective, distorting it radi ...

. The first film for which Arnič wrote music was ''Partizanske bolnice v Sloveniji'' in 1948, a documentary about a

partisan Partisan(s) or The Partisan(s) may refer to: Military * Partisan (military), paramilitary forces engaged behind the front line ** Francs-tireurs et partisans, communist-led French anti-fascist resistance against Nazi Germany during WWII ** Ital ...

infirmary. In 1955, Milan Kumar of Triglav Film made a 452-minute film entitled ''Ples čarovnic'' starring ballerina Stanislava Brezovar which featured Arnič's symphonic poem by the same name. In 2001,

issued a

postage stamp A postage stamp is a small piece of paper issued by a post office, postal administration, or other authorized vendors to customers who pay postage (the cost involved in moving, insuring, or registering mail). Then the stamp is affixed to the f ...

in his honor.

Principal works

* ''Piano Trio'' (1929) * ''Overture to a Comic Opera'' for symphony orchestra (1932) * ''Symphony No. 3'' – ''DUMA'' for orchestra, bass and mixed choir (1933) * ''Symphony No. 5'' – ''PARTIKULARNA'' (1941) * ''Symphony No. 6'' – ''SAMORASTNIK'' for symphony orchestra (1950) * ''Ples čarovnic (The Dance of the Witches)'', symphonic poem (1936) * ''Pesem planin (Song of the Highlands)'', symphonic poem (1940) * ''Gozdovi pojejo (The Forests Sing)'', symphonic poem (1945) * ''Divja jaga (Wild Chase)'', symphonic poem (1958–1965) * ''Pastoral Symphonic Poem for violoncello and orchestra'' (1960) * Concerto for viola and orchestra, Op.75 (1967) * Concerto for violin and orchestra No. 3 (1969)

Notes

References

* Slonimsky, Nicolas, ''et al.'' (1997) "Arnic, Blaz (1901-1970)" ''Baker's Biographical Dictionary of Twentieth-Century Classical Musicians'' Schirmer Books, New York, ; * Sadie, Stanley (1980) "Arnic, Blaz (1901-1970)" ''The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians'' Macmillan Publishers, London, ; {{DEFAULTSORT:Arnic, Blaz 1901 births 1970 deaths 20th-century Slovenian classical composers 20th-century accordionists Slovenian male musicians Slovenian male classical composers Slovenian film score composers Male film score composers Slovenian accordionists People from the Municipality of Luče Dachau concentration camp survivors Prešeren Award laureates Road incident deaths in Yugoslavia Yugoslav composers Yugoslav film score composers