Bojan Adamič a.k.a. Master ( sl, Mojster; 9 August 1912 – 3 November 1995),

Slovene Partisans The Slovene Partisans, formally the National Liberation Army and Partisan Detachments of Slovenia, (NOV in POS) were part of Europe's most effective anti-Nazi resistance movement Jeffreys-Jones, R. (2013): ''In Spies We Trust: The Story of Western ...

nom de guerre Gregor, was a well-known Slovene composer of

jazz Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, with its roots in blues and ragtime. Since the 1920s Jazz Age, it has been recognized as a major ...

, the

Slovenian song festival Slovenian song festival (In ) was a Slovenian music festival dedicated to a music genre known as Slovenian song ( sl, popevka) that was most popular during the 1960s and 1970s and had a similarly high standing in Slovene culture as did the Sanremo ...

music, and particularly

film score A film score is original music written specifically to accompany a film. The score comprises a number of orchestral, instrumental, or choral pieces called cues, which are timed to begin and end at specific points during the film in order to ...

s. He was also an avid

photographer A photographer (the Greek language, Greek φῶς (''phos''), meaning "light", and γραφή (''graphê''), meaning "drawing, writing", together meaning "drawing with light") is a person who makes photographs. Duties and types of photographe ...

, interested particularly in carnival figures from Ptuj.

Life

Adamič was born in Ribnica in the

Duchy of Carniola The Duchy of Carniola ( sl, Vojvodina Kranjska, german: Herzogtum Krain, hu, Krajna) was an imperial estate of the Holy Roman Empire, established under Habsburg rule on the territory of the former East Frankish March of Carniola in 1364. A ...

Austria-Hungary Austria-Hungary, often referred to as the Austro-Hungarian Empire,, the Dual Monarchy, or Austria, was a constitutional monarchy and great power in Central Europe between 1867 and 1918. It was formed with the Austro-Hungarian Compromise of ...

. He finished the

Poljane Grammar School The Poljane Upper Secondary School () is located in Ljubljana, the capital of Slovenia. It is a coeducational nondenominational state secondary general education school for students aged between 15 and 19. It prepares them for university, which the ...

in 1931, and earned a degree in

piano The piano is a stringed keyboard instrument in which the strings are struck by wooden hammers that are coated with a softer material (modern hammers are covered with dense wool felt; some early pianos used leather). It is played using a keyboa ...

from the Ljubljana Music Academy in June 1941. During

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

, he financially supported the anti-fascist Slovenian resistance movement. In 1943, he joined

, where he was also injured in an attack by Germans and was relocated to the headquarters, providing music that was then emitted by the Liberation Front Radio. During the war he met his future wife, Barbara Černič. They had one daughter, Alenka Adamič.

Work

Adamič was the first conductor of the RTV Slovenia Big Band assembling some of its members already in

that made first public appearance in June 1945 as part of the reopening of the

Postojna Cave Postojna Cave ( sl, Postojnska jama; german: Adelsberger Grotte; it, Grotte di Postumia) is a long karst cave system near Postojna, southwestern Slovenia. It is the second-longest cave system in the country (following the Migovec System) as wel ...

. Although he had an early preference for jazz, he later concentrated on film scores, the

music, and music he wrote for theater stages. In the music he composed, Slovene folk elements are identifiable. He composed scores for over 200 films that included films produced in Slovenia, USA, Hungary, Switzerland, West Germany, France, and Great Britain. Adamič served as the president of the Society of Slovene Composers. From 1980 until 1982, he was the head of the music production of Radio Slovenia. He died in 1995 in

Ljubljana Ljubljana (also known by other historical names) is the capital and largest city of Slovenia. It is the country's cultural, educational, economic, political and administrative center. During antiquity, a Roman city called Emona stood in the ar ...

Awards

Adamič received the most prestigious awards for his work. In 1979, he was bestowed the

Prešeren Award The Prešeren Award ( sl, Prešernova nagrada), also called the Grand Prešeren Award ( sl, Velika Prešernova nagrada), is the highest decoration in the field of artistic and in the past also scientific creation in Slovenia. It is awarded each yea ...

, the most highly prized cultural award in Slovenia, for his lifetime work. In 1990, he received the

Ježek Award Ježek may refer to: People: * Frane Milčinski, a Slovene writer that used the pen name Ježek * Ježek (surname), various people with the surname Ježek Other: * 27132 Ježek, a main belt asteroid *Czech hedgehog The Czech hedgehog ( cs, rozs ...

for his humorous songs and as a collaborator of

Frane Milčinski Frane Milčinski (pen name Ježek; 14 December 1914 – 27 February 1988) was a Slovene poet, satirist, humorist and comedian, actor, children's writer, and director. He is considered one of Slovenia's foremost 20th-century satirists and ente ...

, and in 1992, the Silver Order of Freedom of the Republic of Slovenia.

References

External links

His official site
(in English) * {{DEFAULTSORT:Adamic, Bojan 1912 births 1995 deaths People from Ribnica, Ribnica Slovenian film score composers Male film score composers Slovenian male musicians Prešeren Award laureates Golden Arena winners Slovenian photographers Slovenian music arrangers 20th-century composers University of Ljubljana alumni