Pavel Šivic (born February 2, 1908, in

Radovljica Radovljica (; german: Radmannsdorf) is a town in the Upper Carniola region of northern Slovenia. It is the administrative seat of the Municipality of Radovljica. Geography The town is located on the southern slope of the Karawanks mountain ra ...

Slovenia Slovenia ( ; sl, Slovenija ), officially the Republic of Slovenia (Slovene: , abbr.: ''RS''), is a country in Central Europe. It is bordered by Italy to the west, Austria to the north, Hungary to the northeast, Croatia to the southeast, an ...

— died May 31, 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 are ...

) was a Slovenian composer, concert pianist, and music educator. He is primarily known for his stage works, which include the music for five

opera Opera is a form of theatre in which music is a fundamental component and dramatic roles are taken by singers. Such a "work" (the literal translation of the Italian word "opera") is typically a collaboration between a composer and a libr ...

s, an operetta, and a

ballet Ballet () is a type of performance dance that originated during the Italian Renaissance in the fifteenth century and later developed into a concert dance form in France and Russia. It has since become a widespread and highly technical form of ...

; all of which premiered at the

Ljubljana Opera House The Ljubljana Opera House ( sl, Opera, or ) is an opera house in Ljubljana, the capital of Slovenia. The seat of the national opera and ballet company, the Ljubljana Slovene National Theatre Opera and Ballet, it serves as the national opera buildin ...

. His 1974 opera ''Cortesova vrnitev'' (''The Return of Cortes''), is widely regarded as the finest achievement in the genre by a Slovenian composer and in Slovenian. Šivic wrote the libretto to this opera himself, which is based on the 1967 play of the same name by Andrej Hieng. Šivic also composed a

twelve-tone The twelve-tone technique—also known as dodecaphony, twelve-tone serialism, and (in British usage) twelve-note composition—is a method of musical composition first devised by Austrian composer Josef Matthias Hauer, who published his "law o ...

suite, several cantatas, choral works, vocal art songs, solo instrument pieces for a variety of instruments including many for the piano, and multiple

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 e ...

s. Šivic graduated from the Ljubljana Conservatory in 1931 where he was a pupil of

Janko Ravnik Janko Ravnik (7 March 1891 – 2 September 1981) was a Slovenian pianist, teacher, film director and composer.Booklet to Bernarda Fink ''Slovenija!'' 2010 Harmonia Mundi He was born in Bohinjska Bistrica and died in Ljubljana. In 1928 and 1929, he ...

(piano) and Slavko Osterc (composition). He pursued graduate studies at the

Prague Conservatory The Prague Conservatory or Prague Conservatoire ( cs, Pražská konzervatoř) is a music school in Prague, Czech Republic, founded in 1808. Currently, Prague Conservatory offers four or six year study courses, which can be compared to the level ...

in 1933 with Vilém Kurz (piano), Josef Suk (composition) and

Alois Hába Alois Hába (21 June 1893 – 18 November 1973) was a Czech composer, music theorist and teacher. He belongs to the important discoverers in modern classical music, and major composers of microtonal music, especially using the quarter-tone scal ...

(composition and music theory). From 1939 until 1978 he taught composition on the faculty of the Academy of Music in Ljubljana. He was also active as concert pianist and accompanist in Ljubljana; contributing greatly to the music life of that city. He was given 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 ...

in 1965.

Partial list of works

*''Oj, ta prešmentana ljubezen'' h, that Cursed Love(operetta in 3 Acts, libretto by M. Simončič); 29 April 1931 *''Dogodek v mestu Gogi'' n Event in the Town of Goga(ballet), 1967 *''Cortesova vrnitev'' he Return of Cortés 1971 (opera in 3 Acts, libretto by Šivic, after A. Hieng); 20 March 1974 *''Svitanje '' he Daybreak(opera in 1 Act, libretto by Šivic, after B. Šömen); 10 May 1979 *''Samorog'' he Unicorn(opera in 3 Acts, libretto by Šivic, after G. Strniša), 1981 *''Kaznovana radovednost'' uriosity Punished(Children's opera in 1 Act, libretto by Šivic and V. Rudolph); 9 February 1988 *''Hiša iz kart'' (opera), 1989

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Sivic, Pavel 1908 births 1995 deaths Male opera composers Musicians from Ljubljana Prešeren Award laureates Slovenian opera composers Slovenian classical pianists