Music of Slovenia
Encyclopedia
The music of Slovenia
is closely related to Austrian and Northern Italian
music because of its common history and Alpine
and littoral
culture, and in some southern regions to Croatia
n (especially Istria
n). In the minds of many foreigners, Slovenian folk music
means a form of polka
that is still popular today, especially among expatriates and their descendants in North America. However, there are many styles of Slovenian folk music beyond polka, and waltz
. Lender, štajeriš, mafrine and šaltin are a few of the traditional music styles and dances.
, Slovenia, is possibly the oldest known musical instrument ever. Its age is estimated at approximately 55,000 years.
The history of modern Slovenian music can be traced back to the 5th century, when Christianity
spread in Carantania. Liturgical hymn
s (kyrie eleison) were introduced, and became the first plainchant to make a connection to the peoples' language.
in the 16th century, music was used to proselytize. The first Slovenian hymnal, Eni Psalmi, was published in 1567. This period saw the rise of musicians like Jacobus Gallus
and Jurij Slatkonja
.
Italy was an important musical influence of the period, especially in sacred music, such as that of Antonio Tarsia (composer)
of Koper, in oratorio
and opera
. A commedia was performed in Ljubljana in 1660, and an opera in 1700 in the family palace of the Auerspergs. In 1701, Johann Berthold von Höffer
(1667-1718), a nobleman and amateur composer from Ljubljana, founded the Academia Philharmonicorum Labacensis based on Italian models. and the Ljubljana branch of the Roman Academy of Arcadia
was founded a few years later in 1709. Apart from Höffer the Cathedral provost Mihael Omerza was also noted for his oratorios. The first major Slovenian opera was performed in 1732, Il Tamerlano by Giuseppe Clemente Bonomi, maestro di capella, in the palace of the Carniolan vice-regent, the duke Francesco Antonio Sigifrid della Torre e Valassina.
As the economic depression hit the country in the last half of the 18th century, music declined in popularity . Beginning in 1768, German theatre companies arrived and became very popular. The 1794 formation of the Philharmonische Gesellschaft
was important because it was one of the first such orchestras in Central Europe. The 19th century saw the growth of a distinctively Slovenian classical music sound based on romanticism
, while the German minority continued to push for a stronger Germanic identity. The Ljubljana opera house
(1892) was shared by Slovene and German opera companies.
Composers of Slovenian Lieder and art song
s include Emil Adamič
(1877-1936), Fran Gerbič
(1840-1917), Alojz Geržinič
(1915-2008), Benjamin Ipavec
(1829-1908), Daverin Jenko (1835-1914), Anton Lajovic
(1878-1960) , Kamilo Mašek
(1831-1859), Josip Pavčič
(1870-1949), Zorko Prelovec
(1887-1939), and Lucijan Marija Škerjanc
(1900-1973).
In the early 20th century, impressionism
was spreading across Slovenia, which soon produced composers Marij Kogoj
and Slavko Osterc
.
Avant-garde classical music arose in Slovenia in the 1960s, largely due to the work of Uroš Krek
, Dane Škerl, Primož Ramovš
and Ivo Petrić
, who also conducted the Slavko Osterc Ensemble
. Jakob Jež, Darijan Božič
, Lojze Lebič and Vinko Globokar
have since composed enduring works, especially Globokar's L'Armonia
, an opera.
Modern composers include Uroš Rojko, Tomaž Svete, Brina Jež-Brezavšček and Aldo Kumar. Kumar's Sonata z igro 12 (A sonata with a play 12), a set of variations on a rising chromatic scale
, is particularly notable.
Typical Slovenian folk music is performed on Styrian harmonica (the oldest type of accordion), fiddle, clarinet, zithers, flute, and by brass bands of alpine type. In eastern Slovenia, fiddle and cimbalon bands are called velike goslarije. Rural harmony singing
is a deep rooted tradition in Slovenia, and is at least three-part singing (four voices), while in some regions even up to eight-part singing (nine voices). Slovenian folk songs, thus, usually resounds soft and harmonious, and are very seldom in minor. Folk music revivalists include Volk Volk, Kurja Koža, Marko Banda, Katice, Bogdana Herman, Ljoba Jenče, Vruja, Trinajsto praše, Šavrinske pupe en ragacone, Musicante Istriani, and Tolovaj Mataj.
Slavko Avsenik
is one of the most influential polka and waltz musicians in Slovenia and the world. Oberkrainer music, which the Avsenik Ensemble popularized, is always a strong candidate for country (folk) music awards in Slovenia and Austria. Slavko and his brother, Vilko, are usually credited as the pioneers of Slovenian folk music, having solidified its style in the 1950s.
, an early 1980s industrial music
group, and Siddharta
.
Other popular bands, largely unknown outside the country, include Silence
, Elvis Jackson (ska punk
), Lačni Franz
, Bohem, Puppetz (Indie), Tabu, Društvo Mrtvih Pesnikov (pop-rock), Naio Ssaion
(Gothic metal
), Terrafolk
, Leaf Fat (screamo
), Avven, Perpetuum Jazzile
, Carpe Diem, Šank Rock
, Big Foot Mama
, Yogurt, Adam, Levitan, Dan D
, Time to time, Flirrt, Zablujena generacija
, Slon in Sadež
, Katalena, Rock Partyzani, Shyam, Eroika, Hic et Nunc, Devil Doll
(experimental rock
), Chateau, Posodi mi jürja, Rok'n'band, Čuki, Juliette Justine, Zaklonišče Prepeva
, Psycho-Path, Dekadent (black metal
) and Buldožer
(progressive rock
). Other notable singers and chansonnier
s include Adi Smolar
, Iztok Mlakar
, Eva Sršen
, Vlado Kreslin
, Neca Falk, Zoran Predin
, Peter Lovšin and Magnifico.
Ljubljana
-born Bratko Bibič
's former band Begnagrad was a very influential 1970s group that are considered one of the direct influences on modern world music
. Bibič's unique accordion
style, often solo, with no accompaniment, has also made him a solo star.
In the former Yugoslavia
, Slovenia
was the center for punk rock
. The most famous representatives of this genre were Pankrti
, Niet
, Lublanski Psi, Čao Pičke, Via Ofenziva, Tožibabe, and Otroci Socializma.
Slovenia has also produced two renowned DJs: DJ Umek
and Valentino Kanzyani
. Specialising in a frantic brand of party techno and tech-house, the pair co-founded the label Recycled Loops as well as having many popular releases on labels such as Novamute, Primate, Intec and Bassethound Records.
phrase meaning "New Slovenian Art"), aka NSK, is a controversial political
art collective that announced itself in Slovenia
in 1984
, when Slovenia was part of Yugoslavia
. NSK's name, being German, is compatible with a theme in NSK works: the complicated relationship Slovenes have had with Germans
. The name of NSK's music wing, Laibach, is also the German name of the Slovene capital Ljubljana
, creating controversy
through evoking memories of the Nazi occupation of Slovenia during the Second World War.
. Other NSK member groups include IRWIN
(visual art), Noordung
(theater; originally named Scipion Našice Sisters Theater, also known as Red Pilot), New Collective Studio (graphics; also known as New Collectivism), Retrovision (film and video), and the Department of Pure and Applied Philosophy (theory). The founding groups of the NSK were Laibach, IRWIN, and Scipion Našice Sisters Theater.
or extreme nationalist
movements, often reappropriating totalitarian kitsch
in a visual style reminiscent of Dada
. NSK artists often juxtapose symbols from different (and often incompatible) political ideologies
. For example, a 1987 NSK-designed poster
caused a scandal by winning a competition for the Yugoslavian Youth Day Celebration. The poster appropriated
a painting
by Nazi
artist Richard Klein
, replacing the flag of Nazi Germany with the Yugoslav flag
and the German eagle with a dove
.
Both IRWIN and Laibach are emphatic about their work being collective rather than individual. Laibach's original songs and arrangements are always credited to the group collectively; the individual artists are not named on their album cover
s; at one point, there were even two separate Laibach groups touring at the same time, both with members of the original group. Similarly, the IRWIN artists never sign their work individually; instead, they are "signed" with a stamp
or certificate indicating approval as a work from the IRWIN collective.
The NSK were the subject of a 1996 documentary film
written and directed by Michael Benson, entitled Prerokbe Ognja in Slovenian
, or Predictions of Fire
in English. Among those interviewed in the film is Slovenian intellectual
Slavoj Žižek
.
, a claim similar to that of micronation
s. They issue passport
s, have presented shows of their work in the guise of an embassy or even as a territory of their supposed state, and maintain consulates in several cities including Umag
, Croatia
. NSK have also issued postage stamps. Laibach, in 2006, recorded (some may say 'remixed') the NSK State National Anthem on the LP "Volk." The "anthem" adopts its melody from another Laibach song, "The Great Seal." Laibach's version of the NSK anthem includes a computer voice reciting an excerpt from Winston Churchill
's famous "We shall fight them on the beaches/We shall never surrender" speech. The computer voice is clearly recognisable as the voice synthesiser Macintalk, built into Mac OS
, and uses the preset voice Ralph.
The NSK passports are an art project and as such are not valid for travel. However, many desperate people have fallen for a scam in which they are issued a NSK passport. Most of these scams originate in Nigeria and Egypt.
n avant-garde music
group strongly associated with industrial
, martial, and neo-classical
musical styles. Laibach formed June 1, 1980 in Trbovlje
, Slovenia
(then Yugoslavia
). Laibach represents the music wing of the Neue Slowenische Kunst
(NSK) art collective, of which it was a founding member in 1984. The name "Laibach" is the German
name for Slovenia's capital city, Ljubljana
.
Slovenia
Slovenia , officially the Republic of Slovenia , is a country in Central and Southeastern Europe touching the Alps and bordering the Mediterranean. Slovenia borders Italy to the west, Croatia to the south and east, Hungary to the northeast, and Austria to the north, and also has a small portion of...
is closely related to Austrian and Northern Italian
Northern Italy
Northern Italy is a wide cultural, historical and geographical definition, without any administrative usage, used to indicate the northern part of the Italian state, also referred as Settentrione or Alta Italia...
music because of its common history and Alpine
Alps
The Alps is one of the great mountain range systems of Europe, stretching from Austria and Slovenia in the east through Italy, Switzerland, Liechtenstein and Germany to France in the west....
and littoral
Littoral
The littoral zone is that part of a sea, lake or river that is close to the shore. In coastal environments the littoral zone extends from the high water mark, which is rarely inundated, to shoreline areas that are permanently submerged. It always includes this intertidal zone and is often used to...
culture, and in some southern regions to Croatia
Croatia
Croatia , officially the Republic of Croatia , is a unitary democratic parliamentary republic in Europe at the crossroads of the Mitteleuropa, the Balkans, and the Mediterranean. Its capital and largest city is Zagreb. The country is divided into 20 counties and the city of Zagreb. Croatia covers ...
n (especially Istria
Istria
Istria , formerly Histria , is the largest peninsula in the Adriatic Sea. The peninsula is located at the head of the Adriatic between the Gulf of Trieste and the Bay of Kvarner...
n). In the minds of many foreigners, Slovenian folk music
Folk music
Folk music is an English term encompassing both traditional folk music and contemporary folk music. The term originated in the 19th century. Traditional folk music has been defined in several ways: as music transmitted by mouth, as music of the lower classes, and as music with unknown composers....
means a form of polka
Polka
The polka is a Central European dance and also a genre of dance music familiar throughout Europe and the Americas. It originated in the middle of the 19th century in Bohemia...
that is still popular today, especially among expatriates and their descendants in North America. However, there are many styles of Slovenian folk music beyond polka, and waltz
Waltz
The waltz is a ballroom and folk dance in time, performed primarily in closed position.- History :There are several references to a sliding or gliding dance,- a waltz, from the 16th century including the representations of the printer H.S. Beheim...
. Lender, štajeriš, mafrine and šaltin are a few of the traditional music styles and dances.
Prehistory
The Divje Babe flute, an artifact found in a cave near CerknoCerkno
Cerkno is a small town and a municipality in the Littoral region of Slovenia.It has around 2,000 inhabitants and is the administrative centre of the Cerkno hills...
, Slovenia, is possibly the oldest known musical instrument ever. Its age is estimated at approximately 55,000 years.
The history of modern Slovenian music can be traced back to the 5th century, when Christianity
Christianity
Christianity is a monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus as presented in canonical gospels and other New Testament writings...
spread in Carantania. Liturgical hymn
Hymn
A hymn is a type of song, usually religious, specifically written for the purpose of praise, adoration or prayer, and typically addressed to a deity or deities, or to a prominent figure or personification...
s (kyrie eleison) were introduced, and became the first plainchant to make a connection to the peoples' language.
Classical music
During the medieval era, secular music was as popular as church music, including wandering minnesingers. By the time of Protestant ReformationProtestant Reformation
The Protestant Reformation was a 16th-century split within Western Christianity initiated by Martin Luther, John Calvin and other early Protestants. The efforts of the self-described "reformers", who objected to the doctrines, rituals and ecclesiastical structure of the Roman Catholic Church, led...
in the 16th century, music was used to proselytize. The first Slovenian hymnal, Eni Psalmi, was published in 1567. This period saw the rise of musicians like Jacobus Gallus
Jacobus Gallus
Jacobus Gallus Carniolus was a late Renaissance composer of Slovenian ethnicity...
and Jurij Slatkonja
Jurij Slatkonja
Jurij Slatkonja, , was a Slovenian conductor, composer and bishop of Vienna....
.
Italy was an important musical influence of the period, especially in sacred music, such as that of Antonio Tarsia (composer)
Antonio Tarsia (composer)
Antonio Tarsia was a Slovenian composer.Tarsia was born in Pula. He was the major composer of the early Baroque in Ljubljana and left a large amount of Latin sacred compositions. He died in Koper.-References:...
of Koper, in oratorio
Oratorio
An oratorio is a large musical composition including an orchestra, a choir, and soloists. Like an opera, an oratorio includes the use of a choir, soloists, an ensemble, various distinguishable characters, and arias...
and opera
Opera
Opera is an art form in which singers and musicians perform a dramatic work combining text and musical score, usually in a theatrical setting. Opera incorporates many of the elements of spoken theatre, such as acting, scenery, and costumes and sometimes includes dance...
. A commedia was performed in Ljubljana in 1660, and an opera in 1700 in the family palace of the Auerspergs. In 1701, Johann Berthold von Höffer
Johann Berthold von Höffer
Johann Berthold von Höffer was a nobleman from Ljubljana, and an amateur Slovenian composer. He founded The Academia Philharmonicorum, Ljubljana in 1701, and primarily composed Latin oratorios. His artistic name in the Academia was Operose Devius.-References:...
(1667-1718), a nobleman and amateur composer from Ljubljana, founded the Academia Philharmonicorum Labacensis based on Italian models. and the Ljubljana branch of the Roman Academy of Arcadia
Academy of Arcadia
The Academy of Arcadia or Academy of Arcadians was an Italian literary academy founded in Rome in 1690.-History:...
was founded a few years later in 1709. Apart from Höffer the Cathedral provost Mihael Omerza was also noted for his oratorios. The first major Slovenian opera was performed in 1732, Il Tamerlano by Giuseppe Clemente Bonomi, maestro di capella, in the palace of the Carniolan vice-regent, the duke Francesco Antonio Sigifrid della Torre e Valassina.
As the economic depression hit the country in the last half of the 18th century, music declined in popularity . Beginning in 1768, German theatre companies arrived and became very popular. The 1794 formation of the Philharmonische Gesellschaft
Slovenian Philharmonic Orchestra
The Slovenian Philharmonic Orchestra is the national philharmonic orchestra of Slovenia, based in the capital Ljubljana.On the Philharmonic Hall, a pastel yellow building on Kongresni trg., is a plaque stating that the Philharmonic was founded in 1701; though this refers to the founding of the...
was important because it was one of the first such orchestras in Central Europe. The 19th century saw the growth of a distinctively Slovenian classical music sound based on romanticism
Romanticism
Romanticism was an artistic, literary and intellectual movement that originated in the second half of the 18th century in Europe, and gained strength in reaction to the Industrial Revolution...
, while the German minority continued to push for a stronger Germanic identity. The Ljubljana opera house
Ljubljana opera house
Slovenian National Opera and Ballet Theatre is an opera house in Ljubljana, the capital of Slovenia. It serves as the national opera building of the country.-Opera in Slovenia:...
(1892) was shared by Slovene and German opera companies.
Composers of Slovenian Lieder and art song
Art song
An art song is a vocal music composition, usually written for one voice with piano or orchestral accompaniment. By extension, the term "art song" is used to refer to the genre of such songs....
s include Emil Adamič
Emil Adamic
Emil Adamič was a Slovenian composer.Adamič was born in Dobrova and studied at conservatories in Trieste and Ljubljana. He composed pieces for orchestra and choir...
(1877-1936), Fran Gerbič
Fran Gerbič
thumb|right|Fran GerbičFran Gerbič was a Slovenian composer and operatic tenor. During the 1940s he was one of the best known abroad of composers of Yugoslavia.-Works:Operas* Kres 1896* Nabor 1913...
(1840-1917), Alojz Geržinič
Alojz Geržinič
Alojz Geržinič is a Slovenian composer. A native of Ljubljana, he lived and worked since 1948 in Buenos Aires, Argentina. Many of his compositions are for voice...
(1915-2008), Benjamin Ipavec
Benjamin Ipavec
Benjamin Ipavec was a Slovenian composer. A native of Šentjur, he lived in that town for much of his life. He was a physician in his professional life; as a composer he wrote mainly small choral pieces for amateur forces...
(1829-1908), Daverin Jenko (1835-1914), Anton Lajovic
Anton Lajovic
thumb|right|Anton LajovicAnton Lajovic was a Slovenian composer. He was noted for his Lieder. And was influenced by the late-romantic French school.-References:...
(1878-1960) , Kamilo Mašek
Kamilo Mašek
Kamilo Mašek was a Slovenian composer of Czech descent, son of the Czech-born Kašpar Mašek. He introduced more romantic influence into Slovenian music...
(1831-1859), Josip Pavčič
Josip Pavčič
Josip Pavčič was a Slovenian composer and organist. He was popular with choral societies, and for his art songs.His father was a teacher, organist, composer and conductor...
(1870-1949), Zorko Prelovec
Zorko Prelovec
Zorko Prelovec was a Slovenian composer, well known for his choral works and Lieder. He was also active as a choral conductor, leading the Ljubljana Mercury choir from 1900.-References:...
(1887-1939), and Lucijan Marija Škerjanc
Lucijan Marija Škerjanc
Lucijan Marija Škerjanc was a Slovene composer, pedagogue, conductor, musician, and writer who was accomplished on and wrote for a number of musical instruments such as the piano, violin and clarinet....
(1900-1973).
In the early 20th century, impressionism
Impressionism
Impressionism was a 19th-century art movement that originated with a group of Paris-based artists whose independent exhibitions brought them to prominence during the 1870s and 1880s...
was spreading across Slovenia, which soon produced composers Marij Kogoj
Marij Kogoj
thumb|right|Marij KogojMarij Kogoj was a Slovenian composer. He was a pupil of Schoenberg and Franz Schreker, and immensely popular during the 1920s, culminating with his opera Black masks....
and Slavko Osterc
Slavko Osterc
Slavko Osterc , was a Slovenian composer.Osterc was born in Veržej. He studied under Emerik Beran, who was a pupil of Leoš Janáček, in his youth before attending the Prague Conservatory from 1925 to 1927. While there he studied under Karel Boleslav Jirák, Vítězslav Novák, and Alois Hába...
.
Avant-garde classical music arose in Slovenia in the 1960s, largely due to the work of Uroš Krek
Uroš Krek
Uroš Krek was a Slovenian composer, considered one of the most renowned personalities of Slovenian music after the Second World War. A native of Ljubljana, he died in Jesenice. He worked for many years for Radiotelevizija Slovenija, and composed a number of soundtracks...
, Dane Škerl, Primož Ramovš
Primož Ramovš
Primož Ramovš was a Slovenian composer. He was born and died in Ljubljana.Ramovš studied at the Ljubljana Academy of Music from 1935-1941 under Slavko Osterc; following this he studied in Siena under Vito Frazzi in 1941 and in Rome with Goffredo Petrassi and Alfredo Casella from 1941-1943...
and Ivo Petrić
Ivo Petric
Ivo Petrić is a Slovenian composer of European classical music.Petrić was educated at the Academy of Music in Ljubljana from 1952 to 1958. After completing his studies at the Academy, he conducted and toured with the Slavko Osterc chamber music ensemble until 1982...
, who also conducted the Slavko Osterc Ensemble
Slavko Osterc Ensemble
The Slavko Osterc Ensemble was a Slovenian chamber orchestra formed under the direction of Ivo Petrič in 1962. Named after Slovenian composer Slavko Osterc, the ensemble toured throughout Europe performing works by modern composers active in the former Yugoslavian countries...
. Jakob Jež, Darijan Božič
Darijan Božic
Darijan Božič is a Slovenian composer and conductor.- Biography :Darijan Božič was born to Ivo and Ana Nuša in Slavonski Brod as the younger of two children...
, Lojze Lebič and Vinko Globokar
Vinko Globokar
Vinko Globokar is a French avant-garde composer and trombonist of Slovene descent.His work is noted for its use of unconventional and extended techniques, closely allying him to contemporaries Salvatore Sciarrino and Helmut Lachenmann...
have since composed enduring works, especially Globokar's L'Armonia
L'Armonia
L'Armonia was newspaper founded in Turin in 1848. It was ultra-conservative and Catholic in orientation. It holds the distinction of being the first publication in Italian to publish an account of the Book of Mormon....
, an opera.
Modern composers include Uroš Rojko, Tomaž Svete, Brina Jež-Brezavšček and Aldo Kumar. Kumar's Sonata z igro 12 (A sonata with a play 12), a set of variations on a rising chromatic scale
Chromatic scale
The chromatic scale is a musical scale with twelve pitches, each a semitone apart. On a modern piano or other equal-tempered instrument, all the half steps are the same size...
, is particularly notable.
Folk music
Traditional Slovenian music include various kinds of musical instruments such as:- Styrian accordion
- Hammered dulcimerHammered dulcimerThe hammered dulcimer is a stringed musical instrument with the strings stretched over a trapezoidal sounding board. Typically, the hammered dulcimer is set on a stand, at an angle, before the musician, who holds small mallet hammers in each hand to strike the strings...
- Cimbalon grande
- Drone zitherDrone zitherDrone zithers or droned zithers are stringed instruments of the zither family that have few melodic strings and a greater number of drone strings. The oldest known form of drone zither is the Scheitholt....
- Violin zither
- ZitherZitherThe zither is a musical string instrument, most commonly found in Slovenia, Austria, Hungary citera, northwestern Croatia, the southern regions of Germany, alpine Europe and East Asian cultures, including China...
- Tamburica
- FiddleFiddleThe term fiddle may refer to any bowed string musical instrument, most often the violin. It is also a colloquial term for the instrument used by players in all genres, including classical music...
- Carnian fiddle
- CelloCelloThe cello is a bowed string instrument with four strings tuned in perfect fifths. It is a member of the violin family of musical instruments, which also includes the violin, viola, and double bass. Old forms of the instrument in the Baroque era are baryton and viol .A person who plays a cello is...
- Brunkula cello
- GaidaGaidaThe gaida is a musical instrument, aerophone, using enclosed reeds fed from a constant reservoir of air in the form of a bag.The gaida, and its variations, is a traditional musical instrument for entire Europe, Northern Africa and the Middle East....
- Brass instruments, such as baritone horn
- ClarinetClarinetThe clarinet is a musical instrument of woodwind type. The name derives from adding the suffix -et to the Italian word clarino , as the first clarinets had a strident tone similar to that of a trumpet. The instrument has an approximately cylindrical bore, and uses a single reed...
- Jaw harp
- Clay pot bass
- Okarina
- KlopotecKlopotecA klopotec is a wooden mechanical device on a high wooden pole, similar to a windmill. It is used as a bird scarer in the vineyards of traditional wine-growing landscapes of Slovenia, Austria and Croatia...
- Panpipes
- Wooden cross flutes of various sizes
- PsalteryPsalteryA psaltery is a stringed musical instrument of the harp or the zither family. The psaltery of Ancient Greece dates from at least 2800 BC, when it was a harp-like instrument...
- TambourineTambourineThe tambourine or marine is a musical instrument of the percussion family consisting of a frame, often of wood or plastic, with pairs of small metal jingles, called "zils". Classically the term tambourine denotes an instrument with a drumhead, though some variants may not have a head at all....
Typical Slovenian folk music is performed on Styrian harmonica (the oldest type of accordion), fiddle, clarinet, zithers, flute, and by brass bands of alpine type. In eastern Slovenia, fiddle and cimbalon bands are called velike goslarije. Rural harmony singing
Harmony
In music, harmony is the use of simultaneous pitches , or chords. The study of harmony involves chords and their construction and chord progressions and the principles of connection that govern them. Harmony is often said to refer to the "vertical" aspect of music, as distinguished from melodic...
is a deep rooted tradition in Slovenia, and is at least three-part singing (four voices), while in some regions even up to eight-part singing (nine voices). Slovenian folk songs, thus, usually resounds soft and harmonious, and are very seldom in minor. Folk music revivalists include Volk Volk, Kurja Koža, Marko Banda, Katice, Bogdana Herman, Ljoba Jenče, Vruja, Trinajsto praše, Šavrinske pupe en ragacone, Musicante Istriani, and Tolovaj Mataj.
Slavko Avsenik
Slavko Avsenik
Slavko Avsenik is a Slovenian composer and musician. His career accomplishments place him at the worldwide pinnacle of success among ethnic popular musicians...
is one of the most influential polka and waltz musicians in Slovenia and the world. Oberkrainer music, which the Avsenik Ensemble popularized, is always a strong candidate for country (folk) music awards in Slovenia and Austria. Slavko and his brother, Vilko, are usually credited as the pioneers of Slovenian folk music, having solidified its style in the 1950s.
Contemporary music
Two of the most famous modern Slovenian bands are LaibachLaibach (band)
Laibach is a Slovenian avant-garde music group associated with industrial, martial, and neo-classical musical styles. Laibach formed June 1, 1980 in Trbovlje, Slovenia . Laibach represents the music wing of the Neue Slowenische Kunst art collective, of which it was a founding member in 1984...
, an early 1980s industrial music
Industrial music
Industrial music is a style of experimental music that draws on transgressive and provocative themes. The term was coined in the mid-1970s with the founding of Industrial Records by the band Throbbing Gristle, and the creation of the slogan "industrial music for industrial people". In general, the...
group, and Siddharta
Siddharta (band)
Siddharta is a five-piece Slovenian rock band founded in 1995. They are named after the popular novel by German writer Hermann Hesse, Siddhartha.- History :...
.
Other popular bands, largely unknown outside the country, include Silence
Silence (band)
Silence is a Slovenian electronic, synth pop and soundtrack music composing duo consisting of Boris Benko and Primož Hladnik . Their fanbase and their tours are currently limited to Slovenia, Germany and parts of Eastern Europe...
, Elvis Jackson (ska punk
Ska punk
Ska punk is a fusion music genre that combines ska and punk rock. It achieved its highest level of commercial success in the United States in the late 1990s. Ska-core is a subgenre of ska punk, blending ska with hardcore punk.The characteristics of ska punk vary, due to the fusion of contrasting...
), Lačni Franz
Lacni Franz
Lačni Franz was a rock band from Slovenia. The band was formed in Maribor in June 1979. Their name, meaning hungry Franz, is a pun on the name of a character from the novel Catch-22, Hungry Joe, and describes hunger for rock music....
, Bohem, Puppetz (Indie), Tabu, Društvo Mrtvih Pesnikov (pop-rock), Naio Ssaion
Naio Ssaion
-Overview:Naio Ssaion, pronounced , was officially created in 2003 but the members have been together in other forms since 1999. Naio Ssaion are often thought to have a similar musical style to their contemporaries Lullacry, however the use of a violin gives the band a more unusual lineup and more...
(Gothic metal
Gothic metal
Gothic metal or goth metal is a subgenre of heavy metal music that combines the aggression of doom metal with the dark melancholy of gothic rock. The music of gothic metal is diverse with bands known to adopt the gothic approach to different styles of heavy metal music...
), Terrafolk
Terrafolk
thumb|220px|Terrafolk in concert Terrafolk is a Slovenian folk band which formed in 1999 at Festival Lent in Slovenia. They quickly rose to fame, performing at numerous fesivals throughout Europe, including the Edinburgh Fringe and Glastonbury, before winning the BBC World Music Audience Award in...
, Leaf Fat (screamo
Screamo
Screamo, though used loosely to generally describe music that features screamed vocals, is actually a musical subgenre of hardcore punk which predominantly evolved from emo, among other genres, in the early 1990s...
), Avven, Perpetuum Jazzile
Perpetuum Jazzile
Perpetuum Jazzile is a Slovenian choir that performs jazz and popular music. It was founded as Gaudeamus Chamber Choir in 1983 by Marko Tiran. In 2001, Tiran passed the art directorship of the choir to Tomaž Kozlevčar, the renowned music producer, arranger and vocalist, who was followed by Peder...
, Carpe Diem, Šank Rock
Šank Rock
Šank Rock was a five-piece Slovenian rock group, formed in 1982. In their long-lasting career they have published 13 albums.Their greatest distinction is probably that their music remains the same as it was from the beginning...
, Big Foot Mama
Big Foot Mama
Big Foot Mama is a rock band from Ljubljana, Slovenia. It is one of the most popular Slovenian pop rock bands of the 1990s.The group started their career in 1990...
, Yogurt, Adam, Levitan, Dan D
Dan D
Dan D is a popular Slovenian rock band that has been formed in 1996 in Novo Mesto and has published four albums till now.-Band members:...
, Time to time, Flirrt, Zablujena generacija
Zablujena generacija
Zablujena generacija is a Slovene "saloon" punk - alternative rock musical group from Idrija.The group started out in 1994. The original lineup, who took their lead from the legendary American punkers The Ramones, was Primož Alič , Ramon , Aljoša and Igor Seljak...
, Slon in Sadež
Slon in Sadež
Slon in Sadež is a Slovenian musical group, formed in 2001 by Jure Karas and Igor Bračič . They perform music of various genres. Their music is humorous and mostly politically orientated.They discuss topics such as family violence, drug prohibition, entering NATO and violence in Guantanamo bay...
, Katalena, Rock Partyzani, Shyam, Eroika, Hic et Nunc, Devil Doll
Devil Doll (band)
Devil Doll is an Italian-Slovenian experimental rock band formed in 1987 by the mysterious "Mr. Doctor". The band has gained a cult following, taking influences from gothic rock, classical and slavonic folk music, and fronted by the sprechgesang of Mr. Doctor himself. Devil Doll albums were all...
(experimental rock
Experimental rock
Experimental rock or avant-garde rock is a type of music based on rock which experiments with the basic elements of the genre, or which pushes the boundaries of common composition and performance technique....
), Chateau, Posodi mi jürja, Rok'n'band, Čuki, Juliette Justine, Zaklonišče Prepeva
Zaklonišce prepeva
thumb|220px|Zaklonišče Prepeva in concertZaklonišče Prepeva is a Slovenian rock band from Nova Gorica. Most of their lyrics are in Serbo-Croatian with certain amount of yugo-nostalgia....
, Psycho-Path, Dekadent (black metal
Black metal
Black metal is an extreme subgenre of heavy metal music. Common traits include fast tempos, shrieked vocals, highly distorted guitars played with tremolo picking, blast beat drumming, raw recording, and unconventional song structure....
) and Buldožer
Buldožer
Buldožer was Yugoslav-Slovenian progressive rock band from 1970s and 1980s. They were one of the first bands in communist Yugoslavia that could be considered alternative, and forefathers of the Yugoslav New Wave...
(progressive rock
Progressive rock
Progressive rock is a subgenre of rock music that developed in the late 1960s and early 1970s as part of a "mostly British attempt to elevate rock music to new levels of artistic credibility." John Covach, in Contemporary Music Review, says that many thought it would not just "succeed the pop of...
). Other notable singers and chansonnier
Chansonnier
A chansonnier is a manuscript or printed book which contains a collection of chansons, or polyphonic and monophonic settings of songs, hence literally "song-books," although some manuscripts are so called even though they preserve the text but not the music A chansonnier is a manuscript or...
s include Adi Smolar
Adi Smolar
Adi Smolar is a Slovenian singer-songwriter and composer.He made his first appearance in 1981 with a full repertoire of his own songs. He continued to perform for eight years before releasing his first tape Naš svet se pa vrti in 1989...
, Iztok Mlakar
Iztok Mlakar
Iztok Mlakar is a Slovenian singer-songwriter, chansonnier and theatre actor. Known as the "bard of the Slovenian Littoral", he is most famous for his songs in the Slovene dialect from Goriška...
, Eva Sršen
Eva Sršen
Eva Sršen is a Slovenian singer, who had a short career in Yugoslav pop music in the first half of the 1970s.She first became well known by winning the national choise for Eurovision Song Contest 1970, the Yugoslavian selection for the Eurovision Song Contest...
, Vlado Kreslin
Vlado Kreslin
Vlado Kreslin in Beltinci, SR Slovenia, Yugoslavia is a Slovenian folk rock musician.Kreslin was born in the village of Beltinci in the Prekmurje region of Slovenia, then part of Yugoslavia. He began his musical career in his student years, first coming to acclaim as the lead singer with the rock...
, Neca Falk, Zoran Predin
Zoran Predin
Zoran Predin is a Slovenian singer-songwriter from Maribor. In the 1980s, he was the front man of the folk-rock band Lačni Franz. He also writes music for film, television and theatre....
, Peter Lovšin and Magnifico.
Ljubljana
Ljubljana
Ljubljana is the capital of Slovenia and its largest city. It is the centre of the City Municipality of Ljubljana. It is located in the centre of the country in the Ljubljana Basin, and is a mid-sized city of some 270,000 inhabitants...
-born Bratko Bibič
Bratko Bibic
Bratko Bibič is a Slovenian accordionist.Bibič first came to prominence as a rock musician, playing in the ensembles Begnagrad and Nimal in the 1980s; both groups were pivotal on the rock scene blending Slavic folk music with art rock...
's former band Begnagrad was a very influential 1970s group that are considered one of the direct influences on modern world music
World music
World music is a term with widely varying definitions, often encompassing music which is primarily identified as another genre. This is evidenced by world music definitions such as "all of the music in the world" or "somebody else's local music"...
. Bibič's unique accordion
Accordion
The accordion is a box-shaped musical instrument of the bellows-driven free-reed aerophone family, sometimes referred to as a squeezebox. A person who plays the accordion is called an accordionist....
style, often solo, with no accompaniment, has also made him a solo star.
In the former Yugoslavia
Yugoslavia
Yugoslavia refers to three political entities that existed successively on the western part of the Balkans during most of the 20th century....
, Slovenia
Slovenia
Slovenia , officially the Republic of Slovenia , is a country in Central and Southeastern Europe touching the Alps and bordering the Mediterranean. Slovenia borders Italy to the west, Croatia to the south and east, Hungary to the northeast, and Austria to the north, and also has a small portion of...
was the center for punk rock
Punk rock
Punk rock is a rock music genre that developed between 1974 and 1976 in the United States, the United Kingdom, and Australia. Rooted in garage rock and other forms of what is now known as protopunk music, punk rock bands eschewed perceived excesses of mainstream 1970s rock...
. The most famous representatives of this genre were Pankrti
Pankrti
Pankrti were a punk rock band from Ljubljana, Slovenia, active in the late 1970s and during the 1980s. They were known for provocative and politically engaged songs and billed themselves "The First Punk Band Behind The Iron Curtain"...
, Niet
Niet
Niet is a punk rock and hardcore punk band from Ljubljana, Slovenia. They were one of the most iconic and influential music groups of the Slovenian punk movement and the Punk in Yugoslavia in general...
, Lublanski Psi, Čao Pičke, Via Ofenziva, Tožibabe, and Otroci Socializma.
Slovenia has also produced two renowned DJs: DJ Umek
DJ Umek
Uroš Umek is an internationally acclaimed DJ and music producer from Slovenia, author of more than 500 releases for world renown record labels such as Renaissance, Armada, Cocoon Records, Audiomatique, Hell Yeah, Tronic, Datapunk amidst many others...
and Valentino Kanzyani
Valentino Kanzyani
Tine Kocjančič, better known as Valentino Kanzyani is a Slovenian techno deejay and music producer. He has also released records under the name Recycled Loops, which is also the name of one of the record labels that he co-runs , the other being Earresistable.He became famous in Slovenia, when he...
. Specialising in a frantic brand of party techno and tech-house, the pair co-founded the label Recycled Loops as well as having many popular releases on labels such as Novamute, Primate, Intec and Bassethound Records.
Neue Slowenische Kunst
Neue Slowenische Kunst (a GermanGerman language
German is a West Germanic language, related to and classified alongside English and Dutch. With an estimated 90 – 98 million native speakers, German is one of the world's major languages and is the most widely-spoken first language in the European Union....
phrase meaning "New Slovenian Art"), aka NSK, is a controversial political
Politics
Politics is a process by which groups of people make collective decisions. The term is generally applied to the art or science of running governmental or state affairs, including behavior within civil governments, but also applies to institutions, fields, and special interest groups such as the...
art collective that announced itself in Slovenia
Slovenia
Slovenia , officially the Republic of Slovenia , is a country in Central and Southeastern Europe touching the Alps and bordering the Mediterranean. Slovenia borders Italy to the west, Croatia to the south and east, Hungary to the northeast, and Austria to the north, and also has a small portion of...
in 1984
1984 in music
This is a list of notable events in music that took place in the year 1984.-Janury-March:*January 21 – "Relax" by Frankie Goes to Hollywood reaches number one in the UK singles chart, despite being banned by the BBC; it spends a total of forty-two weeks in the Top 40.*January 27 – Michael Jackson's...
, when Slovenia was part of Yugoslavia
Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia
The Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia was the Yugoslav state that existed from the abolition of the Yugoslav monarchy until it was dissolved in 1992 amid the Yugoslav Wars. It was a socialist state and a federation made up of six socialist republics: Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia,...
. NSK's name, being German, is compatible with a theme in NSK works: the complicated relationship Slovenes have had with Germans
Germans
The Germans are a Germanic ethnic group native to Central Europe. The English term Germans has referred to the German-speaking population of the Holy Roman Empire since the Late Middle Ages....
. The name of NSK's music wing, Laibach, is also the German name of the Slovene capital Ljubljana
Ljubljana
Ljubljana is the capital of Slovenia and its largest city. It is the centre of the City Municipality of Ljubljana. It is located in the centre of the country in the Ljubljana Basin, and is a mid-sized city of some 270,000 inhabitants...
, creating controversy
Controversy
Controversy is a state of prolonged public dispute or debate, usually concerning a matter of opinion. The word was coined from the Latin controversia, as a composite of controversus – "turned in an opposite direction," from contra – "against" – and vertere – to turn, or versus , hence, "to turn...
through evoking memories of the Nazi occupation of Slovenia during the Second World War.
Composition
NSK's best-known member is the musical group LaibachLaibach (band)
Laibach is a Slovenian avant-garde music group associated with industrial, martial, and neo-classical musical styles. Laibach formed June 1, 1980 in Trbovlje, Slovenia . Laibach represents the music wing of the Neue Slowenische Kunst art collective, of which it was a founding member in 1984...
. Other NSK member groups include IRWIN
IRWIN
IRWIN is a collective of Slovenian artists, primarily painters, and an original founding member of Neue Slowenische Kunst .- History :In 1983, the artists Dušan Mandič, Miran Mohar, Andrej Savski, Roman Uranjek, and Borut Vogelnik, coming from the punk and graffiti scene in Ljubljana, formed an...
(visual art), Noordung
Noordung (NSK)
Noordung are a Slovenian theatre group; founded in 1983 under the name of Scipion Nasice Sisters Theater they were, in 1984, a founding member of the Neue Slowenische Kunst collective...
(theater; originally named Scipion Našice Sisters Theater, also known as Red Pilot), New Collective Studio (graphics; also known as New Collectivism), Retrovision (film and video), and the Department of Pure and Applied Philosophy (theory). The founding groups of the NSK were Laibach, IRWIN, and Scipion Našice Sisters Theater.
Characteristics
NSK art often draws on symbols drawn from totalitarianTotalitarianism
Totalitarianism is a political system where the state recognizes no limits to its authority and strives to regulate every aspect of public and private life wherever feasible...
or extreme nationalist
Nationalism
Nationalism is a political ideology that involves a strong identification of a group of individuals with a political entity defined in national terms, i.e. a nation. In the 'modernist' image of the nation, it is nationalism that creates national identity. There are various definitions for what...
movements, often reappropriating totalitarian kitsch
Kitsch
Kitsch is a form of art that is considered an inferior, tasteless copy of an extant style of art or a worthless imitation of art of recognized value. The concept is associated with the deliberate use of elements that may be thought of as cultural icons while making cheap mass-produced objects that...
in a visual style reminiscent of Dada
Dada
Dada or Dadaism is a cultural movement that began in Zurich, Switzerland, during World War I and peaked from 1916 to 1922. The movement primarily involved visual arts, literature—poetry, art manifestoes, art theory—theatre, and graphic design, and concentrated its anti-war politics through a...
. NSK artists often juxtapose symbols from different (and often incompatible) political ideologies
Ideology
An ideology is a set of ideas that constitutes one's goals, expectations, and actions. An ideology can be thought of as a comprehensive vision, as a way of looking at things , as in common sense and several philosophical tendencies , or a set of ideas proposed by the dominant class of a society to...
. For example, a 1987 NSK-designed poster
Poster
A poster is any piece of printed paper designed to be attached to a wall or vertical surface. Typically posters include both textual and graphic elements, although a poster may be either wholly graphical or wholly text. Posters are designed to be both eye-catching and informative. Posters may be...
caused a scandal by winning a competition for the Yugoslavian Youth Day Celebration. The poster appropriated
Appropriation (art)
Appropriation is a fundamental aspect in the history of the arts . Appropriation can be understood as "the use of borrowed elements in the creation of a new work."...
a painting
Painting
Painting is the practice of applying paint, pigment, color or other medium to a surface . The application of the medium is commonly applied to the base with a brush but other objects can be used. In art, the term painting describes both the act and the result of the action. However, painting is...
by Nazi
Nazism
Nazism, the common short form name of National Socialism was the ideology and practice of the Nazi Party and of Nazi Germany...
artist Richard Klein
Richard Klein (artist)
Richard Klein was a German artist, known mainly for his work as a favoured artist of the Nazi regime. Klein was director of the Munich School of Applied Arts and was one of Hitler's favourite painters....
, replacing the flag of Nazi Germany with the Yugoslav flag
Flag of the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia
The flag of the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia consisted of three equal horizontal bands colored in pan-Slavic colors, blue , white and red, with a yellow-bordered red star at the flag's center...
and the German eagle with a dove
Dove
Pigeons and doves constitute the bird family Columbidae within the order Columbiformes, which include some 300 species of near passerines. In general terms "dove" and "pigeon" are used somewhat interchangeably...
.
Both IRWIN and Laibach are emphatic about their work being collective rather than individual. Laibach's original songs and arrangements are always credited to the group collectively; the individual artists are not named on their album cover
Album cover
An album cover is the front of the packaging of a commercially released audio recording product, or album. The term can refer to either the printed cardboard covers typically used to package sets of 10" and 12" 78 rpm records, single and sets of 12" LPs, sets of 45 rpm records , or the front-facing...
s; at one point, there were even two separate Laibach groups touring at the same time, both with members of the original group. Similarly, the IRWIN artists never sign their work individually; instead, they are "signed" with a stamp
Rubber stamp
Rubber stamping, also called stamping, is a craft in which some type of ink made of dye or pigment is applied to an image or pattern that has been carved, molded, laser engraved or vulcanized, onto a sheet of rubber. The rubber is often mounted onto a more stable object such as a wood, brick or an...
or certificate indicating approval as a work from the IRWIN collective.
The NSK were the subject of a 1996 documentary film
Documentary film
Documentary films constitute a broad category of nonfictional motion pictures intended to document some aspect of reality, primarily for the purposes of instruction or maintaining a historical record...
written and directed by Michael Benson, entitled Prerokbe Ognja in Slovenian
Slovenian language
Slovene or Slovenian is a South Slavic language spoken by approximately 2.5 million speakers worldwide, the majority of whom live in Slovenia. It is the first language of about 1.85 million people and is one of the 23 official and working languages of the European Union...
, or Predictions of Fire
Predictions of Fire
Predictions of Fire or Prerokbe Ognja is a documentary film by American filmmaker Michael Benson about the Neue Slowenische Kunst.-Synopsis:...
in English. Among those interviewed in the film is Slovenian intellectual
Intellectual
An intellectual is a person who uses intelligence and critical or analytical reasoning in either a professional or a personal capacity.- Terminology and endeavours :"Intellectual" can denote four types of persons:...
Slavoj Žižek
Slavoj Žižek
Slavoj Žižek is a Slovenian philosopher, critical theorist working in the traditions of Hegelianism, Marxism and Lacanian psychoanalysis. He has made contributions to political theory, film theory, and theoretical psychoanalysis....
.
NSK State
Since 1991, NSK has claimed to constitute a stateSovereign state
A sovereign state, or simply, state, is a state with a defined territory on which it exercises internal and external sovereignty, a permanent population, a government, and the capacity to enter into relations with other sovereign states. It is also normally understood to be a state which is neither...
, a claim similar to that of micronation
Micronation
Micronations, sometimes also referred to as model countries and new country projects, are entities that claim to be independent nations or states but which are not recognized by world governments or major international organizations...
s. They issue passport
Passport
A passport is a document, issued by a national government, which certifies, for the purpose of international travel, the identity and nationality of its holder. The elements of identity are name, date of birth, sex, and place of birth....
s, have presented shows of their work in the guise of an embassy or even as a territory of their supposed state, and maintain consulates in several cities including Umag
Umag
Umag is a coastal city in Istria, Croatia.The city hosts the yearly Croatia Open ATP tennis tournament on clay courts.-Geography:It is the westernmost city of Croatia, and the municipality includes Savudrija which is westernmost point of Croatia....
, Croatia
Croatia
Croatia , officially the Republic of Croatia , is a unitary democratic parliamentary republic in Europe at the crossroads of the Mitteleuropa, the Balkans, and the Mediterranean. Its capital and largest city is Zagreb. The country is divided into 20 counties and the city of Zagreb. Croatia covers ...
. NSK have also issued postage stamps. Laibach, in 2006, recorded (some may say 'remixed') the NSK State National Anthem on the LP "Volk." The "anthem" adopts its melody from another Laibach song, "The Great Seal." Laibach's version of the NSK anthem includes a computer voice reciting an excerpt from Winston Churchill
Winston Churchill
Sir Winston Leonard Spencer-Churchill, was a predominantly Conservative British politician and statesman known for his leadership of the United Kingdom during the Second World War. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest wartime leaders of the century and served as Prime Minister twice...
's famous "We shall fight them on the beaches/We shall never surrender" speech. The computer voice is clearly recognisable as the voice synthesiser Macintalk, built into Mac OS
Mac OS
Mac OS is a series of graphical user interface-based operating systems developed by Apple Inc. for their Macintosh line of computer systems. The Macintosh user experience is credited with popularizing the graphical user interface...
, and uses the preset voice Ralph.
The NSK passports are an art project and as such are not valid for travel. However, many desperate people have fallen for a scam in which they are issued a NSK passport. Most of these scams originate in Nigeria and Egypt.
Laibach
Laibach ˈlaɪbax is a SloveniaSlovenia
Slovenia , officially the Republic of Slovenia , is a country in Central and Southeastern Europe touching the Alps and bordering the Mediterranean. Slovenia borders Italy to the west, Croatia to the south and east, Hungary to the northeast, and Austria to the north, and also has a small portion of...
n avant-garde music
Avant-garde music
Avant-garde music is a term used to characterize music which is thought to be ahead of its time, i.e. containing innovative elements or fusing different genres....
group strongly associated with industrial
Industrial music
Industrial music is a style of experimental music that draws on transgressive and provocative themes. The term was coined in the mid-1970s with the founding of Industrial Records by the band Throbbing Gristle, and the creation of the slogan "industrial music for industrial people". In general, the...
, martial, and neo-classical
Neoclassical (Dark Wave)
Neoclassical Dark Wave refers to a music genre within the Dark Wave movement. It is characterized by the use of ethereal atmosphere and angelic female voices but also adds strong influences from classical music. Neoclassical Dark Wave is distinct from the academic art music form known as...
musical styles. Laibach formed June 1, 1980 in Trbovlje
Trbovlje
Trbovlje is a town and municipality in central Slovenia. Traditionally the area was part of the Lower Styria region. The entire municipality is now included in the Central Sava statistical region. Located in the valley of a minor left bank tributary of the Sava River, the area is known for its...
, Slovenia
Slovenia
Slovenia , officially the Republic of Slovenia , is a country in Central and Southeastern Europe touching the Alps and bordering the Mediterranean. Slovenia borders Italy to the west, Croatia to the south and east, Hungary to the northeast, and Austria to the north, and also has a small portion of...
(then Yugoslavia
Yugoslavia
Yugoslavia refers to three political entities that existed successively on the western part of the Balkans during most of the 20th century....
). Laibach represents the music wing of the Neue Slowenische Kunst
Neue Slowenische Kunst
Neue Slowenische Kunst , aka NSK, is a controversial political art collective that announced itself in Slovenia in 1984, when Slovenia was part of Yugoslavia. NSK's name, being German, is compatible with a theme in NSK works: the complicated relationship Slovenes have had with Germans...
(NSK) art collective, of which it was a founding member in 1984. The name "Laibach" is the German
German language
German is a West Germanic language, related to and classified alongside English and Dutch. With an estimated 90 – 98 million native speakers, German is one of the world's major languages and is the most widely-spoken first language in the European Union....
name for Slovenia's capital city, Ljubljana
Ljubljana
Ljubljana is the capital of Slovenia and its largest city. It is the centre of the City Municipality of Ljubljana. It is located in the centre of the country in the Ljubljana Basin, and is a mid-sized city of some 270,000 inhabitants...
.
See also
- Drone zitherDrone zitherDrone zithers or droned zithers are stringed instruments of the zither family that have few melodic strings and a greater number of drone strings. The oldest known form of drone zither is the Scheitholt....
- type of Slovenian zitherZitherThe zither is a musical string instrument, most commonly found in Slovenia, Austria, Hungary citera, northwestern Croatia, the southern regions of Germany, alpine Europe and East Asian cultures, including China... - KlopotecKlopotecA klopotec is a wooden mechanical device on a high wooden pole, similar to a windmill. It is used as a bird scarer in the vineyards of traditional wine-growing landscapes of Slovenia, Austria and Croatia...
- a type of a scarecrow used as a folk instrument - List of radio stations in Slovenia
- List of Slovenian musicians
- Slovenian rockSlovenian rockRock and roll is a musical genre from the United States, popularized worldwide beginning in the 1950s. Though rock had become popular earlier, it was not until the mid-1980s breakthrough of Laibach, who are now internationally renowned, that Slovenian rock became well-known...
- Slovenian-style polkaSlovenian-style polkaSlovenian-style polka is an American style of polka in the Slovenian tradition. It is usually associated with Cleveland and other Midwestern cities. It is also known as "Cleveland Style."...
External links
- Slovenia Cultural Profile - national cultural portal on Slovenia created by the Ministry of Culture and Visiting Arts