Zahvalni govor ob prejetju Župančičeve nagrade 2025
ENGNGLISH translation below.
Ljubljana, 18.6.2025
Moje maksime
Najprej bi se rad zahvalil gremiju, ki me je predlagal za to nagrado ter obenem čestital vsem sonagrajencem: pisateljici in prevajalki Suzani Tratnik, filmski režiserki in scenaristki Maji Doroteji Prelog ter igralcu Blažu Šefu.
Ko se razsoden človek ozira nazaj na prehojeno pot, ni nujno vedno zadovoljen: vidi, da bi marsikaj lahko storil bolje, vendar stvari, ki so se zgodile, ni mogoče več spreminjati – lahko so nam le opozorilo, svarilen znak, da je treba v bodoče biti bolj razsoden, v svojih odločitvah bolj odločen.
Nad mojo pisalno mizo je postavljen izrek sv. Avguština: »Ego civis mundi esse cupio.« - »Rad bi bil državljan sveta.« Ta izrek sv. Avguština je moja prva maksima in predstavlja moj odnos do vsega, s čemer se ukvarjam: naj ima moje delo vpliv tudi na širšo okolico. To sem na nek način lahko uresničeval že na Dunaju, kjer sem v 20 letih poučevanja imel okrog 300 študentov iz 58 držav. Lahko rečem da sem na našem področju imel mutatis mutandis vpliv na velik del sveta. Samo ilustracija: k meni je na primer prišlo študirat tudi 16 študentov iz Severne Koreje, kar je bilo do tedaj nepredstavljivo – država je bila dotlej popolnoma zaprta! K meni je namreč prišel veleposlanik Severne Koreje na Dunaju in me vprašal, če bi sprejel 10 njihovih študentov. »Seveda« sem rekel, »le sprejemni izpit morajo opraviti.« Moram reči, da so izpit opravili vsi in so bili vsi zelo dobri študenti. Naslednja leta jih je od tam prišlo še 6. Največji vpliv bi torej lahko imel prav tam.
Naj navedem nekaj držav, od koder so prihajali študenti na študij dirigiranja na Dunaj: na 1. mestu je seveda Avstrija z 31 študenti, zatem J. Koreja z 29, Japonska in Italija s 23, Kitajska z 22 in Nemčija z 20 študenti; sledijo jim S. Koreja s 16 študenti, Madžarska z 11 in Bolgarija z 10 študenti. Ostale države niso bile tako množično zastopane.
Seveda sem ob vsem navedenem tudi še naprej dirigiral. Ob pedagoškem delu na Dunaju sem bil obenem še šef dirigent Beograjske filharmonije ter gost pri številnih evropskih in azijskih orkestrih. Vsega skupaj je bilo ansamblov, s katerimi sem nastopal, 110.
Repertoar na mojih nastopih je bil zelo širok: izvedel sem preko 1600 skladb skoraj 500 avtorjev. Ob tem sem na 1482 nastopih v 217 mestih in 40 državah spremljal preko 980 solistov.
Vse te številke zvenijo zelo suhoparno, vendar jih moram navesti, da se da dobiti približen vtis obsega mojega dela. Vse to se je zgodilo v 60 letih mojega delovanja, od 1. koncerta 10. oktobra 1965 naprej; povprečno sem imel po 25 koncertov na leto.
Druga maksima je parafraziranje Descartovega izreka »Cogito, ergo sum« v »Dubito, ergo sum.« Dvom izraža nezadovoljstvo z nečim in prav nezadovoljstvo z obstoječim stanjem je gibalo vsega napredka. V vsako informacijo, ki jo dobim, najprej podvomim, jo premislim in jo šele zatem sprejmem ali pa ne. Seveda mi ta kritični odnos do okolja otežuje moje bivanje na tej zemeljski krogli, vendar bi si ga brez tega odnosa težko predstavljal.
Za konec pa še relativizacija vsega povedanega: na videz širok repertoar ni tako velik, če pomislim, da so v smisel pojma »repertoar« zajete vse skladbe, ki sem jih uspel pozabiti. To je približno tako kot šolska tabla, ki jo je treba pobrisati, če želiš nanjo napisati kaj novega. Nekaj podobnega se dogaja tudi z možgani: imeti morajo prostor za novo pomnjenje, zato se morajo nekatere informacije nujno umakniti in napraviti prostor drugim. Kljub vsemu pa neka osnovna informacija o posamezni že dirigirani skladbi ostaja.
Za vse, ki jim ta poklic ni tako blizu, podajam nekaj osnovnih informacij o njem: dirigentova naloga je koordinirati vse instrumente v orkestru ter bdeti nad strukturo skladbe. Ker mora svoje napotke ansamblu posredovati pravočasno, jih s konformnimi gestami nakazuje eno dobo vnaprej. Obenem z isto gesto popravlja eventualne netočnosti ali razhajanja v ansamblu. To je tista dvojnost geste, ki jo mora dirigent obvladati: v istem trenutku dajati napotke za naprej in popravljati ali koordinirati ta hip zaigran trenutek v skladbi.
V tem je tudi lepota in draž tega poklica. Samo z gesto, brez besede, ustvarja kozmos, ki ga je zmožna podati glasba. V stari grščini se glasba imenuje »he muzike tehne« – έ μγσικε τέχνη – glasbena spretnost, spretnost v glasbi, kar imanentno pomeni, da se je treba te spretnosti naučiti, pa tudi t. im. »tehnika«, obvladanje glasbe.
Ko dirigent dvigne roke za dirigiranje, s to gesto obenem pokaže, da ima v rokah kozmos, kozmos, ki se ga mora zgraditi vsakič znova. Ta gesta je imperatorska – z njo dirigent gradi in zgradi svet, ki se ga da zgraditi samo z glasbo – v tem je omenjena lepota našega poklica.
Uroš Lajovic
ENGLISH TRANSLATION:
Ljubljana, 18.6.2025
My Maxims
First of all, I would like to thank the Committee, which nominated me for this award, and at the same time congratulate all the co-winners: the writer and the translator Suzana Tratnik, film director and screenwriter Maja Dorothej Prelog and the actor Blaž Šef.
When a sensible person looks back on the path he has taken, he is not necessarily always satisfied: he sees that he could have done many things better, but the things that happened cannot be changed any more - they can only be a warning, a warning sign that we need to be more sensitive in the future, more decisive in our decisions.
Above my desk is a saying of St. Augustine: »Ego civis mundi esse cupio."-"I would like to be a citizen of the world." This saying of St. Augustine is my first maxim and represents my attitude towards everything I do: let my work also have an impact on the wider environment. I was able to do this in a way in Vienna, where I had around 300 students from 58 countries in 20 years of teaching. I can say that in our field, mutatis mutandis, I have had an influence on a large part of the world. Just to illustrate: for example, 16 students from North Korea came to study with me, which was unthinkable until then – as the country was completely closed off! The North Korean ambassador in Vienna came to me and asked if I would accept 10 of their students. "Of course," I said, "they just have to pass the entrance exam." I must say that everyone passed the exam and they were all very good students. The following years, 6 more came from there. So that's where I could have the biggest impact.
Let me list a few countries from which students came to study conducting to Vienna: in first place is, of course, Austria with 31 students, followed by South Korea with 29, Japan and Italy with 23, China with 22 and Germany with 20 students; followed by North Korea with 16 students, Hungary with 11 and Bulgaria with 10 students. Other countries were not so massively represented.
Of course, despite all the above, I also continued to conduct. In addition to teaching in Vienna, I was also the chief conductor of the Belgrade Philharmonic and a guest conductor with numerous European and Asian orchestras. In total, there were 110 ensembles with which I performed.
The repertoire of my performances was very wide: I performed over 1,600 compositions by almost 500 authors. I accompanied over 980 soloists at 1,482 performances in 217 cities and 40 countries.
All these numbers sound very dry, but I have to quote them to give an approximate impression of the scope of my work. All this happened during the 60 years of my activity, from the 1st concert on October 10, 1965 onwards; I had an average of 25 concerts per year.
The second maxim is a paraphrase of Descartes's statement "Cogito, ergo sum" into "Dubito, ergo sum." Doubt expresses dissatisfaction with something, and it is precisely dissatisfaction with the existing state that is the driving force of all progress. I first question every piece of information I receive, think it over, and only then accept it or not. Of course, this critical attitude towards the environment makes my stay on this planet difficult, but I would have a hard time imagining it without it.
Finally, a relativization of everything said: the seemingly wide repertoire is not so large when I consider that the meaning of the term "repertoire" includes all the compositions that I have managed to forget. It's a bit like a school blackboard that needs to be wiped clean if you want to write something new on it. Something similar happens with the brain: it must have room for new memorization, so some information must necessarily retreat and make room for others. Despite everything, some basic information about a particular piece of music that has already been conducted remains.
For those who are not so familiar with this profession, I will give some basic information about it: the conductor's job is to coordinate all the instruments in the orchestra and watch over the structure of the composition. Since he has to convey his instructions to the ensemble on time, he indicates them with conforming gestures one period in advance. At the same time, with the same gesture, he corrects any inaccuracies or discrepancies in the ensemble. This is the duality of the gesture that the conductor has to master: at the same moment giving instructions for the future and correcting or coordinating this currently played moment in the composition.
This is also the beauty and charm of this profession. With just a gesture, without a word, he creates the cosmos that music is capable of conveying. In ancient Greek, music is called "he muzike tehne" - έ μγσικε τέχνη - musical skill, skill in music, which immanently means that this skill must be learned, as well as the so-called "technique", mastery of music.
When a conductor raises his hands to conduct, he also shows with this gesture that he holds the cosmos in his hands, a cosmos that must be built anew every time. This gesture is imperial - with it the conductor builds and constructs a world that can only be built with music - this is the beauty of our profession.
Uros Lajovic