2025-12-04
Jana Laslavíková, Martin Posch
The internationally renowned Salzburger Festspiele functioned between 1934 and 1937 as a form of "cultural export commodity [...] for the betterment of the German state" (Tamara Ehs), aligning with the foreign policy aims of the Austrofascist regime led by Federal Chancellor Kurt Schuschnigg. Among the festival's prominent conductors was Bruno Walter (1876–1962), who, having been forced to leave Germany due to his Jewish origins, conducted the Vienna Philharmonic and collaborated with the Vienna State Opera from 1933 onwards. In 1935, the young Slovak musicologist Ivan Ballo (1909–1977) met Walter in person at the Salzburg festival and went on to publish numerous reports and critiques in the Czechoslovak press. Ballo returned to Salzburg in 1936 and 1937, where he not only sought to facilitate Walter's guest performance in Bratislava but also actively lobbied for Czechoslovak musical artists to be included in the festival's programme. This study probes into a brief yet pivotal episode of interwar cultural propaganda, zooming in on the political actors and strategies that directly influenced the operations of the festival, also considering the previous political developments that significantly impacted the interwar relations between Czechoslovakia and Austria. Based on new archival findings, it also provides scope for discussing Ivan Ballo's role as a protagonist of "cultural diplomacy" advocating for closer ties between the two states in the period.
2025-12-04
Kateřina Fajtlová
The core of the Kroměříž music collection, which is currently managed by the Olomouc Museum of Art, Archdiocesan Museum in Kroměříž, is a repertoire from the period of the episcopacy of Karl von Lichtenstein-Castelcorno. Generally, the Lichtenstein music collection is associated with the operations of the bishop's music ensemble. The key figure in the practical operation of the ensemble was Pavel Josef Vejvanovský. His activity as a copyist and author may help identify the individual layers of the collection. The research of the provenance of the music prints and manuscripts involved a detailed examination of the preserved covers inscribed by Vejvanovský's hand. Many of them bear characteristics signs, based on which it was possible to identify several manuscripts carrying common features of systematisation. The Lichtenstein music collection consists predominantly of manuscripts; there are only a few music prints. A handwritten exlibris entered in the Orlando di Lasso's compositions refers to Vejvanovský's ownership; the same is written also in a book of toccatas by Girolamo Frescobaldi, which is now a part of the collection of the Brno Augustinians.
2025-12-04
Michal Ščepán
During the Czechoslovak Republic, Slovak Radio (SRo) served mainly as a regional branch of Radiojournal, with limited input in national broadcasting and content decisions made in Prague. A decisive shift came on 14 March 1939, when SRo became independent following the creation of the Slovak state. The government, holding a substantial share in the new jointstock company, recognised its potential to shape public opinion and placed it under the Propaganda Office, including its music programming. Previously marginal, the music department, headed by composer Alexander Moyzes, achieved notable results during this period. However, Slovakia's position as a client state of Nazi Germany brought ideological pressures, which also extended to its main broadcasting institution. This article examines how SRo's music department maintained its independence from political interference and evaluates its role in shaping Slovak musical culture during the war years, with Moyzes's personal recollections serving as a supplementary perspective.