Society of Slovenian Composers Presents Publishing Activities in 2007 and 2008

A press conference took place September 23, 2009 reviewing the activities of the publishing wing of the Slovenian Composers Society (DSS), known as DSS Editions, during 2007 and 2008. Among the speakers at the event were Editor-in-Chief of DSS Editions Marko Mihevc, Publishing Director Klemen Weiss, President of the Society of Slovenian Composers Tomaž Habe and DSS General Secretary Mitja Bervar.

Over the years DSS Editions has grown to become the most important publisher of sheet music in Slovenia, with a catalogue containing around 2000 publications. The DSS Muzicije series began in 2003 as a supplement to DSS Editions (thus far 59 scores have been released) and offers digital reproductions of composers manuscripts, making it possible to publish the editions faster and more economically, thus allowing DSS to increase the number of releases per year.

According to Marko Mihevc, DSS Editions released a large number of publications in both the main ‘Edicije’ series and the Muzicije series, primarily with financial support from the Slovenian Ministry of Culture, the municipality of Ljubljana and from SAZAS, the Slovenian copyright agency. He pointed out that there is an ever larger obligation to release editions of works from the recent and distant past that have not yet been published and nevertheless deserve to be.

Klemen Weiss stressed that DSS Editions is one of the few professional music publishers in Slovenia involved in the systematic printing of Slovenian works. Of the 2000 titles currently in the DSS catalogue, more than half are printed sheet music, while the rest is primarily larger orchestral works that include a copy of the manuscript score and, in accordance with publishing contracts, are available only on rental together with the performance material. The typical annual goal is to publish 30 sheet music editions and 5 compact discs with the support of the Culture Ministry and SAZAS. During 2007 and 2008, performance material for 40 to 50 orchestral works by Slovenian composers was notated and prepared. Klemen Weiss emphasised that publishing targets for the two years were fulfilled, at that the period saw the release of 60 sheet music editions and 10 CDs. During 2007 and 2008 the Composers Society engaged in promoting their publications both in Slovenia and abroad, making their sixth appearance at the largest publishing fair in the world, the Frankfurt Musikmesse, and their fourth appearance at the MIDEM festival in Cannes, as well as manning booths at the international fair in Schladming and the international flute festival in Zagorje.

Tomaž Habe, the president of the Society of Slovenian Composers, noted that there are less and less quality recordings which would be of a standard high enough to merit release on CD. Nevertheless, the Ars SlovenicA collection saw itself grow by 10 discs — with nine CDs each focusing on the work of a single composer and one meant to accompany a pedagogic edition intended for teaching young pianists. The disc Glasbene povedi (Musical narratives) by Igor Krivokapi? contains chamber music (including sonatas for flute and piano and cello and piano, Trio for flute, viola and piano, and Epiko for brass quintet). Electronic music is represented on two discs: Lumina presents six works by Marjan Šijanec, while Vito Žuraj’s disc Crosscourt features electronic pieces alongside a choral work and two chamber and orchestral works. Composer Štefan Mauri’s disc Žariš in žgeš (You glow and scorch) contains songs on poetry by Alojz Gradnik, while Maks Strm?nik, who is a performer as well as a composer, recorded a disc of organ improvisations. The title of the latter disc, Gloria, was taken from first movement of the of seven movement improvisation. Sinfonietta • Cantata • Sinfonia concertante • Concertino is the title of a disc by Vladimir Horvat featuring pieces recorded live by the RTV Slovenia Symphony Orchestra and the Slovenian Philharmonic. Slavko Šuklar’s symphonic work Lux in tenebris, which also serves as the title of the CD, appears alongside pieces for solo strings and string orchestra. Aleš Strajner, for his CD titled Trnovske meditacije (Meditations from Trnovo), chose to present his Sonata for flute and harp and pieces for guitar. A disc presenting music by Marjan Kozina titled Na svoji zemlji (On native soil) is intended primarily for younger listeners. According to DSS President Tomaž Habe, a copy of this disc should be in every school and home in Slovenia, allowing this kind of music to become part of the Slovenian national identity. Young piano students were also not forgotten at DSS Editions: included with a new edition of piano pieces is an instructional CD to aid them in their studies.