The question of autonomy of musical review in Slovene daily newspapers on the first performance of the cantata "Stara pravda" by Matija Tomc: between an aesthetic judgement and political construct

Abstract

The Tone Tomšič Academic Choir decided to celebrate the tenth anniversary of its work with a jubilee concert. To celebrate the above-mentioned event, the composer, Matija Tomc, composed the cantata Stara Pravda (Old Justice), first performed on 12 March 1956 in the large Union Hall. The performance met with sharp reactions on the part of orthodox Marxist ideologists, who after the concert seemed to have especially resented the decision of the choir’s management to honour the contribution of the composer, the Catholic intellectual, Matija Tomc. The leading party ideologists put such strong pressure on the choir that it lost its conductor and thus nearly dissolved in its formative, ten-year post-war phase.