Jani Golob (born 18 January 1948) is a Slovenian composer, violinist, arranger and professor. His music opus is often on the thin line of classic, pop and jazz. Golob has composed operas, ballets, orchestral works, chamber and vocal music, as well as numerous Slovenian film scores, and music for television and for advertising purposes. His most important works are probably three operas: Krpan's mare (1992), Medeja (1999) and Love Capital (2010); and others as Four Slovene Folk Songs (1979 and 2005), Concerto for violin and orchestra (1998) and ballet The Baptism at the Savica (1989). He is most recognized by his contribution in Slovenian popular music. His internationally best-known piece of work is the unofficially named "Planica Slow Motion Theme" (1997), an instrumental piece of music played in slow motion replays annually on worldwide broadcasting of FIS Ski Jumping/Flying World Cup events from Planica, Slovenia. Especially because of this melody Golob became famous worldwide. Each year since 1997 this piece of music is played in Planica slow motion replays live to millions of people worldwide. Other hit songs are "Prisluhni školjki/A Song In a Seashell" (1985), "Moja dežela/My Country" (1986) and "Pustite nam ta svet/Leave Us This World" (1987), popular especially in Slovenia. In 1971 he also arranged music for the song Sejem želja/Scarborough Fair with Slovenian lyrics of this original English folk ballad. He is the arranger of the most common used orchestrated version of the Slovenian national anthem "Zdravljica", used in protocol, sports and other big events. In 1973 he acted in a film called Ljubezen na odoru (Love on the Furrows). Golob is one of very few people who has the ability of absolute pitch. That is why when he was younger they used him to write music in notes just by listening and memorizing it.

Career

In the 1960s he founded Slovene pop band Delial, in which he played bass guitar. He studied violin with graduate education in 1971 and with musical composition in 1977 at the Ljubljana Academy of Music. At first he was mainly an arranger and later started writing his own compositions. From 1998 to 2000 he was professor of music composition and theory at the Academy for Theatre, Radio, Film and Television in Ljubljana (AGRFT). From then on he has been a professor of musical composition at the Ljubljana Academy of Music. Between 2002 and 2006 he was the president of Society of Slovene Composers. Golob's compositions are performed by the most important Slovene ensembles and orchestras and also different important European artists, such as Slovakian State Philharmony Košice and Berlin Symphony Orchestra, with their conductors George Pehlivanian, En Shao, David de Villiers, and Carl Davis. He was a member of many international music juries at various European festivals: His son Rok Golob is also a Slovene composer.

Awards and prizes

He has received many Slovenian and international awards in classic and in popular music:

Selected works

Orchestral music

Vocal

Choral

Opera and ballet

Chamber music

Works for solo instruments

Television

Film scores

TV music

Hit singles

Discography