Lucijan Marija Škerjanc (December 17, 1900 – February 27, 1973) was a Slovene composer, music pedagogue, conductor, musician, and writer who was accomplished on and wrote for a number of musical instruments such as the piano, violin and clarinet. His style reflected late romanticism with qualities of expressionism and impressionism in his pieces, often with a hyperbolic artistic temperament, juxtaposing the dark against melodic phrases in his music. Škerjanc belongs among the most important older composers of modern Slovene music and is a key Slovenian music personality of the 20th century. He received the Prešeren Award for his work four times. In 1949, on December 6, he became a regular member of the Slovenian Academy of Sciences and Arts (SAZU).

Biography

Škerjanc was born in Graz. He studied in Ljubljana, Prague, Vienna, Paris and Basel. He spent many years teaching composition at the Ljubljana Academy of Music, teaching composers such as Nada Ludvig-Pečar and Mirca Sancin whilst serving as a chancellor for a period and was a pianist, conductor, music writer, and director of the Slovenian Philharmonic Orchestra based in the country's capital. He died in Ljubljana.

Work

Škerjanc was liberal in his attitude to music and multifaceted in his works. Whilst musically diverse, his opus centred on composition, varying from piano miniatures and solos for beginners, and solo and chamber works to full blown concertos and symphonies. Apart from sonatas, he notably composed a cycle of seven nocturnes, which many consider his greatest piano oriented work, and seven orchestral pieces Gazele (Ghazels). He not only composed for the piano but also the violin, the clarinet and the bassoon in 1952. During his life he also wrote for international composers and composed the film scores for a number of films under Yugoslavia. Škerjanc was also a music critic and he wrote about music. He authored three volumes on Slovene composers, five textbooks, and the book Od Bacha do Šostakoviča (From Bach to Shostakovich).

Awards and commemoration

Škerjanc received the Prešeren Award four times, in 1947 for his Concert for Violin and Orchestra, and then again in 1948, 1950, and 1971. He was also a recipient of the Austrian Herder Award and the French Palmes académiques. In 2001, he was commemorated by appearing on a postage stamp of Slovenia which featured a portrait of him by Božidar Jakac against the manuscript of his symphonic poem Marenka.

Works

Orchestra Concertante Chamber music Keyboard Vocal