Towards the end of 1701, a group of like-minded men gathered at the home of patrician Janez Bertold von Höffer and decided to establish the Ljubljana Academia Philharmonicorum, following the model of similar societies in nearby Italy. Its duties and mission were described in the Statutes of the Philharmonic Academy – LEGES – and for its emblem the organ of St Cecilia, its patroness, was chosen.
1701
Academia Philharmonicorum
1794
Philharmonic Society
On the territory of present day Slovenia, and particularly within the circle of intellectuals that formed around Baron Žiga Zois, the period of the Enlightenment gave a new impetus to literature and science, and musical life was not overlooked. During this period, the “Philharmonische Gesellschaft” (Philharmonic Society) was established in Ljubljana and very soon many respectable patricians, merchants, teachers, priests and others joined the society.
1908
First Slovenian philharmonic
In the autumn of 1908 national conflicts between the Germans and Slovenes reached boiling point. Protest demonstrations, breaking up the storefronts of German cafes, removing German inscriptions and other actions united the Slovenes. The army mediated and shot at the demonstrators. Funeral ceremonies caused new Slovene manifestations. As a result: Ljubljana got the Slovenian image.
1919
The inter-war years and the Second World War
The end of the First World War marked the beginning of a national state for the Slovenian nation: the state of Slovenians, Croatians and Serbs (SHS), or Yugoslavia.
1947
The new Slovenian Philharmonic
After the War was won in 1945, the situation changed in the field of music. New cultural institutions necessary for the preservations of a nation’s identity appeared, including musical ones.