On December 22, 2023, there was a formal handover of the organ master Ivan Milavec legacy in the Music Collection department of the National and University Library (NUK) in Ljubljana. The event was organized by Alenka Bagarič, curator of the Music Collection. Matjaž Lulik, head of the Old Prints Collection, provided a warm welcome and a guided tour of the library’s rarely visited rooms and treasures.
After the opening greeting, Nevenka Škrlj, a descendant of Ivan Milavec, signed the contract for the handover of the legacy. This was followed by a group photo session and a brief discussion about the significance of this event for the organ and music art in Slovenia.
Photo: Tomaž Bešter
We were invited to visit the Manuscript Collection, where we saw the manuscript of “Spominčice” by the composer Josipina Urbančič Turnograjska (1833-1854). She was a Slovenian storyteller, poet, pianist, and composer. Her musical career is documented in three works by Mira Delavec Touhami, along with transcripts of letters exchanged between Josipina and her future husband, Lovro Toman (1827-1870). Despite having no professional musical training, let alone composition, Josipina made significant contributions to the richness and diversity of the house music. Her four published piano works, Spominčice, Milotinke, Zoranka, and Zoridanka (Collected Works for Piano, Bogataj Publishing House, 2022), are composed in dance forms and were intended to be played in the small circle of so-called salon music. These compositions were written in the last years of the composer’s young life (1850-1854). The fact that the composer was skilled at playing the piano is evidenced by the notation of the pieces and the selection of tonalities (E-flat major, D-flat major, F minor) with complex passages and chords.
At the end of the tour, Matjaž Lulik, the curator of the Old Prints Collection, presented us with the first true Slovenian church songbook, Ta celi catehismus (Wittenberg, 1584), which contains poems by Primož Trubar and Sebastijan Krelja, and was edited by Jurij Dalmatin.
Our tour ended in one of the most important rooms of the NUK, the vault, where the greatest treasures of our culture are stored. The manuscripts of Slovenian modernism, or Slovenian modernists, made a great impression on us. To this, I would add the drafts of poems written on kitchen paper by Srečko Kosovel (1904-1926).
Photo: Tomaž Bešter
Cultural heritage represents a nation’s history, an invaluable legacy for future generations, and a rich source of information about our ancestors. Ivan Milavec’s discovered legacy is a part of this. Through literature, scientific research, and works of art, individuals and communities express their thoughts, experiences, and insights. Studying written sources enables us to comprehend the past, learn from it, and develop new ideas for the future. Additionally, the cultural and intellectual heritage’s impact on intercultural dialogue and mutual understanding is crucial. The exchange of ideas, art, and knowledge, enriches our worldview and fosters respect and cooperation among people of diverse cultures.
Special thanks for the discovery of Milavec’s legacy go to his descendant Nevenka Škrlj. Nevenka handed over Milavec’s preserved documentation to the NUK, thus ensuring better preservation of this invaluable part of our cultural heritage. Thanks are also due to Tomaž Sevšek Šraml and Jurij Dobravec for their help and advice, as well as for extensively cataloguing the legacy. The preserved legacy is now fully accessible in the NUK Music Collection. A digital version is in preparation, as well.
“In 2024, we celebrate the 150th anniversary of the birth of Ivan Milavec. On this occasion, I hope that, in cooperation with institutions and associations, we will be able to organize a symposium and an exhibition, as well as other accompanying events befitting this important anniversary. The discovery of Milavec’s legacy is a good prelude and a motivation for new insights and alliances. I would also like to stress the importance of the written and read word, which unfortunately does not carry necessary weight among younger generations. In a community that values and nurtures its culture and its written and intellectual heritage, belonging, identity, creativity, and understanding between people are strengthened. This, in turn, contributes to enriching the human spirit and building a better future.”
Luka Posavec
