TURKS IN SLOVENIA AND THEIR INFLUENCES ON SLOVENIAN MUSIC

Authors : Franc, KRIŽNAR PHD MARİBOR/SLOVENİA

Pages : 87-101

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Publication Date : 2014-03-06

Article Type : Research Paper

Abstract :The Turkish invasions i.e. irruptions by the Turkish armed troops into the Slovene  countries lasted from the beginning of the 15th to the end of the 17th century. The  Turkish expansion to the Balkan Peninsula and then towards the middle of Europe  was slowed down on the Bosnian and Herzegovinian border. It stopped completely  at the end of the 16th century with the battle at Sisak in Croatia (1593). In Hungary,  in the direction of the region of Prekmurje, the expansion stopped in the second  half of the 17th century. Thus Turkish invasions lasted from 1408 to 1684 not only on  the (contemporary European) Slovene state, but also outside its territory, on the  then Slovene ethnic space: in Friuli and towards Trieste (Italy), in Carinthia (Austria)  and in Istria (Croatia). All of this had a negative influence on the relations with the  Turks and increased the opposition towards them. At the same time it strengthened  people’s awareness about their affiliation towards Western Christianity. In a  narrower sense it invigorated the awareness about the same threatened psychophysical  environment. In the perception of the Slovene people, that time was  formed by a variety of different artistic types. They dealt with Turkish themes, also in  music. The development of Slovene music i.e. the music in Slovenia was at that time  very rich (from the 15th to the 17th century). Here and there it was more or less near  and equal to West European music of that time. It was completely normal that it was  touched by Turkish influences, too. These were reflected in folk and in artificial  music, as well as in its church and in secular repertoires. There is a rich repertory of  war and battle songs. These have kept the Turkish themes in Slovenian music alive  till nowadays; although the Slovene space and time were marked by Jacobus Gallus.  With his own madrigals, masses and motets he developed into a musical person of  Europe-wide importance.
Keywords : invasions i e irruptions, influences, themes in music, folk and artificial music, church and secular repertoires