Marjan Kozina

Marjan Kozina (1907–1966) was a Slovene composer. He is considered one of the most important Slovene composers of the 20th century. His best known works include a symphony, composed in stages through the late 1940s; the opera Equinox, completed in 1943; two ballets from the early 1950s, and the music for the film On Our Own Land (Na svoji zemlji), which he later arranged into a suite for orchestra. Kozina was born to a musical family in Novo Mesto, then part of Austria-Hungary. In Ljubljana, Kozina began studying philosophy and mathematics and in the same time also piano and violin, but later completely turned to the study of music. He graduated from composition in Vienna in 1930, and completed the studies of conducting and composition also in Prague. After his return from Prague he worked for a short time (1932–34) at Ljubljana and Maribor Opera, and then worked at Maribor Music Society. From 1940 until 1943 and from 1945 until 1947, he worked as a music teacher at the Academy of Music in Belgrade. In World War II, his house was bombed in an air raid and his wife imprisoned by the Gestapo. In September 1943, after the capitulation of Italy, he joined the Slovene Partisans. After the liberation, in 1948, he became the first manager of the Slovene Philharmonic Orchestra, and held the post until 1951, when he became a professor at the Academy of Music in Ljubljana. In 1953, he was elected a regular member of the Slovene Academy of Sciences and Arts. He lived and created in Novo Mesto and Trška Gora. He died in Novo Mesto after a heavy illness. From 1940 until 1943, Kozina completed the score and the libretto of his only opera Equinox (Ekvinokcij), based on the eponymous play by the Croatian–Serbian playwright Ivo Vojnović. It was first performed in May 1946 at the Ljubljana Opera House, and in 1948 he was bestowed the Prešeren Award for it. The major Kozina's contribution to the Slovene symphonic music was a symphony comprising four movements, which are actually individual symphonic poems and were composed separately. They are titled Bela krajina (White Carniola, 1946), Ilova gora (Mount Ilova, 1947), Padlim (To the Fallen, 1948), and Proti morju, (Towards the Sea, 1949).