Zeljenka, Ilja (EN)

Zeljenka Ilja, *21 December 1932 Bratislava, †13 July 2007 Bratislava, Slovakian composer. He studied composition with J. Cikker at the Academy of Music in Bratislava (1951–56). In 1957–61, he was a program advisor at the Slovakian Philharmonic, and in 1961–68, a consultant and program committee member of the Czechoslovakian radio. What is more, he was an initiator and one of the founders of an experimental Slovakian radio studio (1965–91), where he realised a number of his electroacoustic works. In 1990–91, he was the president of the Slovakian Composers’ Union and the director of the contemporary music festival Melos-Etos; from 1996, he taught composition at the Academy of Music in Bratislava. After 1998, he focused on composing. He was a guest of the Warsaw Autumn Festival a few times. He received many awards for his activities, including the Ján Levoslav Bella prize for Ballet Symphony No. 4 (1980), Krištál’ove Krídlo (2004), and a lifetime achievements award from the Minister of Culture of the Slovak Republic (2002).

Zaljenka was an exceptionally fertile composer. The complete list of his compositions (without opus numbers) includes over 500 works represented by symphonic music, numerous chamber and solo works (e.g. for violin, cello, piano, organ), choral pieces and works for children. Moreover, he created soundtracks for almost 100 films and several dozen music illustrations for theatre plays. Three stylistic periods can be distinguished in his work: 1^st – until 1955, when he wrote music similar to French neoclassicism; 2^nd – the years 1955–70, when he was influenced by dodecaphonic technique (post-Webern) and sonorism; 3^rd – after 1970, when he again became interested in folklore and neo-romanticism. Despite external influences, Zeljenka created his own, renowned musical language; he did not use extreme means in any style but cared for the beauty of sound and transparency of music. In the 1980s and 1990s, he perfected his individual musical language (e.g. with the use of polyrhythm and micro intervals) and created such musical genres as mass, passion and opera.

Literature: I. Hrušovský, Slovenská hudba v profiloch a rozboroch, Bratislava 1964; J. Hatrík, Konfrontácie Ilju Zeljenku, “Hudobný život” 1983 no. 15 (9); Ľ. Chalupka, Podiel strednej skladateľskej generácie na štýlovej konfrontácii slovenskej hudby v 60. rokoch, Bratislava 1984; R. Berger, Nolli Tangere!, “Kultúrny život” from 17 December 1992; Y. Kajanová, Rozhovory s Iljom, Bratislava 1997; L. Chalupka, Ilja Zeljenka. 2. klavírne kvinteto and Ilja Zeljenka. Osvienčim, kantáta pre zbor, dvoch recitátorov a vel’ký orchester, “Hudobný život” 2001 no. 3 and no. 6; Z. Ďurčeková, Štruktúry: Filmová hudba Ilju Zeljenku, “Slovenská hudba” 2001 no. 1; R. Kolář, Zomrel Ilja Zeljenka, “Opus musicum” 2007 no. 39 (5); Ľ. Chalupka, Die Zelle als Modell und Impuls: Zur Genese der Entwicklung des Slowakischen Komponisten Ilja Zeljenka in den 70-er Jahre des 20. Jahrhunderts, “Musicologica istropolitana” 2007 no. 6; Ľ. Chalupka, Ilja Zeljenka. String Quartets, “Hudobný život” 2007 no. 4; Z. Martináková-Rendeková, Ilja Zeljenka v kontexte slovenskej a zahraničnej hudby, “Slovenská hudba” 2008 no. 34 (1); Ľ. Chalupka, Przemiany stylu słowackiego kompozytora Ilji Zeljenki jako indywidualna interpretacja rezonansów, in: Dzieło muzyczne i jegeo rezonans, ed. Anna Nowak, Bydgoszcz 2008; J. Vysloužil,  Hudba generace Ilji Zelenky na Moravě, “Opus musicum” 2008 no. 1; Ľ. Chalupka, Teoretická interpetácia diela 20. storočia: Ilja Zeljenka—Druhé klavírne kvinteto, “Muzikologické fórum” 2013 no. 1; I. Zeljenka, Rozhovory a texty, part 1 Rozhovory, part 2 Texty, Bratislava 2018.