Vodušek, Valens

views updated

Vodušek, Valens

Vodušek, Valens Slovenian ethnomusicologist and conductor; b. Ljubljana, Jan. 29,1912. He studied at the Univ. of Ljubljana (L.L.D., 1938) and took courses in piano and conducting at the Ljubljana State Cons. (1930-36); was self-taught in musicology and ethnomu-sicology. He was head of the music section at the Ministry of Culture in Slovenia (1946-51), then joined the Inst. for Ethnomusicology in Ljubljana. He was director of the Ljubljana Opera (1951-55), returning to the Inst. as director until 1972, when it combined with the Inst. of Ethnology of the Slovene Academy of Sciences and Arts; at that time he became head of its ethnomusicology dept. He conducted the Ljubljana Radio Choir (1946-51; renamed the Slovene Phil. Choir in 1948), and was artistic director of the Slovene Octet (1956-72). Vodusek instigated systematic field work and classification in Slovene ethnic music.

—Nicolas Slonimsky/Laura Kuhn/Dennis McIntire