The Slovenes, a South Slavic ethnic group, have incredibly diverse culture for the country's small size which spans the southern portion of Central Europe, and acts as a melting pot of Slavic, Germanic and Romance cultures while encompassing parts of the Eastern Alps, the Pannonian Basin, the Balkan Peninsula and the Mediterranean.
Throughout history, the territory of Slovenia has been home to a number of civilizations and its territory has been included in various European kingdoms and empires. Notably, Slovenia, alongside Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Montenegro, North Macedonia and Serbia, was a constituent of the Kingdom of Yugoslavia for the majority of the 20th century. Slovenia’s culture is expressed through its history, traditions, literature, mythology, music, dance, literature, cuisine, sports, arts, film, theatre, monuments and more. The country is also home to multiple UNESCO World Heritage Sites. The Freising manuscripts comprised the first Latin-script continuous text in a Slavic language. Created in the late 10th century, it is also one of the oldest known Slovene documents.
The ancestors of Slovenes were Slavic inhabitants of the Slovenia and southern Austria, called Carantanians. They were the first Slavic people in history to form a principality, which was aptly named Carantania, and had an enduring cultural impact on the regions it encompassed.
Carantania was one of the first Slavic regions to be Christianized, and Slovenia’s national culture is deeply rooted in Christianity. While Roman Catholicism is the predominant Christian faith in Slovenia, the country is also home to sizeable Protestant community.
Dance
Ballet Pino Mlakar and Pia Mlakar were the most notable ballet dancers and members of the Ljubljana Opera and Ballet Company from 1946 to 1960. Pino Mlakar was also a full professor at the Academy for Theatre, Radio, Film, and Television (AGRFT) of the University of Ljubljana.
Modern dance In the 1930s in Ljubljana was founded a Mary Wigman dance school by her student Meta Vidmar.
Folk dance Folk dances in Slovenia include polka, waltz, and many regional specifics.
Festivals, book fairs, and other events
A number of music, theater, film, book, and children's festivals takes place in Slovenia each year. In 2012, Maribor was the European Capital of Culture.
Music Festivals Music festivals include the Ljubljana Summer Festival and Lent Festival. Historically, among the most popular music festivals was the Slovenska popevka festival. Between 1981 and 2000, the Novi Rock festival was notable for bringing rock music across the Iron Curtain from the West to the Slovenian and then Yugoslav audience. In Titoist Yugoslavia, Jazz festival Ljubljana right after World War II has begun the long tradition of Jazz festivals in Slovenia.Ljubljana Jazz Festival , an official site (in English)
Comedy Festivals The best-known stand-up comedy festival is the Punch Festival in Ljubljana.
Children's Festivals The children's festival celebrating the Pipi Longstocking character is the Pikin festival in Velenje.
Book Festivals The book festivals include domestic Slovene book fair and foreign books Frankfurt po Frankfurtu Festival.
Film
Film actors Slovene film actors and actresses historically include Ida Kravanja, who played her roles as Ita Rina in the early European films, and Metka Bučar.Museum of Slovene Film Actors, Divača, official website. After the WW II, one of the most notable film actors was Polde Bibič, who played a number of roles in many films that were well received in Slovenia, including Don't Cry, Peter (1964), On Wings of Paper (1968), Kekec's Tricks (1968), Flowers in Autumn (1973), The Widowhood of Karolina Žašler (1976), Heritage (1986), Primož Trubar (1985), and My Dad, The Socialist Kulak (1987). Many of these were directed by Matjaž Klopčič. He also performed in television and radio dramas. Altogether, Bibič played over 150 theatres and over 30 film roles.
Film directors Film in Slovenia historically includes Karol Grossmann, František Čap, France Štiglic, Igor Pretnar, Jože Pogačnik, Peter Zobec, Matjaž Klopčič, Boštjan Hladnik, Dušan Jovanović, Vitan Mal, Franci Slak, and Karpo Godina as its most established filmmakers. Contemporary film directors Filip Robar - Dorin, Jan Cvitkovič, Damjan Kozole, Janez Lapajne, Marko Okorn, and Marko Naberšnik are among the representatives of the so-called "Renaissance of Slovenian cinema". Slovene screenwriters, who are not film directors, include Saša Vuga and Miha Mazzini. Women film directors include Polona Sepe, Hanna A. W. Slak, and Maja Weiss.Furlan, S. (1994) Filmografija slovenskih celovečernih filmov: 1931 – 1993. Slovenski gledališki in filmski muzej. Ljubljana.
Documentaries Most notable documentaries made by Slovenian directors include the humanitarian films by Tomo Križnar on the Nuba people.
Film criticism Slovene film critics include Silvan Furlan, the founder of the Slovenian Cinematheque,filmarchives-online.eu on Slovenian Cinematheque Zdenko Vrdlovec, Marcel Štefančič Jr., and Simon Popek.
Literary fiction, poetry, essays, and criticism
Around the year 1000, the Freising manuscripts were written, which are the first Latin-script continuous text in a Slavic language and the oldest document in Slovene.
Slovene writing in the Middle Ages was heavily influenced by Austrians and the German language, as they were continuously joined with them in various states.
Literature written in Slovene was founded in the 16th century by Primož Trubar, who wrote the first Slovene books Abecednik and Katekizem, and other Protestant Reformers, that formed the modern Slovene language out of the dialects of three central parts of Duchy of Carniola (Kranjska); Upper Carniola (Gorenjska), Inner Carniola (Notranjska) and Lower Carniola (Dolenjska).
Poetry in Slovene achieved its highest level with the Romantic poet France Prešeren (1800–1849). In the 20th century, the Slovene literary fiction went through several periods: the beginning of the century was marked by the authors of Slovene Modernism, with the most influential Slovene writer and playwright, Ivan Cankar; it was then followed by expressionism (Srečko Kosovel), avantgardism (Anton Podbevšek, Ferdo Delak) and social realism (Ciril Kosmač, Prežihov Voranc) before World War II, the poetry of resistance and revolution (Karel Destovnik Kajuh, Matej Bor) during the war, and intimism (Poems of the Four, 1953), post-war modernism (Edvard Kocbek), and existentialism (Dane Zajc) after the war. Short stories became a popular genre after the 1990s. There are several Slovene literary magazines that publish prose, poetry, essays, and local literary criticism.
Children's literature and poetry
Music
Classical music Music of Slovenia historically includes numerous musicians and composers, such as the Renaissance composer Jacobus Gallus (1550–1591), who greatly influenced Central European classical music, and the Baroque composer Joannes Baptista Dolar (ca. 1620–1673).
During the medieval era, secular music was as popular as church music, including wandering minnesingers. By the time of the Protestant Reformation in the 16th century, music was used to proselytize. The first Slovenian hymnal, Eni Psalmi, was published in 1567. This period saw the rise of musicians like Jacobus Gallus and George Slatkonia.Oto Luthar The Land Between: A History of Slovenia
In 1701, Johann Berthold von Höffer (1667–1718), a nobleman and amateur composer from Ljubljana, founded the Academia Philharmonicorum Labacensis, as one of the oldest such institutions in Europe, based on Italian models.George J. Buelow (2004) A history of baroque music, p.701
Composers of Slovenian Lieder and art songs include Emil Adamič (1877–1936), Fran Gerbič (1840–1917), Alojz Geržinič (1915–2008), Benjamin Ipavec (1829–1908), Davorin Jenko (1835–1914), Anton Lajovic (1878–1960), Kamilo Mašek (1831–1859), Josip Pavčič (1870–1949), Zorko Prelovec (1887–1939), and Lucijan Marija Škerjanc (1900–1973).
In the early 20th century, impressionism was spreading across Slovenia, which soon produced composers Marij Kogoj and Slavko Osterc. Avant-garde classical music arose in Slovenia in the 1960s, largely due to the work of Uroš Krek, Dane Škerl, Primož Ramovš, and Ivo Petrić, who also conducted the Slavko Osterc Ensemble. Jakob Jež, Darijan Božič, Lojze Lebič, and Vinko Globokar have since composed enduring works, especially Globokar's L'Armonia, an opera.
Modern composers include Uroš Rojko, Tomaž Svete, Brina Jež-Brezavšček, Božidar Kantušer, and Aldo Kumar. Kumar's Sonata z igro 12 (A sonata with a play 12), a set of variations on a rising chromatic scale, is particularly notable.
Opera
The Slovene National Opera and Ballet Theatre serves as the national opera and ballet house.
Film music
The composer of film scoress for 170 films was Bojan Adamič (1912–1995).
Folk music
Vocal Harmony singing is a deep-rooted tradition in Slovenia, and is at least three-part singing (four voices), while in some regions even up to eight-part singing (nine voices). Slovenian folk songs, thus, usually resounds soft and harmonious, and are very seldom in a minor. Slovene folk singers include Ana Ažbe, Katarina Zupančič, and Minca Krkovič.
Instrumental Traditional Slovenian folk music is performed on Styrian accordion, fiddle, clarinet, zithers, flute, and by brass bands of alpine type. In eastern Slovenia, fiddle and cimbalon bands are called velike goslarije.
Slovenian country music
From 1952 on, the Slavko Avsenik's band began to appear in broadcasts, movies, and concerts all over West Germany, inventing the original "Oberkrainer" country sound that has become the primary vehicle of ethnic musical expression not only in Slovenia, but also in Germany, Austria, Switzerland, and in the Benelux, spawning hundreds of Alpine orchestras in the process. The band produced nearly 1000 original compositions, an integral part of the Slovenian-style polka legacy. Avsenik's most popular instrumental composition is the polka that is titled "Na Golici" (in Slovene), or "Trompetenecho" (in German), and "Trumpet Echoes" (in English). Oberkrainer music, which the Avsenik Ensemble popularized, is always a strong candidate for the country (folk) music awards in Slovenia and Austria.
Many musicians followed Avsenik's steps, one of the most famous being Lojze Slak.
Slovenska popevka
A similarly high standing in Slovene culture, like the Sanremo Music Festival, has had in Italian culture, was attributed to the Slovenska popevka, a specific genre of popular Slovene music.Slovenska popevka: velik poudarek na pevcih in skladateljih, pesniki bolj v oklepaju. Enkrat še zapoj: 50 let Slovenske popevke Vladimirja Frantarja pri celjski Mohorjevi družbi., Delo, 5. September 2012.
Popular music
Among pop, rock, industrial, and indie musicians, the most popular in Slovenia include Laibach, an early 1980s industrial music group, and most recently the Slovenian pop a cappella band Perpetuum Jazzile.
Pop, rock, metal, and indie music