Theodor Elze, a Student of Trubar's Life and Work, as a Composer

Abstract

To occupy an important position in the Slovene literature on the history of Reformation in Slovenia is a German pastor and historian, Ludwig Theodor Elze, who took the lead of the Ljubljana Protestant congregation during 1851-1865. In this period, he published a number of books on the Slovene Reformation and its representatives. Besides engaging in scholarly research, Elze took great interest in music. He composed and published numerous musical pieces with various publishing houses in Ljubljana, Vienna, Prague and Leipzig. They include chamber and choral music, solos and musical parts for the Protestant church service. Slovene musical history refers to him as a composer. Most of his works, however, have remained unknown although he signed many of his works as "a music teacher and organist in Ljubljana ". In this way Elze made weighty contributions to the musical life in the mid-19th-century Slovenia as a musician, too.