A stone memorial plaque was attached in 2016, and officially unveiled in 2017, to the house of the Filli family in Tolmin, in which Vogrič lived and worked for a period of time. The memorial was installed on the initiative of the Society for the Preservation and Development of Tolmin DOR. The inscription reads:
“Hrabroslav Otmar Vogrič
1873–1932
Composer, conductor and choirmaster
DOR Tolmin, 2016.”
Hrabroslav Otmar Vogrič
Hrabroslav Otmar Vogrič (1873–1932) was a capellmeister, choirmaster, composer and publicist. Adopting the style of romanticism, he composed theatre music works and instrumental and choral pieces. His most notable works are vocal compositions, comprising the collections Secession-Album, Ančika and Pismo (Letter, 21 male choirs), published in songbooks under the Pevec imprint and the Glasbena matica Music Society.
While attending primary school in Volče near Tolmin, Vogrič was initiated into music by Anton Fajgelj, brother of the composer Danilo Fajgelj. He then took piano lessons in a private music school and at the Glasbena matica Music Society in Ljubljana. Between 1889 and 1894 he worked as an organist in Tolmin and later in Gorizia. He also worked as a teacher for the Danica Tamboura Society in Ajdovščina and then as choirmaster and capellmeister of numerous music societies in Trieste, Prosecco, Roiano and Pula. In 1914, he served as capellmeister of the Odjek and Rodoljub societies in Zemun.
He served in the army during World War I, and was appointed conductor of the Orchestra of the Slovenian National Theatre SNG Maribor in the post-war period (between 1920 and 1924). Towards the end of his career, Vogrič applied himself to teaching and publishing sheet music.
He also worked in the operatic genre, scoring popular works typical of that day and mainly aimed at entertainment, including the operettas Jamska Ivanka (Joanna of Predjama, with libretto by Danilo Devetak based on Vilhar’s work), Prvi maj, Zlata bajka (May Day, Golden Tale) and Lucifer, the farcical operetta Moč uniforme (The Force of Uniform) and a vaudeville in five acts with a prelude, Choncon. He never finished Serafina, an opera he was composing in Italy. He wrote some serious works, oratorios Kraljestvo tvoje and Letni časi (Kingdom of Yours, Seasons), and instrumental compositions, most of which are arrangements, primarily of musical settings of poems by France Prešeren.
Maia Juvanc
