At the initiative of his grandsons, Vladimir and Borut Korun, who donated Korun’s furniture and musical instruments to the Velenje Museum, a permanent exhibition dedicated to the life and work of Fran Korun Koželjski has been on display at Velenje Castle since 2020. In addition to selected pieces of furniture from his home in Velenje, the exhibition also features his zither, violin, cello and viola, reflecting the fact that Fran Korun was a versatile musician.
Fran Korun Koželjski
Fran Korun Koželjski (1868–1935) was a Slovenian musician, composer, pedagogue, and choirmaster who made an important contribution to the development of musical culture and music education in Slovenia at the turn of the 19th and 20th centuries. He was born on 26 December 1868 in Velenje (Šalek) and died on 1 December 1935 in Celje.
He attended primary school in Velenje and later a civic school in Krško, continuing his education at a commercial school in Trieste. His early musical training was largely self-taught; as a young man he played the zither and later developed his skills on the piano and violin. In 1895 he began studying music in Vienna, where he passed the state military examination for bandmaster.
After returning to Slovenia, he worked as a choirmaster and bandmaster for numerous choral and wind ensembles. For ten years he conducted the National Band in Celje, served as bandmaster of the railway band in Zidani Most and the band in Šempeter in the Savinja Valley, and played an important role in the founding of the miners’ band in Velenje. He also taught piano and music theory at the organ school in Celje and conducted a workers’ choir. Alongside his musical activities, he worked as an official and later as secretary of the South Styrian Savings Bank in Celje.
As a composer and pedagogue he created an extensive body of work comprising more than two hundred compositions, primarily choral works, pieces for zither, and chamber and piano music. Particularly significant are his pedagogical publications Prva slovenska citrarska šola (The First Slovenian Zither Method, in four volumes) and Prva slovenska violinska šola (The First Slovenian Violin Method), which enabled systematic instruction in these instruments in the Slovenian language. Among his notable publications are also the collections Venec slovenskih plesov za klavir (A Wreath of Slovenian Dances for Piano), Skladbe (Compositions), and Album slovenskih napevov za violino in klavir (Album of Slovenian Tunes for Violin and Piano).
Korun often signed his works with the pseudonym Koželjski, derived from the Koželj hill near Velenje, associated with his early musical beginnings. His work significantly contributed to the development of music education and musical society life in the Styrian region and beyond. In his honour, the Fran Korun Koželjski Music School in Velenje bears his name.
