Ivan Sivec has written a biography of another important Slovene, the 110th anniversary of whose birth falls in 2019. The book presents the life and work of Radovan Gobec, offering us his life story and an account of his wide-ranging musical endeavours – as composer, lecturer, choral director and organiser of Slovene choral singing – to which he dedicated almost his entire life. Over the course of a Prologue, ten chapters bearing the titles of the works that best characterise each period, from Pomladne cvetke (“Spring Flowers”) to Minljiv si (“Life Is But Fleeting”), and a concluding Coda, the author describes not only the composer’s life and works but also the great commitment to music and, above all, to his homeland that was present in everything he did. Complementing the book’s content are details about Gobec’s work and the opinions of various notable Slovenes on it. The book is further enlivened by the anecdotes and family recollections included in the text.
The book is largely based on material left by Radovan Gobec (diaries, pictorial material) and has been written at the suggestion of and with the support of his family, in particular his son Mitja Gobec, who helped select the material and who also curates and organises his father’s rich musical legacy.