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DOI: 10.4312/mz.57.2.127-153
UDK 78.07(497.16=163.6)"19":929Pogačar A.:929Matjan V. 
The Contribution of Anton Pogačar and Vida 
Matjan to the Music Culture of Montenegro
Jelena Martinović Bogojević, Vedrana Marković
University of Montenegro, Podgorica
ABSTRACT
The prominent Slovenian musicians Anton Pogačar and Vida Matjan made an exceptional 
contribution to the development of the music culture of Montenegro in the second half of 
the twentieth century. The paper aims to highlight the most important segments of their 
professional activities in this context and present them to the wider musicological public.
Keywords: Anton Pogačar, Vida Matjan, state music schools, music culture, Montenegro
IZVLEČEK
Ugledna slovenska glasbenika Anton Pogačar in Vida Matjan sta zaslužna za izjemen pri-
spevek k razvoju glasbene kulture v Črni gori v 2. polovici 20. stoletja. Članek želi v tem 
kontekstu osvetliti najbolj pomembna poglavja njune poklicne dejavnosti in jih predstaviti 
širši muzikološki javnosti.
Ključne besede: Anton Pogačar, Vida Matjan, državne glasbene šole, glasbena kultura, Črna 
gora
muzikološki zbornik • musicological annual lvii/ii
128
Introduction
The music culture of Montenegro began to develop in systematic terms after 
the Second World War, and this process was helped to a considerable degree 
by Slovenian musicians Anton Pogačar (1913–1995), and Vida Matjan (1896–
1993). Their arrival in Montenegro was a consequence of a range of differing 
circumstances. Vida Matjan arrived in Kotor as a mature and experienced 
musician, following the bombing of Belgrade in 1941, the town in which 
she had lived with her family for the previous eleven years.1 Her role in 
developing the musical life of Kotor was emancipatory, and she will be most 
fondly remembered for her works on musical fairy tales. Not long after the 
end of the war, in 1946, Anton Pogačar arrived in Montenegro, having been 
sent by the Ministry of Education of the People’s Republic of Slovenia, to 
act as an expert advisor, aiming to help organise and develop public musical 
education there.2 Given the context of his work, both in terms of the times 
and the cultural environment, Pogačar can be considered the founding father 
of Montenegrin musical education. Vida Matjan settled in Montenegro for 
the rest of her life, while Anton Pogačar moved to Pula (in Croatia) in 1963, 
where he remained until his death in 1995.
The impact and influence of musicians from more advanced regions is a 
defining feature of the cultural development of Montenegro from as early as 
the second half of the nineteenth century, and as such the role played by these 
Slovenian musicians can be seen as a continuation of this tradition into the 
second half of the twentieth century.3 Acting as versatile music pedagogues, 
conductors and composers, they left an important mark on the musical life of 
1 The reason for Vida Matjan to choose Kotor as the place where she and her husband Alojz and 
daughter Sonja took refuge due to the war was the business contacts that Alojz Matjan, an en-
gineer, had made in Montenegro from as early as 1936, as well as their earlier, occasional stays 
in this city. The biographical facts related to Vida Matjan are taken from the testimony of Miloš 
Milošević, her long-time friend and colleague. Miloš Milošević, “Vida Matjan,” in Muzičke teme i 
portreti (Titograd: Crnogorska akademija nauka i umjetnosti, 1983), 125–137.
2 Anton Pogačar, “Iz života i rada Srednje muzičke škole Njegoš,” in Deset godina Srednje muzičke 
škole Njegoš Cetinje – Kotor 1946/47–1956/57: Almanah, ed. Pero Šegota (Kotor: Srednja muzička 
škola, 1957), 59–99.
3 The most prominent foreign musicians who were active in the musical life of Montenegro as per-
formers, music educators and composers were: Anton Schultz, Franjo Wimmer and Robert Tollinger. 
A special mark on the musical life of Kotor was left by the Italian composer Dionisio de Sarno 
San-Giorgio (1856–1937). During his stay in Kotor (1886–1892), de Sarno took part in the launch 
of the first music school, within the Građanska muzika (Civic Music), orchestra he led at the time. 
Miloš Milošević, “Dionizije de Sarno San Đorđo,” in Muzičke teme i portreti (Titograd: Crnogorska 
akademija nauka i umjetnosti, 1983), 83–117. Special attention was paid to music education at the 
Girls’ Institute (1869/76; 1878/1913), which was founded in Cetinje under the auspices of the Rus-
sian Empress Maria Alexandrovna. Classes were conducted according to the curricula that were in 
use in educational institutions of this type in Russia. 112 girls, including Slovenian women, were edu-
cated at this institution. Music was also taught as an integral part of the program in gymnasiums and 
Bogoslovia (1869), the orthodox school in Cetinje. Jelena Martinović Bogojević, “Views of Elemen-
tary Music Education in Montenegro and Slovenia,” Javno glasbeno šolstvo na Slovenskem: Pogledi ob 
200-letnici – Glasbenopedagoški zbornik Akademije za glasbo v Ljubljani, 25, thematic issue (2016): 306.
J. Martinović Bogojević, V. Marković: The Contribution of Anton Pogačar and Vida Matjan...
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two cultures, Slovenian and Montenegrin. Today, their work and influence are 
insufficiently examined and remain unknown to the wider music audience.
In order to gain new insights, alongside consulting the scarce literature and 
partially preserved archival material,4 a series of interviews were conducted 
with their former students and associates, and the methodology of combining 
public and private data was used.
The Establishment of the System of State Music Schools in 
Montenegro
In the years between the two world wars, the musical life in Montenegro rested 
on music societies, city orchestras, and the activities of individual musicians. 
The first initiative to establish a music school within Pjevačko društvo Njegoš 
(Njegoš Singing Society, 1871–1940) in Cetinje was launched by the compos-
er and conductor Jovan Milošević,5 who returned to Montenegro in 1922. The 
school started operating in 1932.6 In terms of the organisation of the work of 
the school and the teaching process, he was helped in no small measure by a 
Czech musician, the pianist Bohuslav Šula, and the Croatian composer Milo 
Cipra who wrote his orchestral work, Sinfonietta, during this period (1934).7
Immediately after the First World War, Pjevačko društvo Branko (Branko 
Singing Society) was formed in Podgorica, led by Aleksa Ivanović.8 In 1931, 
he formed a chamber orchestra, which originated from the Vojni muzički 
orkestar (Army Music Orchestra) (1907), led by the Czech musician Karl 
4 This especially refers to Anton Pogačar, while the opus of Vida Matjan is preserved as her legacy 
in the Historical Archive in Kotor.
5 Jovan Milošević (1895–1959) was a Montenegrin composer and conductor who completed his 
studies in 1922 at the Prague Conservatory. After returning to Cetinje, he was a music teacher at 
the Cetinje Gymnasium and the choirmaster of the Njegoš Singing Society up to 1926. He was 
also engaged in collecting Montenegrin folk songs and arranging them for choral performance. 
Vukašin Vlahović, “Presjek razvoja muzičkog stvaralaštva Crne Gore,” in Udruženje kompozitora 
Crne Gore: 25 godina, ed. Marko Rogošić (Podgorica: Udruženje kompozitora Crne Gore, Kultur-
no-prosvjetna zajednica Podgorica, 1996), 27.
6 Manja Radulović Vulić, “Muzička kultura u Crnoj Gori,” in Crna Gora, eds. Olga Perović, Sre-
ten Perović, Stanislav Vujošević, and Čedo Vuković (Titograd: Organizacioni odbor dana Crne 
Gore, 1981), accessed February 15, 2021, http://www.montenegrina.net/pages/pages1/muzika/
muzicka_kultura_u_cg_m_radulovic_vulic.htm.
7 Vlahović, “Presjek razvoja,” 27.
8 Aleksa Ivanović (1888–1940) was a music pedagogue, composer, and conductor. After acquiring 
music education within the Orkestar Druge vojne muzike (Orchestra of the Second Military 
Music) in Cetinje he graduated from the Prague Conservatory in 1911. Upon his return to Mon-
tenegro, he was a music teacher at the Gymnasium in Cetinje, and a choirmaster and chaplain of 
the tamburitza section of the Workers’ Society. He led the Njegoš Singing Society, and after the 
first world war (from 1922) he led the singing societies named Branko, Njegoš, Naprednik and 
Gajret in Podgorica. He is credited with the development of music education and music culture 
in Montenegro in the inter-war period. According to Milica Gajić, “Aleksa Ivanović,” in Srpski 
biografski rečnik, IV: I–Ka, ed. Čedomir Popov (Novi Sad: Matica srpska, 2009), also valuable 
is the website http://montenegrina.net/fokus/milica-gajic-biografije-ivanisevic-jovana-ivanovic-
alekse-i-jovovic-spiridona-spira/, accessed February 17, 2021.
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Herring.9 Ivanović must be viewed as one of the most important creators of 
the musical life of Montenegro. His dynamic activities included the founding 
of Muzička škola Branko (Branko Music School) in 1937, which operated 
until 1940.10 In the Bay of Kotor, under the influence of Austro-Hungarian 
culture,11 there were numerous artistic and cultural societies.12 Within these 
societies, informal musical education was provided to the local population by 
certain musicians with an inclination for music teaching.
In the decade after the Second World War, the development of music edu-
cation was marked by the creation of a common system of music education 
across the former Yugoslavia. It was necessary, due to the varying characteris-
tics and circumstances of music education in the individual Yugoslav republics, 
to form a certain type of consensus, which was characterised by the creation of 
an umbrella document called “Bledski dogovor” (the Bled Agreement, 1949). 
It defined the state concept of music education, which consisted of the vertical 
of the lower (i.e., primary), secondary and higher educational levels. The sta-
tus of music schools was regulated by regulations in each republic, which were 
harmonised at the state level, and which determined the function and dura-
tion of music education, as well as the expected competencies of students after 
their graduation.13
One of the basic strategies of the Montenegrin educational policies was the 
establishment of state music schools. Based on the decision of the Ministry of 
Education of the Federal Republic of Montenegro from November 1946, the 
9 Vesna Ivanović, “O prošlosti/About the Past,” in Montenegrin Symphony Orchestra: The first decade 
2007—2017, eds. Žarko Mirković and Jelena Jovanović-Nikolić (Podgorica: Muzički centar Crne 
Gore, 2017), 51–53.
10 Cvjetko Ivanović, “Muzika u Crnoj Gori nekad i sad,” in Udruženje kompozitora Crne Gore: 25 
godina, ed. Marko Rogošić (Podgorica: Udruženje kompozitora Crne Gore, Kulturno-prosvjetna 
zajednica Podgorica, 1996), 11–29.
11 The Bay of Kotor was controlled by the Austro-Hungarian Empire from 1814 to 1918.
12 Gradska muzika (City Music, 1886) in Herceg Novi, Građanska muzika (Civic Music, 1925) in 
Tivat, and in Kotor Gradska muzika (City Music, 1842), and Srpsko pjevačko društvo Jedinstvo 
(Unity Serbian Singing Society, 1839).
13 The system of lower (primary) music schools was designed so that they were not compulsory, and 
students attended them in parallel with compulsory primary school. The curriculum consists of 
musical subjects (i.e., instrument, solfeggio, choir singing). High schools of music were specialised 
schools that students enrolled in, preparing them for professional music practice. Studies at the 
high music school lasted for four years, and the curriculum consisted of specialised music and 
general education subjects. After graduating from high music school, students continued their 
higher education at the university level (i.e., at various music academies). The system of public 
music education was free of charge, which was one of the democratic values of the educational 
policies of the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (SFRY). The system has retained its basic 
characteristics to this day in the countries of the former Yugoslavia. More about the system of 
music education in the SFRY can be found in Branko Rakijaš, “Muzičko školstvo u Jugoslaviji,” 
in Muzička enciklopedija, II, ed. Krešimir Kovačević (Zagreb: Jugoslovenski leksikografski zavod, 
1974), 654.
J. Martinović Bogojević, V. Marković: The Contribution of Anton Pogačar and Vida Matjan...
131
first state music school, named Državna muzička škola Njegoš14 was founded. 
It was located in the Biljarda15 building in Cetinje until 1951. The school 
started working as a primary level music school in January 1947, and from 
the school year 1948/49 it grew into a music boarding school at secondary 
level. The first Principal of the school was Anton Pogačar, who remained in 
that position until his retirement in 1963. In 1951, the authorities decided to 
temporarily move the school to Kotor, where it operated for the next seven 
years, after which it was moved to Titograd (now Podgorica) as the capital of 
the Republic of Montenegro.16
Immediately after the war, in 1945, Vida Matjan, as a piano teacher, founded 
her private music school in Kotor. With the consent of the state authorities, this 
school operated until 1 April 1947, when it merged with the newly established 
Državna škola za osnovno muzičko obrazovanje (State School for Primary 
Music Education) in Kotor. Officially, from 1949, Vida Matjan became the 
Principal, and remained in that position for the next twenty years, until her 
retirement in 1969.17
In addition to Cetinje and Kotor, during the first post-war years, primary 
level music schools were established in other Montenegrin cities: in Nikšić 
(1948), Pljevlja (1948), Ivangrad (now Berane; 1949), and Herceg Novi 
14 The school was named after Petar II Petrović Njegoš (1813–1851), the Prince-Bishop of Monte-
negro and a Montenegrin poet and philosopher.
15 Biljarda (Billiard House) is the name of the former residence of Petar II Petrović Njegoš. It is 
located in the city centre of Cetinje and dates from 1838. It was named after the billiard table 
that Njegoš brought from Vienna, which at that time was the first and only billiard table in 
Montenegro.
16 Decision of the Executive Committee of the Federal Republic of Montenegro of March 21, 1958 
(Podgorica, Arhiv Umjetničke škole za muziku i balet).
17 At the beginning of the 1950s, after completing his studies at the Academy of Music in 
Belgrade, another Slovenian musician, Rudolf Zakrajšek moved to Kotor. Rudolf (Rudy) 
Zakrajšek (1915–1994) was born on 25 February 1915 in Trebnje (in Slovenia). He graduated 
from the Academy of Music in Belgrade in composition, conducting, and double bass playing. 
After moving the school from Kotor to Titograd, Rudolf Zakrajšek would work as a teacher, 
and then as the long-term principal of the Vasa Pavić State Primary Music School. During 
his mandate, in 1972, a ballet school was also founded. After 1980, Rudolf Zakrajšek taught 
the subject Methodology of the Teaching General Music Education at the newly established 
Academy of Music (1980) for eight years. He was the co-author of a textbook package for 
music education for the third and fourth grades of primary school titled Muzičke radosti (Mu-
sical Joys, 1983). He was an active member of the Association of Music Artists of Montenegro 
and one of the founders of the Association of Composers of Montenegro, of which he was 
president twice, from 1981 to 1982, and from 1984 to 1986. He was also active as a conductor 
of the Symphony Orchestra of the Radio Television of Montenegro. As a composer he wrote 
Piano Miniatures, Theme with Variations for Violin and Piano, and further orchestral works 
Paraphrases and Orchestral Meditations. Rudolf Zakrajšek was awarded the Lifetime Achieve-
ment Award by the Association of Composers of Montenegro in 1981. He died in Podgorica 
on 12 December 1994. The biographical facts are taken from Manja Radulović Vulić, “In 
Memoriam: Rudolf Zakrajšek: Crnogorski Slovenac,” Pobjeda (private archive of his grandson 
Zoran Zakrajšek, accessed March 1, 2021).
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(1949).18 From then on, music education continued to develop, and future 
teaching staff began to be educated at the Academy of Music19 which was 
founded in 1980 as one of the nineteen university units at Univerzitet Veljko 
Vlahović (Veljko Vlahović University)20 in Titograd (now Podgorica). Thus, 
Montenegro was the last of the Yugoslav republics to establish a tertiary level 
institution for music education.21
Anton Pogačar – The Visionary Founder of Music Education in 
Montenegro
The significance of Anton Pogačar for music education in Montenegro can be 
compared with the significance that the Slovenian composer Davorin Jenko 
(1835–1914) had in terms of the development of music life in Serbia in the 
second half of the nineteenth century. Anton Pogačar came to Montenegro as 
an educated musician, having first been educated at the Vojna muzička škola 
(Military Music School) in Vršac (1920–1941), after which he worked as a mili-
tary musician in Ljubljana. He would continue his education at the Ljubljana 
State Conservatory (1926–1939) where he completed his studies in the class of 
the composer Slavko Osterc (1895–1941). Before coming to Montenegro, he 
worked as a teacher in the music school in his native town Celje.22
Upon his arrival in Cetinje, Pogačar, in addition to the position of the 
principal of the Njegoš State Music School taught theoretical music subjects 
and the violin. Pogačar’s wife Zdenka (Leskovec) Pogačar was a piano teacher. 
The school began operating on 1 January 1947, and the teaching staff was 
mostly composed of foreign musicians (Spaček, Santamario, Mazzoleni, 
Bohuslav Šula).23
The founding of the school attracted significant interest from among the lo-
cal population, far surpassing the original expectations of the founders (as many 
18 Today, there are fourteen music schools in Montenegro, of which thirteen are state run, and one is 
a private-state school. Five schools in Montenegro operate as schools for primary and secondary 
music education. “Muzičke škole,” in Školska mreža, accessed May 14, 2021, http://www.skolska-
mreza.edu.me/muzicke-skole/.
19 After a fire at its temporary home in February, in which a great number of instruments and docu-
ments were lost, the Academy of Music was moved to Cetinje (old royal capital of Montenegro) 
in October 1996, in the building of the former British Embassy, where it is still located today.
20 The University was founded under this name in 1974. In 1992 it became the University of 
Montenegro.
21 For more on the development of the Academy of Music, see Sonja Marinković, “Muzička aka-
demija na Cetinju: Pogled na osnivanje, razvoj i sadašnji rad najviše obrazovne institucije u Crnoj 
Gori,” in Muzičko školstvo u Crnoj Gori – dometi i perspektive, 144, no. 43, ed. Žarko Mirković 
(Podgorica: CANU, 2018), 83–94.
22 Vukašin Vlahović, “Anton Pogačar,” Muzički glasnik, no. 4 (1988): 30–31, accessed February 20, 
2021, http://www.montenegrina.net/pages/pages1/muzika/anton_pogacar.htm.
23 From the archive of the Vasa Pavić Art School for Music and Ballet in Podgorica.
J. Martinović Bogojević, V. Marković: The Contribution of Anton Pogačar and Vida Matjan...
133
as 746 candidates applied to study at the school, of which 156 were enrolled).24 
The great enthusiasm for musical education on the part of the staff is demon-
strated by the number of public performances by the pupils of the school in its 
first year of operation. However, the development of the school to include sec-
ondary music teaching, in the 1948/49 school year, caused various issues. Pogačar 
stated that, due to the lack of interest among pupils in professional music train-
ing, it became necessary to go from house to house, assessing the musical tal-
ent of potential pupils and persuading the parents to send them to the boarding 
school in Cetinje, in order to train them as professional musicians. There were 
also a number of war orphans among the intake of pupils, whose musical talents 
had been recognised by the teaching staff. In total, the first intake of the second-
ary school numbered fourty-nine students. Under the direction of Pogačar, from 
the second year of its existence, the school had gained a widespread reputation, 
with the pupils and teachers performing a series of concerts, including an open-
air concert and performance for the workers who built the Omladinska pruga 
Nikšić-Titograd (Nikšić-Titograd Youth Railway). The concert tour of Albania 
in April 1948, with performances in Shkodra and Tirana, is also particularly 
noteworthy, not least for its success among the local audience.
Despite the relative lack of qualified teachers, the school offered the full 
range of specialisations, including solo-singing which was taught by Kornelija 
Ninković-Grozano (1897–1986), the former prima donna of Beogradska opera 
(Belgrade Opera House). The school also took on responsibility for courses 
for music teachers at primary school level, so as to improve the generally 
poor quality of music teaching, through the elementary development of basic 
professional competencies.
The school attracted particular attention and affirmed the relevance and 
quality of their work through their involvement in the jubilee celebrations of 
the centenary of the death of Petar II Petrović Njegoš, which took place in 1951. 
Anton Pogačar was on the Organising Committee of this event. The work of 
the school was highly rated by evaluators sent from Belgrade, among whose 
number we find such eminent figures as the composer and conductor Oskar 
Danon (1913–2009) and the Serbian composer Petar Konjović (1883–1970). 
However, the school suffered from a lack of support and understanding on the 
part of the government, which would not provide increased financial support 
for the development of better material conditions at the school, and this led to a 
reduction in the already limited number of qualified teachers.25
Due to poor conditions in the Biljarda building in Cetinje, the govern-
ment ordered that the school be moved to Kotor temporarily in 1951. One 
24 A timeline of the development of the school is presented in Pogačar, “Iz života i rada,” 59–99.
25 For instance, the cellist Camilo Mazzoleni was offered a position at the Ljubljana Philharmonic and 
left the school in 1950. With the moving of the school to Kotor, the composer Jovan Milošević, who 
was head of the woodwind section of the school, decided to leave for personal reasons. Ibid., 70.
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positive consequence of this was that the school, together with Kulturno-
umjetničko društvo Nikola Đurković (Nikola Đurković Cultural and Artistic 
Society), founded the Symphony Orchestra (1953/54) led by composer Ilija 
Lakešić. After the orchestra ceased operating in 1956, the school founded its 
own orchestra whose public performances made a substantial impact on mu-
sical life in the Bay of Kotor, until the school moved to Titograd in 1958.26 
Young Slovenian musician Rudolf Zakrajšek, who had originally trained as a 
double bassist and conductor, acted as conductor for a number of the concerts, 
while Pogačar led the mixed choir of the music school, which quickly gained a 
significant reputation. At this time, Vida Matjan was the principal of the State 
School for Primary Music Education in Kotor, and was actively engaged in or-
ganising its musical activities, including arranging public performances of her 
musical fairy tales by the students of the school. 
The pedagogical mission of Anton Pogačar can be considered a success 
from the very start, thanks to the first class of students who completed their 
secondary music education, and among whom there were future prominent 
musicians who continued their education at various music centres across the 
former Yugoslavia.27 
26 The continuity of the Njegoš State High Music School endured after moving to Titograd, where, 
in 1978, the school was integrated into the Vasa Pavić School of Primary Music Education, which 
at that time was headed by Rudolf Zakrajšek, forming a new primary and secondary music educa-
tion institution under the umbrella name Centar za muziku i balet Vasa Pavić (Vasa Pavić Centre 
for Music and Ballet). Since 2005, the school has been called Umjetnička škola za muziku i balet 
Vasa Pavić (Vasa Pavić Art School for Music and Ballet). “70 godina škole: Koncert ‘Susret Gen-
eracija’ povodom jubileja škole: Program,” in J. U. umjetnička škola za muziku i balet ‘VASA PAVIĆ’ 
( June 5, 2017), accessed May 18, 2021, http://kicpodgorica.me/wp-content/uploads/2017/06/
program-Koncert-Susret-generacija-5.pdf.
27 Among the first students to complete their studies, we find the following musicians: Tripo Simo-
nuti (violin), Mirko Bratičević (piano), Boro Tamindžić (composer), Cvjetko Ivanović (conduc-
tor), Konstantin Ivanović (double bass), Svetozar Purko Aleksić (clarinet), and Julio Marić (con-
ductor). Musicians from Montenegro mostly continued their education at the Music Academy in 
Belgrade, as the capital of Yugoslavia, while there were also those who completed their studies at 
the music academies of Sarajevo and Zagreb. A smaller number of students went to Ljubljana, 
presumably because of the language barrier.
J. Martinović Bogojević, V. Marković: The Contribution of Anton Pogačar and Vida Matjan...
135
Figure 1: The students of the first graduating class of  
the Njegoš High School of Music in 1950.28
In order to complete out impression of Anton Pogačar, both as a teacher 
and a personality, we should consider the evidence offered by his former pupils. 
According to the recollections of Julio Marić,29 Pogačar was a born teacher, 
who often personally financed the students’ food and helped poor students and 
their families. Marić remembers him as someone who was adept at equipping 
the school with materials and instruments that were difficult to find at the 
time. Marić offers the following account of Pogačar’s personality and approach 
in recalling his own first days as a pupil at the school in Cetinje:
One day at 9 o’clock in the morning they tested my musical abilities, and 
already at 11 o’clock they took me to Cetinje. I was 13 then. I wanted to play 
the piano, but due to my extraordinary pitch ear, Pogačar insisted that I start 
learning the violin. Dissatisfied, after fifteen days I ran home from Cetinje, 
28 Accessed March 3, 2021, http://www.cetinje-mojgrad.org/2010/08/srednja-muzicka-skola-na- 
cetinju-konstantin-ivanovic/.
29 Julio Marić, a conductor, composer, and university professor was born in 1937 in Dubrovnik. He 
completed his studies at the Njegoš State High Music School in Kotor in 1956. He then studied 
conducting and composition at the Academy of Music in Sarajevo, also in 1956, and graduated 
with a master’s degree two years later. Subsequently, he taught at the Academy of Music in Sara-
jevo, and during the 1990s was a professor at the Academy of Music of the University of Monte-
negro. “Bivši učenici: Julio Marić,” in Škola za osnovno muzičko obrazovanje Herceg Novi (2015), ac-
cessed May 12, 2021, http://muzickahercegnovi.com/page/12/. Julio Marić shared his memories 
of Anton Pogačar: Julio Marić, personal conversation with authors, February 14, 2021.
muzikološki zbornik • musicological annual lvii/ii
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in a truck. However, during the day, the police came to look for me and they 
made me return to the music school in Cetinje. The same thing happened 
again after about ten days, I ran away again, but this time, when I got home, 
Pogačar and the police were already waiting for me, and they sent me back to 
school. This time the Principal relented and allowed me to study both piano 
and violin. When I went to Novi Sad to further my education, Pogačar lent 
me his violin, which I later returned to him.30
Figure 2: Anton Pogačar.31
Among the first students to complete their studies at the secondary school, 
we find the renowned Yugoslav violinist Tripo Simonuti, who was quick to 
credit Anton Pogačar with a key role in encouraging him to take up music 
professionally, recalling the advice he received to continue studying music in 
Belgrade. Simonuti’s memory of his departure from the school is particularly 
vivid, with Pogačar giving him the violin he later used, and one of the two 
suits he owned, in order that he could be dressed appropriately for the journey 
to Belgrade. This memory on the part of Tripo Simonuti shows us the almost 
parental sensibility that Pogačar felt towards the students he had taught at 
30 Marić, personal conversation.
31 Rogošić, Udruženje kompozitora Crne Gore, 31.
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the boarding school, since they often came from poor families. In particular, 
Simonuti highlighted the quality of the competencies he acquired as a result 
of Pogačar and his teaching, which meant that adjusting to the high standards 
expected of him in his new learning environment posed no real difficulty.32
In addition to initiating music pedagogy, Anton Pogačar recognised certain 
specific Montenegrin cultural and musical needs, and thus he worked diligently 
as an organiser of musical life, and was actively involved in the establishment of 
the first music associations, most notably as the president of the management 
board of Asocijacija produktivnih i reproduktivnih umjetnika Crne Gore 
(Association of Productive and Reproductive Musicians of Montenegro, 1949), 
and as the secretary of Udruženje muzičara Crne Gore – UMCG (Association 
of Musicians of Montenegro, 1955).33
In order to support the further development of music teaching, Pogačar 
published a manual Muzički priručnik za nastavu pjevanja u srednjim školama 
(Music Manual for Teaching Singing in High Schools; 1948) with illustrations 
provided by the Slovenian artist Lojze Perko (1909–1980).34 The manual cov-
ered basic musical theory, elementary explanations of the anatomy of the vocal 
apparatus, and also a section featuring a selection of choral compositions, 
which were specially adapted to the repertoire of school choirs. This was the 
first organised manual for music teachers to be published in Montenegro. As 
one of the key figures in the organisations of musical life of the time, Pogačar 
published number of articles in which he analysed and highlighted certain 
specific features, critically engaging with the development of future strategies 
for the development of music teaching in Montenegro.35
Traces of the Musical Works of Anton Pogačar
We lack sufficient information on the compositions of Anton Pogačar. Before 
coming to Montenegro, he had published two collections in Slovenia. Their ti-
tles suggest that they consisted mainly of musical arrangements. The first one 
was a collection of 100 practice pieces for the accordion, based on folk songs 
and partisan songs from the Second World War (Pionir na harmoniko: 100 vaj 
32 Tripo Simonuti,”Spavao sam sa violinom,” interview by Slavko Trošelj, Politika, April 22, 2007, 
accessed February 25, 2021, http://www.politika.rs/sr/clanak/1966/.
33 Marko Rogošić, “Osnivanje prvih muzičkih udruženja u Crnoj Gori 1947–1957,” in Udruženje 
kompozitora Crne Gore: 25 godina, ed. Marko Rogošić (Podgorica: Udruženje kompozitora Crne 
Gore, Kulturno-prosvjetna zajednica Podgorica, 1996), 30–33.
34 Anton Pogačar, Muzički priručnik za nastavu pjevanja u srednjim školama (Cetinje: Narodna knji-
ga, 1948).
35 Information on these activities is held in the digital database of the Đurđe Crnojević National 
Library of Montenegro in Cetinje. The articles were published in the magazines Ovdje, Prosvjetni 
rad, and in the newspaper Pobjeda.
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za začetnike, 1946).36 The other one was a collection of melodies from the op-
eretta Povodni mož (The Water Man), based on the ballad of the same name by 
the most significant Slovenian nineteenth-century poet France Prešeren (1800–
1849).37 Pogačar composed the operetta before arriving in Montenegro (1946). 
His known works also include the musical score for a play, based on the tradi-
tional fairy tale Čardak ni na nebu, ni na zemlji (A Tower neither in Heaven nor on 
Earth), which was performed at Narodno pozorište u Kotoru (National Theatre 
in Kotor).38 In Montenegro, he published seven works with the publisher Narod-
na knjiga in Cetinje between 1946 and 1950. However, number of significant 
works, including the cantata Spomenik (The Monument), for which he received an 
award in 1960, have never been published, and the manuscripts of these works 
have not yet been discovered in the available archives in Montenegro.
Pogačar’s clear interest in the specific nature of the Montenegrin folklore 
led initially to the creation of the first series of harmonized treatments of folk 
songs for choirs, and then appeared later in new creative works, into which the 
original folkloric melody tradition was incorporated in a holistic and authentic 
manner. Notable examples of choral compositions which show these features 
include Sa Lovćena vila kliče (The Maiden Sings out from Lovćen), arranged 
for women’s and children’s choir, Durmitor and Poljem se vije (Fluttering in 
the Field).39 Pogačar uses the original folk melody, achieving expressiveness 
through occasional chromatic movements and rich harmonisation. In the 
collection Zvuci iz Crne Gore (Sounds from Montenegro), Pogačar collected 
four songs for children’s and four for mixed choir, among which we find 
arrangements of the folk songs Crnogorski biseri (Montenegrin Pearls), Ponosita 
lovćenska planino (Proud Mount Lovćen) and a song he composed based on 
Njegoš’s verses Bješe oblak sunce uhvatio (There was a Cloud that Caught the Sun). 
It is thought that these choral compositions were specifically written for the 
school choir he conducted and intended as part of the music programme which 
marked the centenary of Njegoš’s death which was held in 1951. Of Pogačar’s 
instrumental compositions, the miniature Romansa (1949), written for cello 
and piano, is also preserved in National Library of Montenegro.
36 Anton Pogačar, Pionir na harmoniko: 100 vaj za začetnike; Narodne in partizanske pesmi za klavirsko 
harmoniko ([S. l.]: [s. n.], 1946).
37 Anton Pogačar, Venček melodij (Ouvertura): Iz operete “Povodni mož” po istoimenski Prešernovi bala-
di; Priredba za klavir ([S. l.]: [s. n.], 1946).
38 Pogačar, “Iz života i rada,” 60.
39 In the “Đurđe Crnojević” National Library of Montenegro in Cetinje, the following works by Anton 
Pogačar are preserved: Pjesme za pionire: Zbirka dječijih horova (1950); Motiv iz Crne Gore (1949); 
Romansa za violončelo i klavir (1949); Zvuci iz Crne Gore: Crnogorskoj omladini; Dječiji i mješoviti 
horovi (1947); Muzički priručnik: Za nastavu pjevanja u srednjim muzičkim školama (1948); Pjesma 
omladinskoj pruzi Nikšić – Titograd [s. d.]; Pjesma graditeljima pruge Titograd – Nikšić [s. d.]. The 
works are classified in the COBISS database, accessed March 3, 2021, https://plus.cg.cobiss.net/
opac7/bib/search?q=anton+poga%C4%8Dar&db=cobib&mat=allmaterials&start=0.
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Pogačar wrote music for the theatre play Gorski vijenac (The Mountain 
Wreath) based on the poem by Petar II Petrović Njegoš, which was performed 
in 1960 at the Titograd National Theatre. The play, adapted and directed by the 
Montenegrin theatre director Nikola Vavić (1924–2019), was also premiered 
in Zagreb, on the occasion of the centenary of Hrvatsko narodno kazalište 
(Croatian National Theatre) on 11 December 1960. In this play, music acted 
as a striking constructive element, so that we might define the work as a kind 
of combined musical-dramatic presentation, which featured numerous choral 
recitals, as was suggested by the review of the premiere which appeared in the 
Zagreb newspaper Vjesnik.40
Pogačar’s particular feeling for Montenegrin folk elements is also evident 
in his miniature for violin and piano Motiv iz Crne Gore (Motif from Montene-
gro, 1949), which in a descending melody contains certain characteristic inter-
vals of the major and minor seconds.
Figure 3: Initial bars of the composition Motif from Montenegro.41
40 Milovan Radojević, “Prve dvije decenije Crnogorskog narodnog pozorišta,” Matica (2013), 364.
41 Anton Pogačar, Motiv iz Crne Gore (Cetinje: Narodna knjiga, 1949), 2.
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Pogačar generally wrote choral compositions with themes that were typical 
of the period after the Second World War, including ideas of struggle and 
renewal, but also created pioneer songs written for children’s choir.42
For his entire work in the field of music culture, as well as for the cantata The 
Monument,43 Anton Pogačar received the highest Montenegrin recognition, 
Trinaestojulska nagrada (Thirteenth of July Award). After retiring, he left 
Montenegro in 1963 and settled in Pula, where he died on 23 November 
1995.44 The position of principal of the High School of Music in Titograd was 
subsequently held for many years by people who were not musicians, which 
also influenced the lack of a strategy for educating future instrumentalists, a 
situation which continued until the 1980s.
Vida Matjan – Remarkable Currents in Music Pedagogy
Vida Matjan has a special role in the development of music culture in 
Montenegro, as a person of broad culture, who turned her multiple artistic 
talents to music pedagogy. The city of Kotor, which has a long musical tradition 
and rich cultural heritage, was an open and stimulating environment in which 
Vida Matjan realised her creative musical ideas.
Vida Matjan45 (née Hribar) was born on 6 May 1896, in Ljubljana into a 
family that belonged to the ranks of civil society. She gained her first musical 
knowledge from her mother Antonija (née Učak), a dramatic soprano, who 
acquired her music education at Glasbena matica, where she was taught by 
Fran Gerbič (1840–1917). Her father did not agree with her desire to become 
a musician. However, after finishing the third grade of high school with great 
success, he approved her enrolment at Glasbena matica in 1911, where she 
was taught piano by Anton Trost (1889–1973). After receiving a scholarship, 
she enrolled in piano studies in Vienna, but her studies were interrupted by 
the First World War, and the death of her mother in 1913, and she returned 
to Ljubljana.46 In 1917, she married Alojz Matjan, who was a student of 
42 Pogačar’s adaptation of the song Teče Tara (1948) for mixed choir belongs to partisan songs from 
Montenegro, which is still performed today.
43 The score has not been found in Montenegro.
44 The data was obtained from the Registry Office of the City of Pula, February 22, 2021.
45 Biographical data of Vida Matjan are cited from Miloš Milošević, her long-time friend and col-
league. Milošević, “Vida Matjan,” 125–137.
46 Biographical data of Vida Matjan has been presented to the Slovenian audience in the follow-
ing articles: Ervina Dabižinović, “Vida Matjan – ‘duša svega’, uspješna Slovenka u Crnoj Gori,” 
Slovenika: Časopis za kulturu, nauku i obrazovanje 4 (2018): 53–80, https://doi.org/10.18485/slo-
venika.2018.4.1.2; Vedrana Marković, “Influence of Slovenian Culture and Music Pedagogy on 
the Development of Music Education in Montenegro through Work of Vida Matjan,” Mostovi 
med formalnim in neformalnim glasbenim izobraževanjem – Glasbenopedagoški zbornik Akademije 
za glasbo v Ljubljani, 31, thematic issue (2019): 161–167; Martinović Bogojević, “Views of El-
ementary,” 307; Ivana Miladinović Prica, “Skladateljice v Črni gori: Zgodovina nekega razmerja,” 
J. Martinović Bogojević, V. Marković: The Contribution of Anton Pogačar and Vida Matjan...
141
technical studies, but also a good organist, pianist, and amateur painter. Vida 
Matjan made her earliest contact with dramatic art by playing in performances 
organized by the Slovenian writer Marija Kmet (1891–1974). Thus, she 
became acquainted with dramatic expression, which she would later apply in 
her multimodal approach to music pedagogy.
In 1930, she began a higher piano degree47 at Srednja muzička škola 
Stanković (Stanković High School of Music) in Belgrade, being taught by 
the eminent Czech pianist and professor Emil Hayek (1886–1974).48 At that 
time, she taught a large number of private piano lessons, especially to Slovenes 
who lived in Belgrade. She also developed her skills in painting on silk, wood, 
porcelain, and clay, which she perfected with the academic painter and violinist 
Saša Šantel (1883–1945). She would demonstrate this gift most especially 
when creating costumes for opera performances commissioned by opera houses 
in Belgrade, Ljubljana, and Zagreb, and also very clearly in the preparation of 
the stage performances of her musical fairy tales for which she created and 
prepared the costumes.49 She arrived in Montenegro at the start of the war in 
1941, after her house had been destroyed in the bombing of Belgrade.
After the war years, she began to educate children at her Privatna muzička 
škola Vida Matjan (Vida Matjan Private Music School), which merged, two 
years later (1947), with the newly established State School for Primary Mu-
sic Education in Kotor, which she ran for the next twenty years. In addition 
to piano lessons, at the elementary music school as well as at the Njegoš High 
School of Music, she taught solfeggio to the lower grades. From 1946, she or-
ganised and conducted the choir of the Women’s Antifascist Front (which had 
thirty-two members), subsequently leading the Pioneer Choir of 105 mem-
bers, and various folklore and drama groups. Her work with the school choir 
was also significant, and with her as conductor they won first prize in certain 
national competitions. Her ongoing interest in the folklore of Boka Bay was 
in Ženskost v glasbi skladateljic po 1918: Pogledi nekaterih manjših glasbenih kultur Evrope, eds. Le-
on Stefanija and Katarina Bogunović Hočevar (Ljubljana: Oddelek za muzikologijo Filozofske 
fakultete Univerze v Ljubljani, 2018), 73–90, https://doi.org/10.4312/9789610601388; Katarina 
Zadnik, “Primary Music School Education in Slovenia and Montenegro,” Muzikološki zbornik 55, 
no. 1 (2019): 195–210, https://doi.org/10.4312/mz.55.1.195-210.
47 This degree was equivalent to the final year of study at the later Academy of Music in Belgrade.
48 Emil Hayek (1886–1974) was a Yugoslav pianist and piano teacher of Czech origin. He also 
studied composition with Antonin Dvořák at the Prague Conservatory. From the founding of the 
Music Academy in Belgrade in 1937 until 1963, he was a full professor of piano and head of the 
piano department. He is considered the founder of the Belgrade piano school.
49 According to the testimony of her former student Smilja Đuranović, who took part in perform-
ing musical fairy tales, a fashion designer from Kotor Trifona Zanutti and her sister helped to 
make costumes for Vida Matjan. In those years of poverty, there were no textile materials, so the 
costumes were imaginatively made of crepe paper. Smilja Đuranović, a retired teacher of French 
language and literature, shared her memories of Vida Matjan with the authors. Smilja Đuranović, 
e-mail correspondence with authors, March 1, 2021.
muzikološki zbornik • musicological annual lvii/ii
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reflected in the fact she collected authentic folk songs and dances, and that she 
recorded the customs of the region. This collected material was published in 
1984 in the ethnomusicological study Igre i pjesme Dobrote i Škaljara (Dances 
and Songs of Dobrota and Škaljari), in which she described such things as local 
wedding customs and the characteristic steps of folk dances, giving a complete 
picture of the whole cultural and ethnographic context.50
Figure 4: Vida Matjan.51
Vida Matjan’s vision of music education was not solely tied to piano 
teaching. The multimodal approach, which is today recognized as an important 
segment of the interdisciplinary connection of music with other forms of 
artistic expression, was a basic characteristic of her work with children. We can 
be certain that this encouraged musical creativity, through a holistic approach 
which fitted the way in which children learn about the world around them.52 
50 Out of gratitude, she dedicated this valuable publication to the city of Kotor.
51 Archive of the Vida Matjan Music School.
52 Jackie Wiggins, “Creative Process as Meaningful Music Thinking,” in Creativity and Music Educa-
tion, eds. Timothy Sullivan and Lee Willingham (Toronto, CA: Britannia Printers, 2002), 78–88.
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According to the testimonies of her students, Vida Matjan had an emancipatory 
role in the life of post-war Kotor.53 Her former pupil, the French language 
teacher Smilja Đuranović,54 who enrolled in music school as an eight-year-
old girl, played the piano and performed in her musical adaptations for stage 
performing, described Matjan in the following terms:
Vida Matjan was a very respected, authoritative person who knew how 
to evaluate the musical qualities of her students. She was not only a piano 
teacher, but also a pedagogue and a well-educated person who knew how to 
guide her pupils not only in music, but also in life situations. [...] I remember 
Ms. Matjan as my music pedagogue, always well-groomed, serious, and 
demanding when she felt she could reach to higher level. She also held classes 
on good manners and dress and taught us how to organise our time. When 
she moved to Kotor with her family, she rented an apartment that included a 
large room that she used for ballet classes that the children gladly accepted. At 
the end of the school year, she organised events for students and parents, which 
were enthusiastically attended.55
Vida Matjan showed her professionalism, but also empathy towards her 
student. Marija Vujović,56 a blind music teacher, came to Vida Matjan’s piano 
classes in the late 1950s as a seven-year-old girl. Musically talented children 
from Dom za slijepe (Home for the Blind) in Risan came to the music school 
in Kotor with their music teacher, Ivan Odobašić, who was also blind himself. 
Vida Matjan held piano lessons for these children once a month, gave instruc-
tions and systematically supervised their musical development. They received a 
diploma on completing primary music school, which opened the possibility for 
these children to continue their music education at the secondary level.
Vida Matjan enjoyed great respect, especially among her colleagues, some 
of whom were also her former pupils. Marina Dulović,57 who talks about her 
late years and the respect Matjan received from the staff of the music school in 
Kotor, also testifies to this:
53 Vida Matjan had a large number of pupils, among them later renowned musicians, who always 
emphasised the valuable experience of working with her. These figures include the conductor 
Darinka Matić Marović, the conductor Miroslav Homen, the pianist Tamara Jovićević, the con-
ductor and composer Julio Marić, as well as the intellectual, linguist and pastor of the church of 
St. Eustachia in Dobrota, Don Branko Sbutega (1952–2006).
54 Đuranović, e-mail correspondence.
55 Ibid.
56 Marija Vujović, in conversation with authors, Cetinje, February 2, 2021 (transcript of the 
conversation).
57 Marina Dulović, a piano teacher and the long-time director of the Music School in Kotor. Marina 
Dulović, e-mail correspondence with authors, February 17, 2021.
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Since 1985, every May 6th, on her birthday, the staff of the music school, of 
which I was a member, went to Mrs. Matjan’s house in the Muo neighbourhood 
of Kotor. The appropriate gift would be given to her by the principal Nikša 
Čučić, her former student. [...] She approached each of us with devotion and 
talked about the teaching process, students, class, programmes, methods and 
problems. She would often play a piano piece that she had rehearsed in those 
days. [...] The memories remain of a woman who left a deep mark in the field 
of music culture, working diligently on the tasks of shaping musical life, and 
of developing and advancing culture and education.58
On the occasion of the celebration of the sixtieth anniversary of the 
founding of the school (2007) it was decided that the school should be named 
after her. Marina Dulović, as the Principal of the Music School, launched this 
initiative, which gained widespread support, both among the local population 
and the music societies of Kotor Bay. Today, the music school in Kotor bears 
the name School for Primary and Secondary Music Education “Vida Matjan”. 
Since 2009, cooperation has been established with Glasbena šola Franca 
Šturma (Franz Šturm Music School) in Ljubljana, and until 2015, every May 
6th, on the day when Vida Matjan was born, students and professors of the 
Vida Matjan Music School held notable performances.59
Vida Matjan’s Musical Opus for Children
Vida Matjan’s compositions for children began with piano and vocal works, 
notably through musical choreography, and the adaptation of various works 
of literature for children (being dramatic adaptations accompanied by piano): 
Slike iz dječijih priča (Images from Children’s Stories, 1950), Ježeva kućica 
(Hedgehog’s Cottage, 1951) adapted from the work by Branko Ćopić, and a 
puppet show based on Ivan Minatti’s opus Slamni vočić (The Little Straw Bull, 
1955) for which she herself created the puppets. Her approach to writing 
musical fairy tales evolved from simple piano accompaniment into a rich, child 
friendly range of performative approaches, incorporating Orff instruments, in 
combination with strings, woodwind and choirs, solo performance and ballet. 
In 1963, she created her most famous musical fairy tale Besana šumska noć 
(The Sleepless Forest Night) based on a lyric by Miloš Milošević, which was 
performed at the Kongres saveza uruženja muzičkih pedagoga Jugoslavije 
(Congress of the Union of Music Teachers of Yugoslavia) held on 24 April 
1964 in Kotor. Vida Matjan was responsible for the music, the performance 
direction, and the choreography.
58 Ibid.
59 Ibid.
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Further musical fairy tales followed. These included Zamčić Čardačić (The 
Little Castle, 1966) based on the work by S. Maršak, Klinika Lutaka (The Dolls’ 
Clinic, 1967), which was based on the text by Jovan Aleksić, and Vučko (The 
Little Wolf, 1968), following the work by Vojmil Labadan. In her later years, 
showing great vitality and an innovative approach, she wrote an opera for 
children in four acts, with a libretto by Miloš Milošević, entitled U susret ribama 
(To Meet the Fish, 1989), which she dedicated to the young people of Kotor.60 
Her complete musical works included works for the piano and chamber music, 
vocal and vocal-instrumental pieces and a textbook encompassing teaching 
methodology, called Muzička početnica (A Music Primer, 1981), which was also 
written with Miloš Milošević.61
If we wish to understand the origin of the very innovative approach to 
music education which she provided for her pupils, then Vida Matjan offers a 
clear definition herself:
I paid attention to rhythmic games, small recitations often with musical 
accompaniment and acting. Through frequent contact with parents and 
educators and through endless work with the children, I got a clear idea 
of how to compose for children. This was the beginning of my personal de-
velopment phase that led me to today’s level of dealing with this form of 
educational work.62
We cannot speak of Vida Matjan as having a particular musical role 
model, nor of her as following a pre-existing method of teaching, but rather 
of her approach to music teaching as emerging very specifically from her deep 
understanding of the psyche of the child, as well as her instinctive recognition 
of musical ability and her unerring approach to developing talent.
For the musical fairy tale The Sleepless Forest Night,63 together with the 
author of the lyrics, Miloš Milošević, she received the highest Montenegrin 
award, the Thirteenth of July Award in 1965. Among other numerous 
awards she received, we find Zlatna medalja Saveza kompozitora Jugoslavije 
(Gold Medal of the Yugoslav Composers’ Association), which was awarded 
in 1970, and Plaketa Saveza muzičkih umjetnika Jugoslavije (Plaque of the 
60 A list of works by Vida Matjan is provided in Ivana Antović, “Vida Matjan, veliki muzički peda-
gog i stvaralac druge polovine XX vijeka,” Vaspitanje i obrazovanje: Časopis za pedagošku teoriju i 
praksu, no. 4 (2009): 155–169; Dabižinović, “Vida Matjan – ‘duša svega’,” 74–75; Milošević, “Vida 
Matjan,” 134–135.
61 The legacy of Vida Matjan is kept in the Historical Archives in Kotor (Državni arhiv Crne Gore, 
Istorijski arhiv Kotor, Muzička zbirka V, Vida Matjan (kompozicije, razno)).
62 Vida Matjan, Razgovor s povodom, radio interview, Radio Titograd, 1993, in Dabižinović, “Vida 
Matjan – ‘duša svega’,” 67.
63 For more on musical fairy tales by Vida Matjan, see Marković, “Influence of Slovenian Culture,” 
165.
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Association of Music Artists of Yugoslavia) on the occasion of twenty years 
of its existence (1950–1970).64 She was a member of Udruženje kompozitora 
Crne Gore (Association of Composers of Montenegro) from its founding in 
1969, and a Lifetime Achievement award was presented to her in 1980. The 
most significant achievement at a Yugoslav level, and the crowning glory of 
her career was Orden zasluga za narod sa srebrnim zracima (Special Medal 
of Honour with Silver Rays) which she received from the president of the 
Republic of Yugoslavia in 1976.65
Figure 5: Vida Matjan: “Ples zečića” (“Dance of the Rabbits”) from the manuscript of  
the musical fairy tale The Sleepless Forest Night.66
64 Dabižinović, “Vida Matjan – ‘duša svega’,” 75.
65 “Predsjednik Republike odlikovao je Vidu Matjan [The President of the Republic honoured Vida 
Matjan],” Politika, Belgrade (May 15, 1976), taken from Antović, “Vida Matjan,” 156.
66 Vida Matjan, Besana šumska noć (manuscript, Kotor, 1963), 29, Državni arhiv Crne Gore, Istorijski 
arhiv Kotor, Muzička zbirka V, Vida Matjan (kompozicije, razno), 1.1.
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Vide Matjan’s Approach to Initial Musical Education
The manuscript entitled A Music Primer, authored by Vida Matjan and Miloš 
Milošević,67 was created in 1962, and the final version of the manuscript 
from 1981 can be found in the Historical Archives in Kotor. It was the first 
methodical manual for initial music teaching that was written in Montenegro. 
The manuscript is a methodical manual for music teachers, intended for 
those working with children in the first grade of primary school and in the 
preparatory grade of music school, i.e., ages 6–7. It contains clear methodical 
instructions for the teacher, includes seventeen of the author’s songs adapted 
to the needs of initial teaching, instructions for listening to music, work in the 
field of rhythm, and playing Orff percussion instruments.
Vida Matjan paid special attention to working with the youngest age-group 
in the preparatory class. Her approach was based on the creation of visual impres-
sions through carved figures on a flannelgraph as a didactic tool and with certain 
musical examples.68 The flannelgraph itself is a 122 cm long and 67 cm wide hard-
board, covered with white flannel or, as the authors say, “some other rough fabric.” 
Given the fact that in the literature, the flannelgraph is not often mentioned as a 
didactic tool, it can be considered that Vida Matjan founded its use in the teach-
ing of solfeggio in music schools. The scenery and figures are made of cardboard, 
and they are painted according to marked numbers, and according to the legend 
of the provided colours. On the back of the made figures, a piece of sticky paper is 
glued with which the figures can stand on the flannelgraph. The methodological 
path is based on the author’s knowledge that painting and the visual experience 
are especially successful in helping to work with the youngest age-group. She de-
signed drawings of figures and backdrops,69 for each song intended for processing, 
since she also had an exceptional gift for artistic expression. The authors describe 
in detail for each song what the scenery looks like and how the figures are set. It is 
stated that the teacher in the simplest way presents the content of the verses that 
will be memorised and sung in class, setting up a figure or backdrop that is being 
talked about at that moment. The figures are arranged by numbers, as shown in the 
picture for each class, with the final appearance of the flannelgraph. In addition to 
its predominant role in the process of learning the text, the flannelgraph was also 
67 Vida Matjan and Miloš Milošević, Muzička početnica (Kotor, 1981), Državni arhiv Crne Gore, 
Istorijski arhiv Kotor, Muzička zbirka V, Vida Matjan (kompozicije, razno), 13.1/2. For more 
information see: Vedrana Marković and Andrea Ćoso-Pamer, “Muzička početnica – tragom jed-
nog rukopisa,” in Zbornik XX Pedagoškog foruma scenskih umetnosti, ed. Milena Petrović (Beograd: 
Fakultet muzičke umetnosti, 2018), 21–32.
68 In music pedagogical practice, flannelgraph is not considered a common didactic tool in the 
teaching of solfeggio. Thanks to the pedagogical work of Vida Matjan, the flannelgraph can be 
included in the teaching aid that was used in the past in the teaching of solfeggio.
69 The original flannelgraph used by Vida Matjan is kept in the Historical Archive in Kotor. In a 
special box, there are interesting figures that she designed, with very vivid colours (Državni arhiv 
Crne Gore, Istorijski arhiv Kotor).
muzikološki zbornik • musicological annual lvii/ii
148
used for graphical representation of the rhythmic flow, where the size of the sym-
bol clearly indicates longer or shorter rhythmic values.70
The importance of Vida Matjan’s work was recognised beyond the borders 
of Montenegro, as demonstrated in an article written by Stella Čolaković in 
the Croatian journal Glazba i škola (Music and School): 
Professor V. Matjan, however, is not only a kind of innovator in music 
pedagogy, but also the author of an original music primer who, through 
visual impressions and adequate children’s texts, introduces beginners to the 
complex world of music very easily and interestingly.71
To our knowledge, Vida Matjan had no significant contact with her 
contemporary music pedagogues. The use of Orff instruments, creating 
arrangements, connecting music with movement, and involving students in the 
processes of performing works, can certainly be connected with the tradition 
of Slovenian music pedagogy, in which the influence of Orff ’s methodological 
concept and Dalcroze’s Eurythmics is obvious. 
Although she played a very important role in the development of the cultural 
scene in the Bay of Kotor, her pedagogical ideas and methodological approach 
were not recognised in the broader context of the development of music pedagogy 
in Montenegro, nor did they influence the formation of specific directions or the 
establishment of a method, based on her pedagogical principals.
Conclusion
The development of music education in Montenegro as supported by the 
active work of the Slovenian musicians Anton Pogačar and Vida Matjan has 
an upward trajectory to its development. Although they managed the first 
state music schools, they tried to contribute to the overall development of 
Montenegrin music culture with intensive activities that included conducting, 
working on didactic literature, and composing.
Anton Pogačar faced the professional challenge of running the first Njegoš 
State Music School touring Montenegro and looking for talented children to 
whom he was fully dedicated, giving them the necessary attention that they 
could not get at the boarding school from their parents and sharing with them 
the difficulties of the post-war years. The fact that many important musicians 
for Montenegro graduated from this school confirms the success of his mission.
Vida Matjan remains a person of particular note in Montenegrin music 
pedagogy. Having said that, her method of work, which was based on a multimodal 
70 Representation of musical durations and movements of melodies with graphic symbols, before 
learning of musical notation, is a common methodological procedure in modern textbooks.
71 Stella Čolaković, Muzika i škola 3 (1966): 95, as cited in Antović, “Vida Matjan,” 160.
J. Martinović Bogojević, V. Marković: The Contribution of Anton Pogačar and Vida Matjan...
149
and holistic approach, remains characteristic of herself, and future researchers 
will have the task of researching the methods she applied in music education. In 
this paper, we have pointed out only some aspects of that rich musical experience, 
through the presentation of her didactic work, Muzička početnica.
It is noteworthy that both Pogačar and Matjan showed significant interest 
in the musical folklore of Montenegro. Anton Pogačar incorporated it into 
his own compositions and wrote a specific score for the theatre production of 
The Mountain Wreath, which particularly marked out this achievement. Vida 
Matjan was deeply invested in the collecting of songs, dances, and customs of 
the Boka, which were collected in her ethnographic study Dances and Songs of 
Dobrota and Škaljari. The majority of her works have been left as a bequest to 
the city of Kotor, in whose Archive her neatly arranged manuscripts are stored, 
waiting to be rediscovered by the musical public, most especially the children 
for whom she wrote the majority of her works.
This paper aimed to present these musicians as dedicated artists, pedagogues, 
and visionaries, both to the Slovenian music public and to those who want to 
grasp as fully as possible the permeations and influences of different cultures 
and identities on the development of music education in the second half of the 
twentieth century in the former Yugoslavia, as a shared cultural space.
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POVZETEK 
Prispevek Antona Pogačarja in Vide Matjan k črnogorski 
glasbeni kulturi
Članek prikazuje vlogo in pomen dveh slovenskih glasbenikov, ki sta se po drugi svetovni 
vojni ustalila v Črni gori in s svojo dolgoletno dejavnostjo ključno prispevala k razvoju tam-
kajšnje glasbene kulture. To sta Anton Pogačar (1913–1995) in Vida Matjan (1896–1993). 
Posebna pozornost je namenjena vplivu, ki sta ga imela na razvoj glasbenega izobraževanja 
med ustanavljanjem prvih državnih glasbenih šol v Črni gori. Dejavna sta bila kot glasbena 
pedagoga, dirigenta in skladatelja, pa tudi kot ustanovitelja in člana glasbenih združenj. Po-
govori z njunimi nekdanjimi učenci in sodelavci so prispevali k osvetlitvi njunih osebnosti 
kot tudi njunih pedagoških procesov. Glasbene pravljice Vide Matjan, ki so bile namenjene 
otrokom in po katerih je bila znana ter zanje nagrajena v nekdanji Jugoslaviji, niso bile niti 
objavljene niti uprizorjene, kar bi lahko predstavljalo enega od pristopov k nadaljnjemu raz-
iskovanju njenega bogatega ustvarjalnega opusa. Vido Matjan lahko imamo zaradi njenega 
multimodalnega pristopa in umetniškega sinkretizma – od dramskega uprizarjanja glasbe 
in ustvarjanja koreografij do uporabe otrokom ljubih besedil – za vizionarko in inovatorko v 
glasbeni pedagogiki. Ob tem raziskava posebno pozornost posveča opisu Glasbenega priroč-
nika (1962), prvega metodološkega učbenika za solfeggio, ki ga je napisala z Milošem Mi-
loševićem. V učbeniku, ki še zmeraj ni bil objavljen in ki ga hranijo v Zgodovinskem arhivu 
Kotor, Vida Matjan sinkretično in celovito pristopa k začetnemu glasbenemu izobraževanju 
otrok, pri čemer je kot še posebej inovativen pripomoček za poučevanje solfeggia uporabila 
flanelograf. Članek obravnava tudi črnogorsko folkloro, predvsem z vidika Vide Matjan, ki 
je popisovala ljudske pesmi in plese, in Antona Pogačarja, ki jo je uspešno vključil v svoje 
kompozicije. Namen članka je združiti doslej znane podatke z izsledki novih raziskav, širši 
glasbeni in strokovni javnosti predstaviti pomen obeh glasbenikov in spodbuditi nadaljnje 
muzikološke raziskave.
ABOUT THE AUTHORS
JELENA MARTINOVIĆ BOGOJEVIĆ (jelena.bo@ucg.ac.me) is an Associate Professor 
at the Academy of Music of the University of Montenegro. She obtained her PhD degree 
at the Academy of Music, University of Ljubljana, in the field of music pedagogy. She is the 
author of scientific and professional papers and the editor and author of two monographs in 
the field of music pedagogy and piano teaching methods. She is a member of the Commit-
tee for Music at the Montenegrin Academy of Sciences and Arts (CANU) and cofounder 
of the International Symposium on Music Pedagogy (SIMPED) which is held in Cetinje 
(Montenegro). She is also the national coordinator for Montenegro for the European As-
sociation for Music in Schools (EAS).
VEDRANA MARKOVIĆ (vedranam@ucg.ac.me) graduated from the Faculty of Music 
in Belgrade, gaining her PhD in 2015. She has been employed at the Academy of Music in 
Cetinje as an Assistant Professor since 2009. She participates actively in scientific gatherings in 
Montenegro and the wider region. She has published one monograph, exercises for solfeggio 
J. Martinović Bogojević, V. Marković: The Contribution of Anton Pogačar and Vida Matjan...
153
teaching, book sets for the first, second and third grades of music school, and around thirty 
other studies. Her particular area of interest includes the musical education of children with 
visual impairment, as well as the implementation of examples from Montenegrin music 
heritage in music education, especially in solfeggio teaching. She has also published papers 
in the field of musicology concerning the historical development of music pedagogy in 
Montenegro.
O AVTORICAH 
JELENA MARTINOVIĆ BOGOJEVIĆ (jelena.bo@ucg.ac.me) je izredna profesorica na 
Akademiji za glasbo Univerze v Črni gori. Doktorirala je na Akademiji za glasbo Univerze v 
Ljubljani s področja glasbene pedagogike. Je avtorica več znanstvenih in strokovnih člankov 
in urednica ter avtorica dveh monografij o glasbeni pedagogiki in metodah poučevanja kla-
virja. Je članica Odbora za glasbo na Črnogorski akademiji znanosti in umetnosti (CANU) 
in soustanoviteljica Mednarodnega simpozija glasbene pedagogike (SIMPED), ki poteka v Ce-
tinju (Črna gora). Jelena Martinović Bogojević je nacionalna koordinatorica za Črno goro 
pri Evropskem združenju za glasbo v šolah (EAS).
VEDRANA MARKOVIĆ (vedranam@ucg.ac.me) je diplomirala na Fakulteti za glasbo v 
Beogradu, kjer je leta 2015 tudi doktorirala. Od leta 2009 je kot docentka zaposlena na Aka-
demiji za glasbo v Cetinju. Aktivno se udeležuje srečanj znanstvenikov v Črni gori in širše 
v regiji. Doslej je izdala monografijo, vaje za poučevanje solfeggia, vrsto učbenikov za prvi, 
drugi in tretji razred glasbene šole in približno trideset drugih raziskav. Posveča se predvsem 
glasbenemu izobraževanju otrok z okvarami vida kot tudi implementaciji primerov črno-
gorske glasbene dediščine pri glasbenem izobraževanju, še posebej pri poučevanju solfeggia. 
Objavila je tudi več člankov s področja muzikologije, in sicer na temo zgodovinskega razvoja 
glasbene pedagogike v Črni gori.