DOI: 10.4149/SH_2024_2_1

The Hungarian virtuoso Eduard (Ede) Reményi (1830–1989) was, together with Miska Hauser (1820–1887), Heinrich Wilhelm Ernst (1812–1865) and Joseph Joachim (1831–1907), one of the most significant promoters of the legacy of the Viennese violin school and of the class of Joseph Böhm at the Vienna Conservatory, not only in the European, but also the transoceanic space. The trace Reményi left in music history was recognized namely thanks to his collaboration and friendship with the crucial exponents of the revolutionary or Classicisizing Romanticism – Ferenc Liszt and Johannes Brahms. In addition to European audience Reményi’s art also fascinated the audience in other continents (similarly to Miska Hauser). This study focuses mainly on his work, activities and the influence of his artistic personality in the Central Europe, namely in Bohemia, Moravia and Slovakia during the reign of Franz Joseph I. The study was encouraged by the crucial influence, stated by Ján Levoslav Bella himself, Reményi had had on his decision to elevate the composition of music to the dominant force and meaning of his life. This influence and its character are reconstructed on the basis of personal reminiscences and texts extracted from the period newspapers.

Keywords
Eduard Reményi; Ján Levoslav Bella; Ludvík Procházka; Pressburger Zeitung

DOI: 10.4149/SH_2024_2_2

The study presents a portrait of a personality that is relatively unknown in the Slovak musicology, the tenorist Anton Hok (1890–1974). In the period press he was hailed as the first Slovak tenorist in the USA. He was active both in the realms of music and spiritual services. He was a performer of folk, artistic and sacred songs, he promoted Antonín Dvořák’s song oeuvre, recorded over 40 Slovak songs on gramophone records for the labels Victor and Columbia Records. In addition to his missionary work and his occupation of a Baptist priest he gave lectures, published articles and essays, organized and conducted church choirs, taught singing and wrote an instruction manual for autodidacts: Art of Voice Production. The Key to “Bel Canto” with Self-teaching Vocal Exercises. He held the opinion that Christian assemblies should praise God through choral singing. He himself set the example, singing his sermons, which led to him receiving the nickname “Singing Evangelist”.

Keywords
Anton Hok; singer; teacher of singing; choirmaster; organizer of festivals for singing choirs; priest

DOI: 10.4149/SH_2024_2_3

This paper explores fundamental questions in the ongoing debate about musical ontology, focusing on its nature, scope, underlying methodology, and significance. The primary aim is to map out the main issues under discussion, identify the principal sources of contention, and explain why engaging in these debates is meaningful. The paper is structured as follows. Section 1 introduces some key questions at stake in the ontology of music debate, inviting readers to engage with a case study. Section 2 defines the scope and aims of musical ontology, outlining the various accounts offered in the field. Section 3 clarifies the main challenges about music that all these ontological accounts are required to address. Section 4 discusses the methodological problems in assessing these different views. Section 5 addresses some critical viewpoints about the significance of musical ontology. The paper concludes in Section 6 by positing a proposal for a ‘weak’ ontological approach that outwins criticism by integrating history, ontology, and aesthetics.

Keywords
musical ontology; musical meta-ontology; analytic philosophy; work of music

DOI: 10.4149/SH_2024_2_4

[The contribution is available only in Slovak language in the printed version of the revue.]