The first EU Songbook is published in print and as an app. More than 100 music organisations and conservatories have contributed to its creation. More than 87,000 people from all over the EU were involved through public votes covered by more than 400 media outlets.
164 songs were selected, six from each of the 27 EU Member States
In 2018, six Slovenian songs were selected by a vote of 3290 people in cooperation with the Academy of Music in Ljubljana, the Slovene Composers' Society and the Slovenian Public Fund for Cultural Activities. The public vote was monitored by STA, RTV, Dnevnik, Demokracija and Pop TV on 24ur.com.
The winners were in the Love Songs category - Day of Love, in the Nature and Seasons category - Slovenia, where your beauty comes from, and in the Freedom and Peace category - Oj, Triglav, my home. In the Folk Songs category the song Where are those paths, in the Spirituality and Faith category the song Behold, the stars of God and in the Children's Songs category the song Kekčeva poem.
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The editor of the EU Songbook for Slovenia, Dušan Bavdek, President of the DSS and professor at the Academy of Music, provided the musical notation and sheet music, while musicologist Leon Stefanija from the Faculty of Arts in Ljubljana contributed the accompanying text. The photo shows the Avsenik Brothers Ensemble. Photo: UKOM archive
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Selected Slovenian songs were translated into English by American composer and jazz pianist Steven Klink and translator Boštjan Malus. The photo shows the singing group Katice. Photo: UKOM archive
Six well-chosen and expressively rich poems
Slovenians, whose call for peaceful and free coexistence is enshrined in our national anthem, add to the EU Songbook six well-chosen and richly expressive songs that embody the Slovenian melos, the rhythm and the sound of the Slovenian word and the Slovenian spirit as a whole in a multifaceted and versatile way.
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The cover of the songbook features the term 'European English' because it reflects the way we Europeans speak our most common second language - coloured by our mother tongues. Pictured here is the music group Terrafolk. Photo: UKOM archive
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In the Children's Poems category, the winner was Kekčeva poem. The photo shows the Kek character from the theatre performance. Photo: UKOM archive
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Title page of the newly published songbook. Photo: STA
An insight into the history of European music over the last 600 years
Each of the 164 songs is presented for solo voice, with chords and lyrics written in the 25 original languages and three alphabets, as well as in singable European English. The accompanying texts, written by 61 national editors, offer an insight into the history of European music over the last 600 years. For listening, QR codes are available on all sheet music, leading to the original recordings. In addition, a free app is available for those who want to participate in the European Song Exchange.
The EU Songbook is available in the EU, the UK and the US. The app, which contains all 164 titles, introductions and links to YouTube, is available for free via the App Store and Google Play.
Date: 5. November 2024
Time to read: 2 min
