The Baptism on the Savica (
Slovene: Krst pri Savici) is a long two-part
epic-
lyric poem written by the
SloveneRomantic poet
France Prešeren. According to the literary historian
Marko Juvan, the work may be considered the Slovene
national epic.[1] It is a narration about a hero and the woman he loves in the time of violent
Christianisation of the predecessors of the Slovenes.
Creation and publication
The poem was written in the
Bohorič alphabet from July 1835 until January 1836 and self-published in April 1836. It was printed in 600 copies in
Ljubljana by
Josef Blasnik.
Structure
The poem comprises over 500 verses and has three parts. The first part of the poem, added approximately ten years later, is a
sonnet dedicating the work to Prešeren's late friend
Matija Čop. The second part, the Introduction (Uvod), describes the final battle between
Christians and
paganSlavs, led by the hero Črtomir. It is composed of 25 three-line and one four-line
stanza and segues directly into the poem's third part, the Baptism (Krst), focusing on the reunion of Črtomir and Bogomila, who had been the priestess of the goddess
Živa but is now a Christian. She persuades Črtomir to be
baptised too. Part three is composed of 53
ottava rimas. It has less of an epic character than the second, as it mainly focuses on the emotions of individuals. The epics themes include Slovene identity in the context of the nation's conversion to Christianity.
Depictions
A motif from the poem is depicted in the
bronze relief on the right side of the pedestal of
Prešeren Monument at
Prešeren Square, the main square in Ljubljana. It is titled Farewell (Slovo) or Črtomir and Bogomila (Črtomir in Bogomila). It was created by the sculptor
Ivan Zajec in 1901.[2][3] It has a
Classicist composition, a
Realist cadre, an impressionist final touch, and emphasises Prešeren's
Romantic poetry with its content.[4]
In 1920, the Slovene composer
Slavko Osterc (1895–1941) used motifs from the poem for his
symphonic pictureThe Baptism on the Savica (Krst pri Savici). Performed for the first time on 22 February 1921 in
Ptuj by the Maribor Military Music (Mariborska vojna muzika) orchestra, it was his first piece of work that was presented at a concert. It was also performed by the same orchestra on 22 April in
Celje in the support of the construction of the
Orthodox church in the town [
sl]. Until August 1921, he also wrote a
Neoromanticopera with the same title, but it was never performed. The libretto was written by Osterc and the Maribor educator
Gustav Šilih [
sl].[6]
The poem was used for the major part of the libretto of the
chamber operaThe Baptism on the Savica, written in 2015 by the Slovene composer Tom Kobe (born 1988). It was staged in collaboration with the George Slatkonia Mixed Choir from
Novo Mesto, and premiered with a great success in the
city's cultural centre, in November 2015.[7]
^Šavc, Urška.
"France Prešeren – slikovno gradivo" [France Prešeren – Pictorial Material]. In Šmid Hribar, Mateja; Golež, Gregor; Podjed, Dan; Kladnik, Drago; Erhartič, Bojan; Pavlin, Primož; Ines, Jerele (eds.). Enciklopedija naravne in kulturne dediščine na Slovenskem [Encyclopedia of Natural and Cultural Heritage in Slovenia] (in Slovenian). Retrieved 20 May 2012.
^Beja, Boris (5 November 2011).
"Prešernov spomenik" [Prešeren Monument]. Planet Siol.net. Archived from
the original on 7 November 2011.
^Kovačević, Krešimir (1960). Hrvatski kompozitori i njihova djela. Naprijed.
^Špendal, Manica.
"Slavko Osterc v Mariboru" [Slavko Osterc in Maribor]. Časopis za zgodovino in narodopisje [Review for History and Ethnography] (in Slovenian): 102, 105.