1921 - 1999
Born in Ljubljana, studied under Prof. S.Osterc at the State Conservatoire and the Academy of Music in Ljubljana, graduating in 1941 and going on to study composition under V.Frazzi in Siena and A.Casella in Rome (1942 – 43). Between 1945 and 1987 he was employed as librarian at the Slovene Academy of Arts and Sciences. Through his life he has been a diligent and persevering composer. His opus is extremely extensive and his work has won him numerous awards and other forms of recognition (full member of SAZU since 1977; Prešeren Award, 1983; honorary member of the Slovene Philarmonic Society since 1988; Kozina Award of the DSS, 1995). Ramovš is unquestionably the most important composer of the 20th century in Slovenia. His early works owed much to neo-classicism and the Baroque. Following a short period in which he investigated dodecaphony and the total organization of sound material at the beginning of the 1960s, he dedicated himself to the forms of musical exploration. “Ramovš build his works from sound, and purely because of sound” (A.Rijavec). Changes in density, tone and dynamics are fundamental elements of Ramovš’s music, and the rejects extra-musical associations. He is an exceptionally prolific composer who has experimented with almost all forms and structures and who has created numerous anthological works of lasting value. He is responsible for around 400 works of many different types and for the most diverse combinations of instruments, including combinations of solo instruments with orchestras. He is also a skilful organ improviser and has frequently written for the organ, the “queen of instruments”,
