From the History of Military Music in the Austro-Hungarian Monarchy:

The subject of this paper is the work of Franz Jaksch (1851–1931), a versatile musician who served as the bandmaster of the Imperial and Royal Navy Orchestra in Pula, the main port of the Austro-Hungarian monarchy in the period between 1899 and 1917. It was in Pula that he composed most of his pieces tailored for military orchestras, opera stages and bourgeois salons. During his bandmaster term, the Navy Orchestra performed some of the most significant orchestral pieces from the symphonic repertoire.


The Pula Imperial and Royal Navy Orchestra
A small town in the south of the Istrian peninsula, Pula saw a period of rapid development in the second half of the nineteenth century. After this malariaafflicted fishing village with less than a thousand souls became the main military base of the Austro-Hungarian navy (1853), it emerged as a site of some very important political and military events, as well as one of the most developed townships in the Northern Adriatic. Such circumstances gave rise to a dynamic commercial and social life in the town which soon came to resemble some of the major central European cities. Newly arrived naval officers, their families and scores of businesspeople were all used to high social life, so Pula was expected to meet such requirements as any other major city in the Monarchy at the time. It was therefore imperative to ensure a wide variety of cultural events and artistic performances, among which musical concerts held a prominent place. The stage of Politeama Ciscutti, the city theatre, welcomed a number of travelling companies which staged opera and operetta productions. Concert halls featured performances of esteemed musicians, and local musical performers avidly engaged in amateur performances. The most prominent part in the social and cultural life of the city was in fact its flagship ensemble, the Imperial and Royal Navy Orchestra (hereafter Navy Orchestra). 1 The impact it had on the development of musical culture, and on shaping Pula as an urban environment was immeasurable thanks to the ensemble's ability to adapt to the navy's various needs as well as to its continued presence in the events intended for the broader population of the city dwellers.
The orchestra resided in the Navy Casino building which regularly served as a venue for concerts and balls. 2 Due to the fact that the City Theatre was unable to provide funding for the work of a permanent orchestra, the Navy Orchestra occasionally performed at the Ciscutti theatre alongside the visiting opera and operetta ensembles. Considering the demands of the protocol in the major Austro-Hungarian port, this orchestra was larger in size in comparison 1 In the Italian, German and Croatian primary sources consulted, there are different names for the Imperial and Royal Navy Orchestra, in full and abbreviated form: K.u.K. Marinemusik, K.u.K. Marinekapelle, Orchestra della i.e.r. marina di Guerra, Orkestar carske i kraljevske mornarice, etc. Newspaper articles commonly use the abbreviated orchestra name (Marineorchestra, Marine orchestra, Orchestra della Marina, Mornarički orkestar). The name used in this paper is the Imperial and Royal Navy Orchestra, i.e., Navy Orchestra in the abbreviated form. with the other military ensembles at the time, and the projects it undertook were more ambitious. To successfully fulfil its challenging performance tasks, unlike most other military orchestras, Pula's Navy Orchestra was expanded to include a string section. Ever since 1871, the Navy Orchestra had more than a hundred musicians. 3 Forty-five members were designated and ready to board the Imperial and Royal Navy vessels, 4 while fifty-five were permanently stationed in Pula. Such organization within the ranks of the Navy Orchestra remained more or less unchanged until 1918 when the Austro-Hungarian monarchy ceased to exist as such. The Navy Orchestra bandmaster remained in Pula for the most part, while musical sections stationed on ships were headed by navy officers of appropriate rank.
Repertoire programme was set up so as to fit the nature of the event, and to cater to the taste of the expected audience. Therefore, some concert performances featured a fine selection of classical and romantic pieces, while others were aimed to please a broad audience. The orchestra performed at classical music concerts, protocol events, ball dances, and afternoon and evening entertainment concerts. Depending on the occasion, in addition to the musical pieces typically performed by the military orchestras at the time, such as polkas, waltzes and other popular dances, the repertoire of the Navy Orchestra also included excerpts from operas and operettas, various short pieces for orchestral performance, symphonies, symphonic poems and other orchestral forms.
Whereas the concerts held at the Navy Casino were organised for selected guests, officers and their families and other dignitaries, the activity of the Navy Orchestra was partly intended for all citizens of Pula. The wind section of the Navy Orchestra, the Stadtkapelle, 5 held open-air concerts almost every Sunday, at wharfs and squares, the seafront, the Forum, as well as in salons and hotel gardens. The repertoire of this band covered excerpts from operas and operettas, short orchestral pieces, marches etc. They performed at ship launching ceremonies, military and civil officers receptions, as well as to welcome the emperor himself, thus providing a boost to both the soldiers' morale and to the popularity of the social and military system of the monarchy. 6 The Navy Orchestra can rightfully be considered a kind of an ambassador of the Austrian military (march) music, the Viennese operettas, as well as waltzes and other popular dance genres well known around the world. They performed on a weekly basis in Pula and on the Brijuni islands, but were just as welcome in Graz or Vienna, or some far away countries. 7 The level of success and of the quality of music performance achieved by the Austrian navy musical ensemble has a lot to do with an immense contribution of its bandmasters. 8 The position of bandmaster of the Austro-Hungarian Navy Orchestra was a highly distinguished appointment. It entailed a salary higher than that earned in the infantry orchestra and other similar ensembles; the musicians were, almost without exception, quite skilled, which meant the conductors could select the finest musical pieces for their repertoire. For this reason, this position of bandmaster was commonly held by acclaimed and versatile musicians, actively engaged in both musical performance as well as composition. 9 To illustrate how esteemed the position of the Navy Orchestra bandmaster was, here is an 1869 advert which clearly states the pertinent requirements: Not older than the age of forty, a degree from the Vienna or Prague conservatory, or of the Salzburg Mozarteum. Evidence of previous experience in conducting an imperial or royal military or other band; mandatory six-month probation period. 10 The annual salary at the time amounted to 1200 fl plus 150 fl for adjustment efforts and 36 fl for heating expenses. Apart from that, the bandmaster was entitled to a percentage of the concert revenues. He was also provided an apartment befitting an officer.
The term Franz Jaksch served as the bandmaster (1899-1917) marks the golden age of the Navy Orchestra which this amazing conductor brought to the pinnacle of their performance. 11 During the eighteen years of his artistic One of the most famous Navy Orchestra bandmasters was Franz Lehár who held this position between 1894 and 1896. It was in Pula that Lehár composed his first opera, Kukuschka, and his Pula friends provided the encouragement for some of his work. Commemorating the 150th anniversary of F. Lehár's birth, the authors of this paper published a book dedicated to the lesser-known period in the life of this composer that he spent in Pula. Duraković  work in Pula, Jaksch left a permanent mark as an exceptionally talented bandmaster, a skilled pedagogue, instrumentalist and composer.

Franz Jaksch before coming to Pula
Franz Jaksch was born on 10 October 1851 in Nova Bistrica (Neubistritz, now Czech Republic), to Rosalie Mandel and Adalbert Jaksch. In 1860s, his father got appointed in Bregenz as a choirmaster and the city band bandmaster (1864-1899). Adalbert Jaksch also worked as a music school pedagogue, and composed, for the most part, dance music. 12 Franz Jaksch finished primary and middle school in Bregenz before studying music at the Prague Conservatory which he graduated from with the highest distinction. He completed military service as a solo violin player assigned to infantry regiment no. 49 (Infanterie Regimente 13 49) "Freiherr von Heß", under bandmaster Michael Zimmermann in Vienna. 14 After completing a five-year service in this city, he left the army in 1875. He was appointed city band bandmaster and the first ever organ player in the Pécs Cathedral, in Hungary. This is where he composed Der Jokei, an operetta which was very well received by the audience. 15 In 1878, he resumed his military service, this time in Bosnia, where he conducted the orchestra of infantry regiment no. 76 (IR no. 76). He fought in five battles, including the siege of Bihać, for which he received a medal. In 1882, he moved to Vienna where he continued his work for the next 17 years. He taught chamber music and instrumentation at the Horak Conservatory. He also worked as a conductor and choir director in several associations; for example, he was the choirmaster of the community singing group Vindobona, the music school choir Votiv-Kirchen Musikverein, and the Evangelical community singing group. With Jaksch as the conductor, these choirs had a lot of successful performances, including several at the grand hall of the Musikverein. Furthermore, he spent six months in the Johann Strauss ensemble as a violinist. In 1879, in Vienna, he married Carolina Postl. The couple remained childless. 16 In September 1899, he was appointed bandmaster of the Navy Orchestra in Pula where he spent the next 18 years, until his retirement in 1917.

Concert performances of the Navy Orchestra under Jaksch
Before Franz Jaksch came to Pula, the bandmasters were Franz Lehár and the highly esteemed Gustav Schmidt, 17 so it might be safe to say that he had big shoes to fill as their successor.
Versatile and ambitious as he was, this musician chose to confront this challenge with a high degree of motivation and enthusiasm. During his appointment as a conductor, the Pula audience was presented with some of the most significant pieces from the symphonic repertoire. Among other, Mozart's "The Jupiter Symphony" and Symphony No. 40, Beethoven's symphonies Nos. 1, 2, 4, 5, 7 and 8, Schumann's Symphony No. 1, Schubert's Symphony No. 8 in B Minor (the so-called "Unfinished Symphony"), Mendelssohn's Symphony No. 3, Saint-Saëns' Symphony in A Minor, Symphony No. 6 ("The Pathétique Symphony") by Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky, and Symphonies No. 5 and No. 9 ("From the New World") by Antonin Dvořák were performed. In addition, included in their repertoire were M. Bruch's violin concerto in G Minor and Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky's in D Major, as well as the Waldhornkonzert by Richard Strauss.
Furthermore, during that period the Navy Orchestra performed symphonic poems and overtures, opera preludes, ballet suites and a whole range of shorter 17 For more on Gustav Schmidt, see Hubert Reitterer and Barbara Boisits, "Schmidt, Gustav," in Österreichisches Musiklexikon Online, www.musiklexikon.ac.at/ml/musik_S/Schmidt_Gustav.xml, accessed July 12, 2020.   For his accomplishments as a bandmaster, Jaksch had the honour of receiving commendation from archduke Franz Ferdinand and Emperor Franz Joseph I. In 1902, Emperor Franz Joseph I visited Pula to be present for the navy manoeuvre. For his successful service, Jaksch received a gift from the heir to the throne -a cigarette case and a diamond needle. In 1910, Jaksch was also awarded the Golden Cross of Merit for his exceptional contribution to navy music. The award application, among other, stated the following: [...] the conductor significantly advanced the quality of navy music performance [...]. He was deeply committed to excellence in concert music performance. The integrity of his character is admirable. 22 The guest performances the orchestra held outside of Pula were considered especially notable, and were reported on in the press. Brioni-Insel-Zeitung, for instance, published an article on the success the Navy Orchestra achieved in Munich under Jaksch: 23 The performance of this orchestra under the leadership of bandmaster Jaksch, who was quite busy during his stay here, was quite impressive; the programme they presented was extremely rich and diverse, adorned with southern flare and a genuine Austrian charm, embraced by the audience with huge enthusiasm.

Tamburitza ensemble
During the time Jaksch was the Navy Orchestra bandmaster, the tamburitza ensemble was established with Rudolf Frnke as its director (Untermusikmeister). In June 1907, the command of the artillery training ship requested permission to set up a tamburitza orchestra. It was pointed out that a tamburitza ensemble would be a great asset on the ship, as it would cheer up the crew during their leisure time. Furthermore, it was thought that such an ensemble would have a positive effect in terms of keeping the crew away from pubs, in other words, from overindulging in alcohol. At first, the idea was to put together a band of eighteen musicians, and then, if this turns out well, to add more members. 24 The request was granted, and the tamburitza ensemble was officially established in November with R. Frnke as its conductor. The orchestra, consisting of twenty-three tamburitzas, three violins, a drum and a triangle, started rehearsing their repertoire as early as December. Their first time on stage together was on January 26, 1908, when they performed at the mass ceremony aboard the training ship and finished with their rendition of the national anthem.
Members of the ensemble met for practice every day during their free time. Their repertoire included dance music, folk song covers, as well as some lighter concert pieces. Group music performances proved to be a great benefit for the general morale on the ship, so establishing a tamburitza orchestra certainly turned out to be a good idea. 25

Compositional endeavours
Judging by the press clippings and reviews, Jaksch was very well acclaimed as a composer. His opus includes compositions typical of military bandmasters, such as marches and dance music, whereas the biographies published so far mention only two large-scale pieces to his name -an operetta, Der Jokei, and an opera, Abellino. The scope of his engagement in Pula, and the repertoire performed by the Navy Orchestra point to the likely fact that there were more. In 1903, in the Ciscutti theatre, during the opera season when the orchestra was directed by maestro Gialdino Gialdini, the city organized a gala concert so the citizens of Pula would express their gratitude to guest performers. Jakch's Ungarische Festouverture 26 was performed on this occasion: 25 Ibid., 130−131. 26 Newspaper articles do not clarify whether the piece was played by the Navy Orchestra or by a guest orchestra in the opera season. The same piece was again performed by the Navy Orchestra in 1915 at the concert held in the Casino. 28 In 1911, at the Pula theatre, the Navy Orchestra performed, in addition to the works of Mozart, Tchaikovsky and Smareglia, Jaksch's Angelus, Andante religioso for violin, harp and a small orchestra: […] testifying to his talent for fluency in melody […]. The audience, after expressing such a warm approval of the performance, insisted on the encore so ardently that this talented, yet modest composer could no longer defy it […]. 29 A year later, at the Navy Orchestra concert, in addition to the works of Beethoven, Liszt and Sinigaglia, the programme included a chamber music piece, titled Legenda, and composed by Jaksch for violin, cello and harp, reported on by the Italian gazette, Giornaletto di Pola: 30 When it comes to Legenda, the very well-known piece written for violin, cello and harp, maestro Jaksch was applauded as a composer as well, and this wonderful composition, including its amazing rendition by Panoch,Blasek and Schneider,was invited for an encore. 31 The review published in the German Polaer Tagblatt was just as flattering: The concert performance two evenings ago was a wonderful experience we were again privileged to have been afforded by the Navy Orchestra under the intuitive baton of the conductor, Franz Jaksch. Once again, we got a chance to witness the asset the music milieu in Pula has in this meritorious conductor. This was, above all, obvious from the big applause which welcomed Jaksch onto the stage at the very beginning of the concert, followed by a warm reaction to Legenda, his composition for violin, cello and harp. This piece, so delicate and filled with emotion, simply had to be invited for another encore! This was an evening dedicated to our very own bandmaster! 32 This same piece was performed at the charity concert in the war year of 1916 by music composer (harp), Voska (violin) and Brandejski (cello). 33 Jaksch wrote his opera Abellino in Pula. The news that "maestro musica di marina Jaksch" composed an opera to an Italian libretto was published in newspapers in 1907 when it was announced that this opera seria, which takes place in Venice, will soon be presented in the Ciscutti and performed by "an ensemble of professional musicians and singers from the city." 34 This opera was later performed on various opera stages, and the considerable expenses this entailed were borne by Jaksch himself. Despite the fact that various excerpts 29 "Concerto sinfonico al Politeama," Il Giornaletto di Pola, no. 3873, February 16, 1911, 1; "Il concerto sinfonico di ierisera al Politeama," Il Giornaletto di Pola, no. 3877, February 20, 1911, 1;"Simfoniekonzert der k.u.k. Marinekapelle," Polaer Tagblatt, no. 1786, February 21, 1911, 2. 30 "Concerto sinfonico," Il Giornaletto di Pola, no. 4170, December 10, 1911, 2. 31 "Concerto sinfonico," Il Giornaletto di Pola, no. 4174, December 14, 1911, 1. 32 "Simfoniekonzert der k.u. k. Marinemusik," Polaer Tagblatt, no. 2042, December 15, 1911, 2. 33 "Koncerat u dobrotvorne svrhe," Hrvatski list, no. 184, January 15, 1916. Publishing just the last names of the musicians was a common occurrence in newspaper articles simply because music lovers were familiar with them. 34 The research has not resulted in any information on whether this opera was ever performed in Pula. "Un opera del maestro Jaksch," Il Giornaletto di Pola, no. 2378, January 13, 1907 from this opera were successfully performed at symphonic concerts in Pula, the work was never again performed in its entirety. 35 The overture of this opera was performed in 1914 at the Navy Orchestra concert in addition to the works of Dvořák and Wagner. 36 Jaksch wrote another opera, König Mai, which presented quite a challenge for both the singers and the orchestra, in technical terms. 37 A major part of Jaksch's work when it comes to composition included shorter pieces -waltzes, polkas and marches, which were intended for city bands in the townships where he worked. In this regard, his biographers mention his marches -the Admiral-Marsch, the Pieta-Marsch, the Österreichischer Flottenverein-Marsch, the Admiral-Montecuccoli-Marsch and the John-Marsch (dedicated to the 76th Infantry Regiment), and the Polesaner Landwehr-Marsch. 35 The award application for 1910 of the Viennese Volksoper stated that the opera was supposed to be staged in the upcoming season, but this, however, did not happen. The opera was also to be staged at the La Scala in Milan, but this was hampered by the outbreak of WW1. Trulei andWinkler, Lyra &Anker, 104. 36 "Simfoniekonzert in Marinekasino," Polaer Tagblatt, no. 2987, December 17, 1914, 3. 37 Trulei and Winkler, Lyra & Anker, 105. However, the concert performances of the ensembles active in Pula at the time, 38 point to the fact there is a considerable number of musical pieces composed for these ensembles which remained largely unknown.
The repertoire of the Stadtkapelle included marches: Grüße aus dem Marine Casino, 39 Unter der rot-weiß-roten Flagge 40 and Österreichischer Flottenverein-Marsch; 41 polkas Pantomime polka 42 and Konzert-Polka for flugelhorn; 43 waltzes In Marinekreisen 44 and Adriawellen 45 and compositions with the program titles Souvenir 46 and Pietas Julia. 47 The Società orchestrale polese (the Orchestral Society of Pula) performed Jaksch's waltz Adriawellen 48 and his gavotta titled La sentimentale. 49 Some of these pieces were composed during the time Jaksch was living in Pula. We can infer from the titles that the march bearing the name of the first known antique name of Pula, Pietas Julia (Colonia Pietas Iulia Pola), as well as the composition titled Grüße aus dem Marine Casino were created in Pula. A publisher of music merchandise in Pula called Schriner (C. Mahler) also published two marches Jaksch composed for the piano: Polesaner Landwehr-Marsch and Österreichischer Flottenverein-Marsch, as well as the Adriawellen (1908). According to the daily press in Pula, this was "a musical composition of brilliant harmonies and cadenzas which can easily be compared with the finest Strauss waltzes." 50 The musical piece which made Jaksch a part of musical history and thanks to which his work is still well known today and heard in concert halls is Elegy for double bass and piano. It was composed as a part of the third collection of the Franz Simandl's Contrabass Method, a sort of a textbook of the contrabass repertoire written in 1906 while Jaksch was living in Pula. 51

Retiring and leaving Pula
In 1910, the Navy Music Board opened the question of the need for Jaksch to retire, but the matter was postponed for several years due to the precarious nature of the position of bandmaster whose relationship with the Navy is merely contractual so, legally speaking, the navy had no obligation to pay for his 51 Under the title of the composition, there was a note saying "Übertragen von Fr. Simandl" which might support the conclusion that Jaksch did not originally compose this piece for the contrabass, but that it was in fact Simandl's transcription. In the online catalogue of the Austrian National Library, there is a reference pointing to the fact that in 1909, while he was still in Pula, Franz Jaksch and Simandl cooperated and that it is quite likely that he provided the orchestration for Simandl's Concert for Contrabass and Orchestra op. 75. Th ere are also some traces of information on some pieces which Jaksch originally composed for contrabass ( retirement. It was, nonetheless, decided to award him with an amount of 750 krones per year. The decision was made in late 1914 and included a six-month notice period. It was also agreed that the notice period could be extended until the end of the war, i.e. until the demobilization process begins. To mark the occasion of Jaksch going to retirement, the navy commander, Admiral Anton Haus, requested that Jaksch be awarded the Golden Cross of Merit with the Crown, which Franz Joseph I granted. 52 However, the war continued on and the retirement kept being delayed. Not only that Jaksch's health deteriorated, but he also had to care for his sick wife. A violin player, Joseph Voska, frequently filled in for him at many Navy Orchestra concerts. 53 In the early 1917, the Navy decided they could no longer wait for the war to end as this was hard to predict, so Jaksch finally retired on 1 March 1917 at the age of 66. The baton was passed on to the last bandmaster of that corpus, Theodor Christoph, and Jaksch returned to Bregenz. 54 He lived a very modest life, gave private lessons, and, on occasion, worked as a choir leader. The dissolution of Austria-Hungary brought about financial difficulties, as he barely survived on his meagre pension. Consequently, he had to seek employment once again. As early as in May 1917, he placed an advert in the local newspapers and offered lessons in music theory, violin and piano. He also worked as the choir director of Bregenzer Liederkranz singing ensemble. Their collaboration was quite successful, so Jaksch received an award as their honorary choirmaster. To mark the occasion of Jaksch's 80th birthday in January 1931, the military band in Bregenz organized a special concert in his honour in the "German house." 55 The programme included the overture from his opera Abellino, the overture from the Der Jokei and the Groß-Bregenz and the Eljén a Magyar marches. Numerous greeting cards and telegrams were read for the whole audience to hear, among them was the telegram sent by the former Navy Orchestra bandmaster and a renowned composer, Franz Lehár. This was the final goodbye from Pula to the deserving bandmaster of the Imperial and Royal Navy Orchestra, who was deeply committed to his work for almost two decades as a musical spiritus movens of the whole city. * * * Over the course of almost two decades of living and working in Pula, Jaksch's multifarious activities added considerably to the musical life of the city, not only as the bandmaster of the Navy Orchestra, but also as a composer. Owing to his persistent commitment to work, the Navy Orchestra reached the peak of its performative potential at that very time. Alongside the standard military orchestra repertoire, they played some of the masterworks of the symphonic repertoire. 57 Like his predecessor Franz Lehár, in addition to marches and dance music, Jaksch composed an opera in Pula, which testifies to his greater compositional ambitions.  (1894-1896)). The focus of her scientific interests is 19 th century music and especially popular genres (salon and military music, operetta) in Serbian, Balkan and European contexts. She has participated in projects in the country and abroad (Universität für Musik und darstellende Kunst Wien; Institut für Musikwissenschaft der Universität Leipzig). As part of the Erasmus+ exchange, she was a guest professor at the Institute of Musicology at the University of Heidelberg.

Iz
LADA DURAKOVIĆ (lada.durakovic@gmail.com) is an Associate Professor, employed at the Academy of Music in Pula. She graduated in musicology from the University of Ljubljana. She got her PhD from the University of Zagreb. Her scientific interest has been oriented toward the correlation of ideology and music in the 20 th century. She has taken part in conferences in the country and abroad, and has published many papers as well as lexicography articles for The Croatian Biographical Lexicon, Grove Music Online and Istarska enciklopedija (Istrian Encyclopaedia). Duraković is the author of numerous scientific articles and books: Pulski glazbeni život u razdoblju fašističke diktature, 1926.-1943. (The Musical Life in Pula under the Fascist Regime, 1926-1943; Ideologija i glazbeni život: Pula 1945-1966 (Ideology and