SUMMARY
Srecko Koporc belongs to that generation of Slovene composers whose best creative period falls into the third, fourth and fifth decade of the 20th century. He wrote vocal, piano and chamber compositions. It is important to note that at that time he was one of the few Slovene composers who were introducing expressionist elements into their postromantic idiom. Compositions in the field of chamber music were written in the period between 1929, when, according to hitherto known data, his First String Quartet was written, and 1936. The main problem of Koporc's chamber legacy is the rather small number of compositions that have survived; suffering from a deep mental crisis he destroyed a number of them in the last days of his life. Thus, out of the twelve chamber compositions attested up to today only three remain: Episodes for flute, bassoon and clarinet, Trio for flute, bassoon and piano (only the first movement) and the First String Quartet entitled The Suite. The number of preserved chamber compositions might seem too modest for an adequate stylistic evaluation of Koporc's chamber work. Still, all these compositions, similarly to those destroyed, were written during the same period, that is between 1929 and 1936. As there are no indications of chamber compositions before 1929 (except of one), and if one takes into account the fact that the surviving compositions reflect only light deviations from the postromantic-expressionist stylistic span in regard to the compositional technique, it may be assumed that the destroyed compositions contained characteristics similar to those of the surviving material. A comparison between the technical and expressive qualities of the Episodes for flute, clarinet and bassoon again justifies Koporc's inclusion among those Slovene composers who espoused new, expressionist ways of thinking in chamber music. Coming from postromanticism and writing in a turbid musical language he sought for new horizons. However, based in tradition, he never used new technical elements for the sake of novelty and in his chamber works he never experimented.