Collegium Musicum

Collegium Musicum was a Slovak progressive rock and symphonic rock band formed by keyboard virtuoso Marián Varga and bassist Fedor Frešo in Bratislava in late 1969. They are best known for their complex, predominantly instrumental compositions centered around Varga's Hammond organ, lengthy solos, and rock-tinged interpolations of classical works by Rimsky-Korsakov, Dvořák, Stravinsky, Bartók, and others in the Western classical canon. While never achieving mainstream popularity and gaining little exposure outside the Iron Curtain, Collegium Musicum was among the most foundational pillars of the Czechoslovak big-beat scene in the 1970s, drawing frequent comparisons to English progressive rock counterparts Emerson, Lake & Palmer, with Varga himself being labelled the "Slovak Keith Emerson". The group throughout its life featured some of the foremost Slovak rock instrumentalists, who apart from Varga and Frešo included František Griglák, Pavol Hammel, Martin Valihora, and others.

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