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1949
co-founder of the University Dance Orchestra, he collaborated with the Slovak swing ensemble Kolektív, and also with the Ján Siváček Orchestra and Siloš Pohanok Dixieland
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1952
graduated at the Slovak University of Technology, concurrently studied clarinet playing at the School of Music in Bratislava. During his studies he was a member of a number of student ensembles (Tiger Jazz Band, Luňáci, Night Club)
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from 1952
composed dancing songs
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1958 – 1967
profesional musician, arranger and composer in Tatra Cabaret (Tatra Revue), later in Juraj Berczeller’s Orchestra
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from 1967
head of the Light Music Editorial Staff (later Poular Music Editorial Staff) in Czechoslovak Radio in Bratislava; 1984 withdrawn from this function for political reasons; later music editor in the same staff group; 1990 retirement
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1974
won the Golden Bratislava Lyre with the song Zem pamätá (Remembered Land – text by Tibor Grünner, performer Karol Duchoň)
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1976
won the Golden Bratislava Lyre with the song Pár nôt (A Few Notes – text by Ľuboš Zeman, performer Jana Kocianová)
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1991 – 2008
author and dramaturge of the projekt Antológia slovenskej populárnej hudby (Anthology of Slovak Popular Music – Sony Music Bonton Slovakia, Hudobný fond)
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1993 – 2003
co-author of the cycle of programmes Songs from the Record for Slovak Radio, focused on mapping the history of Slovak popular music with contemporary recordings.
Pavol Zelenay was a Slovak musicologist, publicist, composer, and a prominent figure in Slovak popular music. He studied at the Slovak University of Technology and simultaneously took clarinet lessons at the Music School in Bratislava. Even during his student years, he collaborated with the Slovak swing ensemble Kolektív, the Ján Siváček Orchestra, the Siloš Pohanka Dixieland, and several student bands. As a musician, arranger, and composer, he worked in the Tatra Cabaret (Tatra revue) and later in the Juraj Berczeller Orchestra.
He worked in the former Czechoslovak Radio as head of the Entertainment Music Editorial Office and later as a music editor. Alongside editorial work, he focused on the use of computers in music programming. Both professionally and personally, he enriched and inspired lyricist Ľuboš Zeman as well as many of his colleagues at the Bratislava radio.
He composed instrumental and vocal popular music pieces, swing and more sophisticated popular music. He also wrote several stage and film scores, chansons, and works for brass bands. Many of his compositions became hits in the dance and popular music scene. He won the Bratislavská lýra (Bratislava Lyre) twice: in 1974 for the song Zem pamätá (The Earth Remembers) (lyrics by Tibor Grünner, performed by Karol Duchoň), and in 1976 for the song Pár nôt (A Few Notes) (lyrics by Ľuboš Zeman, performed by Jana Kocianová).
Besides his composing, his publication activity is a valuable contribution to Slovak culture, resulting from his systematic and diligent documentary work mapping Slovak popular music. The culmination of his many years of research is the Antológia slovenskej populárnej hudby (Anthology of Slovak Popular Music) (10 CDs, 2000–2007, Music Fund) and the comprehensive scholarly publication Hudba-Tanec-Pieseň (Music-Dance-Song) (in collaboration with L. Šoltýs, Music Centre 2008), covering Slovak popular music from its beginnings to the 1970s. As a co-author, he also prepared a 130-part series of radio broadcasts Pesničky z pamätníka (Songs from the Memoir) (1993–2003) about the history of Slovak popular song.
Pavol Zelenay was chairman and member of the Working Group of Popular Music Authors at the Slovak Composers’ Union. Together with composer Ján Siváček, he contributed to the establishment of the International Festival of Dance Songs (MFTP) Bratislavská lýra (Bratislava Lyre) as an international competitive festival of popular music, held annually in Bratislava. Zelenay served in various functions in this festival for more than 25 years during its entire duration (1966–1989).
He was honored with several significant awards for his work.