 He was the son of Fran and Alojzija Cvetko, both schoolteachers in Vučja Vas, and the older brother of the composer Ciril Cvetko (1920–1999).He studied at the Faculty of Arts at the University of Ljubljana (graduating in 1936) and at the Ljubljana Conservatory (graduating in 1937), and continued his education in composition in Prague.He received his doctorate in 1938 with the dissertation "Problem občega muzikalnega vzgajanja ter izobraževanja" (The Problem of General Music Education).