Department of Musicology Faculty of Music

International Journal of Music

43 , I/2014 YU ISSN 0354–818X UDC 78:781(05) COBISS. SR-ID 80527367

International Journal of Music 43 Belgrade, I/2014

Publisher: Department of Musicology Faculty of Music Kralja Milana 50, 11000 Belgrade

Editorial Board: Mirjana Veselinović-Hofman Ph.D. (Editor-in-chief) Vesna Mikić Ph.D. (Deputy editor-in-chief) Academician Dejan Despić Dragoslav Dević, Ph.D. Sonja Marinković, Ph.D. Nenad Ostojić, M.A. Ana Kotevska, M.A. Marcel Cobussen Ph.D. (The Netherlands) Pierre Albert Castanet Ph.D. (France) Chris Walton Ph.D. (South Africa/Switzerland) Eduardo R. Miranda Ph.D. (Brazil/UK) Nico Schüler Ph.D. (/USA)

Cover design: Tijana Marinković

Secretary of the Editorial Board: Ivana Ognjanović

Editorial Board and Office: Faculty of Music Kralja Milana 50, 11000 Belgrade E-mail: [email protected] www.newsound.org.rs

The Journal is published semestrally. The Journal is classified in ERIH – European Reference Index for the Humanities CONTENTS

Editor’s Note ...... 5

MUSICOLOGIST SPEAKS Ivana Perković There Are Few Things that I Started and Left Unfinished – An Interview with Roksanda Pejović ...... 7

CORE ISSUE – STEVAN ST. MOKRANJAC AND MUSIC ‘AROUND’ FIRST WORLD WAR Mokranjac, Culture, and Icons ...... 17 Romana Ribić Audio Recordings of Hymns from the Octoechos as Written Down by Stevan Stojanović Mokranjac ...... 22 Euđen Činč Melodic Links Between Serbian and Romanian Orthodox Chant: Examples from Works by Stevan St. Mokranjac and Dimitrie Cusma ...... 37 Biljana Milanović The Discourse of Travelogues About Stevan Mokranjac and The Belgrade Choral Society in the National-Political Context Before the First World War ...... 52 Milica Gajić Czech Music and Musicians as Mokranjac’s Companions on his Path towards the Professionalization of Serbian Music ...... 70 Jelena Arnautović Various ‘Faces’ of Stevan Mokranjac at the Mokranjčevi Dani Festival in the 21st Century ...... 91 Sanela Nikolić The Opera Question in Belgrade as ‘staged’ by Milan Grol ...... 107 Maja Vasiljević A ‘Quiet African Episode’ for the Serbian Army in the Great War: The Band of the Cavalry Division and Dragutin F. Pokorni in North Africa (1916−1918) ...... 123

3 New Sound 43, I/2014

NEW WORKS Branka Popović Svetlana Savić: Soneti “La Douce Nuit”, “Looking on Darkness”, “La vita fugge” ...... 157

ANALYSES Man-Ching Yu Pitch-class Analysis: Some Aspects of IC5 and IC1 Design in György Ligeti’s Piano Études ...... 173

FESTIVALS AND SYMPOSIA Zorica Premate The 22nd International Review of ...... 191 Danka Lajić-Mihajlović The Player, the Instrument, and Music in Society: The 19th Symposium of the ICTM Study Group on Folk Musical Instruments ...... 195

REVIEWS Tilman Seebass Roksanda Pejović, Musical Instruments in Medieval ...... 199 Ivana Miladinović Prica The Construction Site Ensemble for New Music: CD “4” ...... 202

DEFENDED THESES Bogdan Đaković Functional and Stylistic-aesthetic Elements in Serbian Sacred Choral Music of the First Half of the 20th Century ...... 207

Contributors to this Issue ...... 211

4 EDITOR’S NOTE

In 2014, both issues of the New Sound International Journal of Music (Nos. 43 and 44) are dedicated to problems of music / musical creativity / musical life / musical culture… under the socio-historical, ideological-political, artistic and philosophical-aesthetical conditions in European countries and Serbia during / regarding / ‘around’ the First World War. In that context, we devote special attention to Stevan Stojanović Mokranjac (1856–1914), Serbian and author of a genuinely based stylistic and methodological-theoretical system and artistic ‘sound-map’ in approaching folk music. Although both issues contain contributions marking both centenaries, No. 43 is nevertheless mostly focused on Mokranjac’s work and No. 44 on Serbian and European music of / ‘around’ the Great War. Also, the thematic section related to European music in No. 44 is guest-edited by Dario Martinelli, musi- cologist and professor at Kaunas University of Technology, Lithuania, who has collaborated over the past few years with the Department of Musicology under the auspices of the Tempus Programme. The thematic areas of Nos. 43 and 44 were preceded, as a sort of theo- retical prequel, by the core issue of the New Sound No. 42, “Music – Politics – Language”. Interpretation of this topic from different angles – musicological and philosophical-aesthetical – was designed to establish a broader context for analysing the aforementioned range of issues, related directly or indirectly to the artistic and political ‘vibrations’ of a historically complex, creatively rather restless, innovative, artistically densely ‘punctuated’, and richly layered period in the development of art music during the first few decades of the 20th century. Therefore today, a century later, the year 1914, which in many ways symbolizes that period, is a strong incentive for scholarly ‘recollections’, reassessments, and new research, the kind of which will also be recognized on the pages of this year’s issues of the New Sound. M. V. H.

5 New Sound 43, I/2014

6 Perković, I.: There Are Few Things that I Started and Left Unfinished (7–16) MUSICOLOGIST SPEAKS

Article received on 14th Jun 2014 Article accepted on 25th Jun 2014 UDC: 78.072:929 Пејовић Р.(047.53) Ivana Perković* University of Arts in Belgrade Faculty of Music Department of Musicology

THERE ARE FEW THINGS THAT I STARTED AND LEFT UNFINISHED

An Interview with Roksanda Pejović

A legendary figure not only in Ser- bian musicology but on a much broader scale, Roksanda Pejović celebrates her 85th birthday this year. Now, after almost six decades of a dedicated pursuit of mu- sicology, we are talking to her about her perceptions of her education, key figures in her professional life, her career, schol- arly work, as well as some personal ques- tions. Her tirelessness in studying the mu- sical past and publishing her research re- sults is perhaps best illustrated by the fact that over the last ten years alone, Pejović published as many as ten books. The top- ics of her research range from the general history of music, via the iconography of musical instruments from medieval Serbia (both in Serbian and English), Serbian music performance in the interwar period, to writing on Serbian music,

7 New Sound 43, I/2014 mainly from the second half of the 20th century.1 Incidentally, the musicologi- cal oeuvre of Roksanda Pejović – which (thus far, given that two more editions are being prepared for printing!) includes 34 books, hundreds of articles, an abundance of encyclopaedic entries in Die Musik in Geschichte und Gegenwart (MGG), The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians, Muzička encik- lopedija Jugoslavenskog leksikografskog zavoda [The Music Encyclopaedia of the Yugoslav Institute of Lexicography], Leksikon Jugoslavenske muzike [Lexi- con of Yugoslav Music], and many other texts – is one of the richest personal bibliographies in Serbian music studies. Impressive even on an international scale, it vividly and graphically attests to her persistent and dedicated efforts at perceiving Serbian music historiography from various angles, constantly sup- plementing the available knowledge base with new or, at least, broader entries, all for the purpose of presenting the problems as thoroughly as possible. By reading ‘between the lines’, we find out a lot about the author as well: she is a music writer prone to broad historical strokes, with ample knowledge in various fields and a propensity to present large quantities of studiously collected infor- mation, a scholar who gladly presents her own conclusions, polemicizes and de- bates, but is also not reluctant to review her own viewpoints; in the voluminous appendices of her books, in the form of various summaries, tables and chrono- logical tables, the reader will easily find copious amounts of information, while her simple and popular language, often condensed to the utmost, attests to her desire to be communicative. Several subjects have continually crossed paths in Roksanda Pejović’s mu- sicological work: music iconography, especially concerning Serbian medieval heritage and, in a broader sense, that of the Byzantine area as a whole, is a ‘natural’ field of interest for someone who was educated not only as a histo- rian of music, but also of art (she received her degree in art history in 1954, with the thesis “Problemi istorije umetnosti 18. veka” [“Problems in the History of 18th-century Art”]). This conjunction resulted in her doctoral thesis, “Pred- stave muzičkih instrumenata u srednjovekovnoj Srbiji” [“Depictions of Musi- cal Instruments in Medieval Serbia”], defended in 1984 at the Faculty of Arts in Ljubljana, Slovenia. Next, she has written extensively on topics related to music criticism and writing about music; her continual interest in this area was first manifested in her MA thesis “Muzička kritika i esejistika između dva rata” [“Music Criticism and Essay-writing in the Interwar Period”], defended at the Music Academy in Belgrade in 1963. The topics in music criticism and writing

1 Complete bibliography can be found in Roksanda Pejović’s latest volume, under the title Biografija i bibliografija [Biography and Bibliography], Belgrade, publisher unknown, 2013.

8 Perković, I.: There Are Few Things that I Started and Left Unfinished (7–16) on music have been inextricably linked with those related to music performance. Bounded – though not limited – by this framework, Pejović’s richly diversified musicological profile promotes curiosity, perseverance, breadth of insight, and methodological consistency. Like many academics around the world, Pejović put her scholarship work before teaching. However, although she does not define teaching as her most important professional engagement, she has dedicated almost all of her career to this vocation. If we leave aside a one-year stint at the Jugokoncert agency (1956) as a correspondence officer, Pejović worked as an educator for almost 40 years – first at the Stanković Secondary Music School (1957–1975) and then at the Faculty of Music (as an assistant professor, associate professor, and full professor, 1975–1995). Upon retirement, she did not sever her ties with educa- tion: for several years she was engaged in graduate and postgraduate studies, as well as a supervisor for BA, MA, and PhD theses. Even today she accepts every invitation to communicate her experiences in research in certain fields directly to students. Her work at the Stanković School was marked by both peculiar as well as some typical qualities of secondary education. The former included the unbal- anced age of her pupils (at a certain point, her courses were simultaneously attended by pupils as diverse as young talented children and cadets of the Mili- tary Academy, future bandsmen). The latter included the students’ incompre- hension of the basic postulates of the course, as well as disinterest and lack of motivation, due to the conviction that music history is a course of secondary importance. Pejović dealt with all of this in ‘her own’ way: always looking for original and new solutions. She adjusted her criteria to the capabilities and age of her students, whatever those were, and adjusted the type and scope of the requirements. In her work with university students of musicology, she adhered to the fol- lowing methods: they were required to give a lecture on a certain subject based on the available literature, familiarize themselves with particular compositions by listening and analysing them, while certain important areas (or those that the students insisted upon) were covered as one-semester courses. She changed her courses every year and no course was ever repeated. Upon completing a course, the students would prepare summaries and texts on the topic of the course and these materials were left available for the following generations. We should also mention Pejović’s activity in supervising BA, MA, and PhD theses. This came relatively late for her, and only in the domain of the national history of music. Most of these papers have dealt with 19th-century music and music performance.

9 New Sound 43, I/2014

When talking to someone as devoted to their work as you are, questions regard- ing the beginnings are unavoidable. So, why did you decide to study musicology (or the history of music, at the time)? Did you, in a certain way, anticipate or perhaps know that this would be your lifetime commitment? I did not know it, at all. We had no idea what musicology was and I enrolled only to prevent the newly formed department from being shut down at the very beginning. I had graduated the piano at a secondary music school and began studying art history. I wanted to do a favour for my friends from the history of music, namely Dimitrije Stefanović and Miloš Velimirović, and therefore I de- cided to take the entrance exam and enrol at the music history department. Only later did I realize that I had no sufficient command of harmony or counterpoint, and so I had to take private lessons.

Can you perhaps remember what the entrance examination was like at the time? There was a written and oral part. I also remember that Stanojlo Rajičić was on the examination board.

What was your previous music education? Do you remember your teachers from your primary and secondary music schools, and what was music education like back then? I finished my primary music education in Aranđelovac, under Nazi occupa- tion. The knowledge we acquired was modest, the times were difficult, so later I worked very hard to make up for all that was lost. I know that one had to pay to get an education in music and that every good pupil eventually quit music. I remember that Borislav Pašćan was among my teachers, that Ljubica Marić was among my teachers, almost nobody could understand her, and there were also some old Russian teachers. I took piano lessons with Nina Rendle, who was close to retirement and could not hear a thing any longer. She said that she could not correct every single mistake of mine. Later I moved to the Secondary Music School at the Music Academy, because my aunt had found out that the teachers were better there. And that is how I ended up with profes- sor Milka Đaja. I took courses in music analysis from Dušan Skovran there, we were all delighted, and this was something far more serious. I remember quite clearly that Emil Hajek told me that I could take the en- trance exam if I wanted to study the piano. However, my aunt and my mother thought that I should have won at least five prizes to take this exam. And so I quit the piano, enrolled in art history, met Dimitrije and Miško, and moved to the history of music because of them. That is the gist of it.

10 Perković, I.: There Are Few Things that I Started and Left Unfinished (7–16)

What was the programme like at the time? Who were your teachers, how did they teach, who were your classmates? Can you tell us more about that? Apart from Dimitrije Stefanović and Miško Velimirović, there was Vera Raičević. Đura Jakšić also made appearances, I remember that. Yes, I also re- member Olga Janković, who had Beethoven’s sonatas at her fingertips. That left us quite impressed. Regarding the programme, Nikola Hercigonja taught the general history of music and Stana Đurić-Klajn taught the national history of music. Stana Đurić- Klajn was a great authority for us: she was a great speaker and that was interest- ing, a lot of history and not too much analysis. But we loved her. At least I did. She had finished her specialist studies of the piano in and along the way acquired a great knowledge of music history and culture in general. She was a very sophisticated woman and had a vast knowledge. She was one of those extraordinary examples of interwar upbringing and education and my mother and aunt were similarly sophisticated.

Were you perhaps attracted by the fact that you recognized in Stana Đurić- Klajn a social and cultural milieu which was familiar and close to you? She was my role model because she was able to answer every question we asked her. Those were probably not very tricky questions, but she had what we lacked, because after all, we were ‘children of the occupation’. We were very happy with the way she was able to demonstrate her knowledge and illustrate on the piano everything she talked about. Only later did I realize that in fact, she could do a lot more than what she showed us in those short excerpts. Hercigonja really wanted to make a coup with us. He put in a lot of effort. I was confused by the way he taught; he knew certain things brilliantly, it was apparent that he was a composer, that it was his ‘thing’, that he understood and felt it, but we listened to Beethoven’s symphonies and nothing else for a whole year. On the other hand, one year he only taught Hindemith. In our first year, the whole year, if I am not mistaken, we only studied prehistoric music. That was presumably a way of teaching us how to work individually. Ev- erything was very well conceived, but that was not the right way. At the time, I was studying art history, not thinking about what I would do in the future, and I learned only what was required of me. Of course, I always got the highest marks at Hercigonja’s exams – that was not difficult – but large portions of the general history of music were left uncovered at the university. When afterwards I started working at a secondary music school, it was a living hell: I had to learn by myself all that my university courses had left out, with no lectures, with no consultations, without any suggestions as to how to do it exactly.

11 New Sound 43, I/2014

A note on learning languages: when I came to the university, i.e. to the Academy, they had an old teacher who had graduated German in some Ger- man city and taught from the most difficult German books on music. I had never been bad at foreign languages – I spoke French and English, and I had German in secondary school during the occupation; in fact, I did ask to have English, but there was no other choice and I had to learn German. Therefore, I had to annotate every sentence with the meaning of every word – there was a lot of sentences where I did not know a single word! – and took private lessons, eventually becoming able to read German literature on music. My command of foreign languages ends about there. I even taught myself Italian, which is not difficult if you speak French. So, there you go: French, English, German, Ital- ian, and Russian (everybody had to learn Russian at the time and everybody at the Girls’ High School had to hold a class in Russian; I think that mine was on Herzen).

How would you describe your ‘baptism of fire’ in teaching? What were your main challenges when you started teaching music history and music apprecia- tion at the Stanković Music School?

I was lonely at Stanković, I was lonely quite often in general. I had prob- lems both in preparing my classes and relating to my colleagues: I was the only history teacher and I realized that if I were rigorous – that was it, the students would not learn a thing. If I gave them bad marks, the teachers’ assembly would bump them up. It was difficult to organize a class when I had in front of me a singer, who had already graduated from the Academy, and next to him a violin- ist who was, say, twelve years old. What could I do? I tried to devise something that would be acceptable to almost everyone, to quiz them often, even outside the classes, and to divide the coursework into several smaller parts, to make it easier for them and to maintain a certain professional integrity. To this day, I get laughed at when I say that I wrote a textbook only because the headmaster of the Stanković Music School told me to. But that is what re- ally happened. I taught myself everything, right from the beginning. Really, I started writing, and learned in the process. I borrowed books on contemporary music from Dušan Skovran and Branko Dragutinović, from Skovran in English, and from Branko Dragutinović in German. Slowly but surely, my little booklets started coming out. I took pains to get them published – and everything else after them – and then I ventured to sort out all of that and publish it in two volumes. At the time, it was an excellent book; it even received some international award for layout and design, as they say today. I am extremely proud of the fact that my reviewers were Vlastimir

12 Perković, I.: There Are Few Things that I Started and Left Unfinished (7–16)

Peričić, Branko Dragutinović, and Stana Đurić-Klajn. Such a book cannot have a single error. In everything that came later, especially after Vlastimir Peričić’s death, some errors must have crept into that. At first, errors annoyed me very much, they could haunt me even for a year, and later, with every new book, this ‘time of aggravation’ grew shorter.

Could you tell us more about working at the Faculty? What principles guided you in your work with students? Was there any interaction between the teaching and scholarly aspects of your career? I approached teaching as something natural, something that accompanied what was principal for me, and that was my scholarly work. I am a conversation- alist, who want students to participate, who wants to find out the solutions to- gether with her students. You probably remember it, too, me often saying “what was that, I can’t remember…” It is an approach completely different from those colleagues who stand up before the audience to show that they know everything and would never admit to being wrong. I never fought for students, term papers, BA or MA theses, but that does not mean that I did not help everyone who asked me. I have always helped ev- eryone as much as I could. But I was not the one to assist the less capable ones, only to improve their marks. If I am working on something, then I have to do it properly, all the way. There are few things that I started and left unfinished. There, that is my attitude towards work, both in education and research.

How did you choose the topics of your scholarly work? Well, I had some direction there. With Stana Đurić-Klajn, I could deal with performance and criticism. She worked in history, but also in all other subjects to an extent. In fact, she managed to outline everything, to leave a mark on everything… I believe that one day, when (and if) the archives are thoroughly researched, something else will crop up and my writings will be, let us say, sup- plemented. At any rate, what Stana Đurić-Klajn had begun with the 19th century and the interwar period, I continued to develop. Later I would supplement my ob- jects of study with other topics, bit by bit. Therefore, my main fields are criti- cism, articles, books, and performance. Of course, I could not make it without compositions, but they were not a priority.

So, Stana Đurić-Klajn directed you towards the topics related to writing about music and music performance. How did you come to the other major field of

13 New Sound 43, I/2014 your research, depictions of musical instruments on medieval Serbian monu- ments?

It was Dragotin Cvetko. I was still working at the secondary school, doing some things for the Composers’ Association, some analyses by ear (that was in- teresting, no scores). I met Cvetko at the Association, I was pregnant then, and he told me about what Primož Kuret and Koraljka Kos had done in Slovenia and Croatia. I was afraid that I could not do it, there were monasteries to visit, a lot of travelling, I got scared. Cvetko told me that he believed in me and that I should write a thesis summary. I already had a few articles, mostly for excellent international conferences on art history, held in Macedonia, and so I did have some writings on instruments. As a research topic in art history at the time, the middle ages were ‘fashionable’. I was lucky… and anyway, I had a lot of luck in my scholarly work. The Library of the National Museum was in disorder, and a friend of mine was working there. When I had time, I would come to the Library and peruse the books one by one, looking for pictures depicting musical instruments. That is what scholarship was like at the time! After about a year, I compiled the litera- ture, and a bit later wrote the thesis. Cvetko had only one objection, regarding the order of the sections, but told me, “I am counting on you, I know nothing about it”. That was fair of him, I liked it.

Which books do you like in particular? Are there any books or articles from your oeuvre that you would like to highlight in particular and why?

Regarding books, my main criterion is their usefulness to me. And use- ful are Stana Đurić-Klajn’s articles in the ‘Three-Headed History’2 and Muzički stvaraoci [Music Creators] by Vlastimir Peričić. As for my own things: our joint History, the one we wrote together.3 It contains a lot of information. And what I also like: music criticism between the two wars.4 I also like, and I do not know why, Dragutin Gostuški and Pavle Stefanović, when they are both in the

2 Josip Andreis, Dragotin Cvetko, and Stana Đurić-Klajn, Historijski razvoj muzičke kulture u Jugoslaviji [Historical Development of Musical Culture in Yugoslavia], Zagreb, Školska knjiga, 1962. 3 Roksanda Pejović et al., Srpska muzika od naseljavanja slovenskih plemena na Balkansko poluostrvo do kraja XVIII veka [Serbian Music from the Settling of the Slavonic Tribes in the Balkan Peninsula to the End of the 18th Century], Belgrade, Univerzitet umetnosti, 1998. 4 Roksanda Pejović, Muzička kritika i esejistika u Beogradu (1919–1941) [Music Criticism and Essay-writing in Belgrade (1919–1941)], Belgrade, Fakultet muzičke umetnosti, 1999.

14 Perković, I.: There Are Few Things that I Started and Left Unfinished (7–16) same volume.5 That is about it, nothing else. In other words, what can help me quickly and what I am certain is good. In a way, every new book is better than the previous one, because my knowledge improves and I make more comparisons. Things I have done before, e.g. criticism and performance, when I sit down to work – it practically writes itself, I barely consult the literature, but when I am doing something new, it takes a lot of time. I do not know how to do it, I try it one way – it does not work, then another – wrong again, and again… it takes a lot of effort to come up with the right way. Late in my life I came to this, too: why do we always castigate ourselves as ‘underdeveloped’ and treat ourselves with condescension? There is only one Beethoven, there is only one Mozart, the rest – they are more or less the same as here. Mokranjac, for example – he is tremendously valuable, he is the pinnacle of the Balkans for sure, perhaps even of Europe!

If now you could change anything in your career, what would it be? I would not have worked at the Faculty at all. I would have worked at the secondary school, I would have retired, read nice books, walked around town, and attended concerts.

This means that you would not have got involved in scholarly work? Yes. And I would not have regretted it. Even now, I have no idea what Ada Ciganlija looks like, or the Nebojša Tower, or many other things, as if I were living in a foreign city.*

What would be your ‘recipe’ for success, except work? Persistence in completing one’s education, the right circumstances, pro- fessionalism in work, honesty, availability of information, striving to approach matters creatively (not everyone can do that), coherence, and clear articulation. One should always complete one’s work. If I had the right material conditions,

5 Roksanda Pejović, Muzičari-pisci u beogradskom muzičkom životu druge polovine 20. veka. Kompleksno posmatranje muzike: Pavle Stefanović. Dragutin Gostuški [Musician- Writers in the Music Life of Belgrade during the Second Half of the 20th Century. A Complex Approach to Music: Pavle Stefanović. Dragutin Gostuški], Belgrade, Fakultet muzičke umetnosti, Katedra za muzikologiju, 2012. * Ada Ciganlija is a popular island on the river in Belgrade. Nebojša Tower is a famous tower of the . (Translator’s note)

15 New Sound 43, I/2014

I would come up with the same solutions as Curt Sachs! And not only I, but everyone else who does things the right way. Life circumstances, that is very important. One needs ample time to do work. How could I work now if my grandchildren were around every day? If my husband had been a different person, I could never have done so much work. You cannot achieve everything in life, you cannot have it all… you have to give up something. If you try a bit of everything, eventually you go to pieces. So I chose this, without occupying high positions, without being a boss, without or- ganizing conferences… no, I had no time because of my work. And how it will be evaluated, I do not know. We will see. Translated by Goran Kapetanović

16 CORE ISSUE – STEVAN ST. MOKRANJAC AND MUSIC ‘AROUND’ FIRST WORLD WAR

Article received on 25th Jun 2014 Article accepted on 28th Jun 2014 UDC: 78.071.1:929 Мокрањац Стојановић С. Ivan Moody* University of Eastern Finland Department of Orthodox Theology

MOKRANJAC, CULTURE, AND ICONS

Abstract: The 100th anniversary of Mokranjac’s death provides an opportunity to consider his work from the perspective of a “cultural icon”, insofar as his music and the composer himself have gained such an iconic status in the context of Serbian music. His output in ethnography and composition alike has not only itself become an “icon”, but also paved the way for younger composers. Key words: Mokranjac, icon, Serbian chant, Octoechos, Marić

The 100th anniversary of the death of Stevan Stojanović Mokranjac (1856– 1914) will doubtless provide many opportunities for celebratory evaluations of his importance in Serbian musical culture. Today, an outsider to the Serbian context may find striking not only the reverence that the composer still com- mands in Serbia (his status may be called “iconic”: he is described as both “the Serbian Beethoven” and “Serbian Palestrina”), but also his own reverence for his country’s musical past. He seems like a colossus, straddling and surveying from his Olympic heights the lengthy process of the modernization of Serbian music. Emblematic of Mokranjac’s reverential attitude to the past in musical terms was the monumental concert he proposed for the 15th anniversary of the founding of the Belgrade Choral Society (Београдско певачко друштво / Beo gradsko pevačko društvo) on 25 May 1903, itself an “icon” in Serbian

* Author contact information: [email protected]

17 New Sound 43, I/2014 cultural history, a pioneering attempt at a renewal of Serbian musical culture. The concert was planned as a “history of Serbian song”, beginning with an epic song – Смрт мајке Југовића / Smrt majke Jugovića (The Death of the Jugović Mother), with accompaniment – and then proceeding chrono- logically, to arrangements of 16th-century songs and folk songs, examples of choral songs that Mokranjac labelled as composed under “foreign” influence (by Nikola Đurković [1812–1875] and Atanasije Nikolić [1803–1882]), to na- tionalist works by Kornelije Stanković (1831–1865), Aksentije Maksimović (1844–1873), and Mita Topalović (1849–1912), works by foreign composers on Serbian themes, music by younger composers, and finally Mokranjac’s own Peta Rukovet (Garland No. 5) from 1892. The importance of the 15 Rukoveti is too familiar, even outside Serbia, to require further comment here, but I believe that examining a little further the historical and cultural context of Mokranjac’s work in church music is a worthwhile undertaking in this centenary year, pre- cisely in light of current controversies about what precisely church music is or should be and the doubly iconic status of Mokranjac’s contributions to both sacred and folk Serbian music.1 One may broadly divide the liturgical works of Mokranjac into three cat- egories: artistic arrangements of Serbian chant, simple arrangements for regular liturgical use, and original compositions, such as the remarkable Opelo of 1888.2 However, the liturgical music of his successors is much more difficult to clas- sify. In truth, Mokranjac was able to effect his quiet revolution because he was simultaneously interested in the idea of Serbian liturgical tradition3 and the wider (though hardly modernist) musical environment to which he was exposed by his studies with Rheinberger in , Parisotti in , and Reinecke in Leip- zig. Of course, he was neither the first nor the last Serbian composer to study abroad, but his processing of what he had learnt in his studies and its application

1 Mokranjac’s contribution as a melographer and ethnographer is covered in detail in Drag- oslav Dević, “Стеван Стојановић Мокрањац – мелограф и етномузиколог” (“Stevan Stojanović Mokranjac – a Melographer and Ethnomusicologist”), New Sound, 2006, 28, 17–38, available at http://scindeks-clanci.ceon.rs/data/pdf/0354-818X/2006/0354-818X062 8017D.pdf#search=”mokranjac”, and in Ivana Perković, Muzika srpskog Osmoglasnika (The Music of the Serbian Octoechos), Belgrade, Fakultet muzičke umetnosti, 2004. 2 These categories are itemized in Bogdan Djaković, “Serbian Orthodox Choral Music in the First Half of the 20th Century”, in: Ivan Moody and Maria Takala-Roszczenko (eds.), The Traditions of Orthodox Music: Proceedings of the First International Conference on Orthodox Church Music, Joensuu, University of Joensuu/ISOCM, 2007, 174. 3 As his enormously influential Osmoglasnik proves in particular (Стеван Ст. Мокрањац (Stevan St. Mokranjac), Осмогласник, Belgrade, Српска православна црква, 1997 [fourth edition]); this publication is discussed further below.

18 Moody, I.: Mokranjac, Culture, and Icons (17–21) to Serbian Orthodox chant, or pojanje, as an aspect of Serbian cultural herit- age, was unique. As Bogdan Đaković put it, Mokranjac retained “the original spirit of the chant while placing it, aesthetically speaking, within new musical surroundings”.4 I have written elsewhere about the unique fusion of Western harmonic think- ing and the characteristic modal melos of Serbian chant in Mokranjac’s work,5 audible in his harmonizations of Serbian chant, for example, his collection of music for the Beatitudes, troparia, kontakia, and prokeimena: no other Serbian composer has achieved such a feat. While Stanković is a comparable figure as a transcriber, his liturgical settings stop well short of Mokranjac’s search for a coherent artistic language looking both inwards, to traditional Serbian culture, and outwards, to the modernist West. Mokranjac was able to reconcile the specific melodic (that is to say modal) language of Serbian chant with the harmonic techniques he had learnt abroad, preserving the melodic idiosyncracies (from a Western point of view) of Serbian Orthodox chant and yet setting them within a harmonic frame that was, whilst certainly not exploratory, at least firmly derived from, and entrenched within, Western idioms. As a transcriber and melographer, Mokranjac was obviously preserving a cultural and spiritual “icon” in the form of Serbian Orthodox chant, something that was not necessary for composers from other countries, who in other respects offer parallels, notably Dobri Hristov (1875–1941) and Petar Dinev (1889–1980) from Bulgaria and Ioan Chirescu (1889–1980) and Nicolae Lungu (1900–1993), amongst others, from Romania. Such a conscious act of recording and preserva- tion was unnecessary because these musical cultures had retained the continuity of the Byzantine chant tradition; whether they chose to work with this polyphon- ically, as Dinev and Lungu did, or were more inclined toward a Russian-derived style, either way there was no need to recover a lost tradition. The enormous lacuna in the written history of Serbian church music meant that the creation and flourishing of polyphonic church music required that a written tradition be re-established, though Mokranjac did not, of course, quite accurately transcribe what he heard, as he was the first to recognize.6 Such tech-

4 Djaković, op. cit., 173. 5 See Ivan Moody, “Integration and Disintegration: Serbian Monophony in a Polyphonic Context”, Muzikologija, 2011, 11, 147–158 and “Interactions between Tradition and Modern- ism in Serbian Church Music of the 20th Century”, Muzikološki Zbornik, 2011, 47, 217–224. 6 See Mokranjac’s comments in Коста Манојловић (Kosta Manojlović), Споменица Стевану Ст. Мокрањцу (In Memory of Stevan St. Mokranjac), Belgrade, Државна штампарија, 1923; re-edition: , 1988; Војислав Илић (Vojislav Ilić), Foreword to

19 New Sound 43, I/2014 niques still lay in the future, part of the ethnomusicologist’s toolbox. While one may lament the lack of technical sophistication in the structure of the Serbian Octoechos,7 it nevertheless constitutes both a record of a living tradition and a basis for the continuation of that tradition; transcribing melodies from oral tradition and including a substantial number of variants, Mokranjac provided something that was absolutely essential to the survival of Serbian church music. Mokranjac himself was quite explicit about his methods in his introduction to the Octoechos:

I have put this Octoechos … together with the whole of our Serbian Church chant into notation in accordance with the way it was sung by that excellent singer and expert in our church chant, Mr Jovan Kostić. I took down a good part of the chant for Feasts from the singing of Archimandrite Arsenije Branković. The author then acknowledges further singers who assisted him and ob- serves that “these also have sung for me many hymns chosen at my request, for me to be able to compare various ways of singing them, and choose those that are the most frequently used and the best”.8 While later composers such as Petar Konjović (1883–1970), Miloje Mi- lojević (1884–1946), and Stevan Hristić (1885–1958) certainly built upon the research and compositional activity of Mokranjac (and Stanković) in many ways, still interested in continuing the Serbian church tradition within a broadly modernist context, they pursued, as one might expect, different aesthetic direc- tions. Mokranjac’s achievement, that of a composer of “art music” who was also profoundly and creatively interested in the sacred and folk traditions of Serbia, itself became a monument, a cultural “icon”, in the sense that an icon may have a very strong meaning outside strictly religious contexts; the popular “canoniza- tion” of composers and artists in general working in the liturgical sphere creates a secondary level of the concept of icon. Icons themselves may indeed become icons in another sense, as the double status (spiritual and national) of the 13th- century “White Angel” fresco from the Monastery of Mileševa shows. The fact that he was a pioneer in this contributed to the consolidation of his status: by the time later composers became interested in composing liturgical music, the

Стеван Стојановић Мокрањац: Духовна Музика III, Vol. 6, Belgrade, Завод за уџбенике и наставна средства, 1996, and Ivan Moody, op. cit., 148–149. 7 See, for example, Vesna Peno’s detailed discussion in “Great Chant in Serbian Tradition: On the Examples of the Melody It is truly meet”, Зборник Матице српске за сценске уметности и музику, 2009, 40, 19–38. 8 Стеван Стојановић Мокрањац (Stevan Stojanović Mokranjac), Духовна музика IV: Осмогласник (Sacred Music IV: Octoechos), Belgrade, Завод за уџбенике и наставна средства, 1996, 3.

20 Moody, I.: Mokranjac, Culture, and Icons (17–21) main corpus of chant had been collected, transcribed, and published, which means that it was a readily available resource, rather than requiring additionал ethnographical research. Mokranjac’s Osmoglasnik itself became more literally an “icon” in the work of Ljubica Marić (1909–2003).9 In compositions such as her Byzantine Concerto (1959) or Ostinato super thema octoicha (1963), as their titles suggest, there is clearly conscious use of the Octoechos as a symbolic element, which may be construed as an aural analogue of an icon.10 The power of that icon is thus reaf- firmed and retransmitted, and, as the title of the Concerto indicates, placed in direct lineage to Byzantine culture, but completely outside any liturgical frame of reference. As Jim Samson has observed: “The appeal of the Octoechos was less to do with religion than with collectivity, with the quest for deep communal structures that might be re-activated for our own times”.11 It is also true that Marić herself has become something of a cultural “icon”, a brave emblem of Serbian engagement with the ideas of the avant-garde, retaining the iconicity of Serbian spiritual tradition in her use of the Octoechos As Danica Petrović has noted: “This approach of Marić’s brought about a completely new branch of contemporary Serbian music, and influenced a whole group of Serbian composers of the younger generation to go also to the roots of our preserved musical heritage”.12 It seems entirely appropriate that, as a composer of concert music standing apart from the Church, Marić thus re-enshrined the extraordinary achievements of her illustrious predecessor and reconfigured them for a different world.

9 Ivana Perković has discussed in detail Marić’s use of the Octoechos in “Шта је то у српском црквеном појању инспирисало Љубицу Марић?” (What Was It about Serbian Orthodox Chant that Inspired Ljubica Marić?), in: Dejan Despić and Melita Milin (eds.), Spaces of Modernism: Ljubica Marić in Context, Belgrade, SANU, 2010, 331–344. 10 For a more detailed discussion of this aspect of Marić’s work, see Ivan Moody, “Re-in- venting the Icon: Approaches to the Sacred in the Music of Sofia Gubaidulina, Ljubica Marić and Ivan Spassov”, in: Валерија Каначки (Valerija Kanački) and Сања Пајић (Sanja Pajić), Српски језик, књижевност, уметност: зборник радова са VI међународног научног скупа одржаног на Филолошко-уметничком факултету у Крагујевцу (28–29.X.2011) (, Literature, Art: Conference Proceedings from the Sixth International Symposium held at the Faculty of Philology and Art in Kragujevac, 28–29 October 2011), Kragujevac, Filološko-umetnički fakultet, 2012, 51–59. 11 Jim Samson, Music in the Balkans, Leiden, Brill, 2013, 478. 12 Danica Petrović, “The Octoechos in Serbian Chant and in the Melographic Works of Ste- van St, Mokranjac”, in: Стеван Стојановић Мокрањац, Духовна музика IV: Осмогласник, op. cit., 1996, xv.

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Article received on 4th Jun 2014 Article accepted on 18th Jun 2014 UDC: 783.65.089.8 78.071.1:929 Мокрањац Стојановић С.

Romana Ribić* Musicologist and Senior Librarian Faculty of Music in Belgrade

AUDIO RECORDINGS OF HYMNS FROM THE OCTOECHOS AS WRITTEN DOWN BY STEVAN STOJANOVIĆ MOKRANJAC

Abstract: This paper presents three different audio recordings of hymns from the Octoe- chos as written down by Stevan Stojanović Mokranjac (1856–1914). The recordings were made in a studio. Two of the recordings feature selections of hymns by the performers, while the third recording contains an integral version of the collection. Key words: Stevan Stojanović Mokranjac, Octoechos, church chant, hymns, audio re- cordings, interpretation

Octoechos is a Christian Orthodox liturgical book, a collection of hymns dedicated to Christ’s resurrection, and it is an essential part of worship. It is organized according to the system of eight church tones (four authentic and four plagal), so that each week, only one tone is used. A full cycle of eight tones, i.e. eight weeks, is called a chart (stolp); it begins on the first Sunday after the Pente- cost and keeps going until Lazarus Saturday. The hymns are sung in cycles over the course of a church year, in weekly Easter services: on Saturdays at Small and Great Vespers, and on Sundays at Orthros, and the Divine Liturgy. The texts are attributed to St. John of Damascus (ca. 675 – 754), a Byzantine theologian, philosopher, and poet. The musical-poetical patterns of St. John’s hymns have served as a standard for writing other hymns in the liturgical repertoire.1

* Author contact information: [email protected] 1 For basic information on the eight-tone system, see: Danica Petrović, “Osmoglasje i Os- moglasnik u vizantijskoj i srpskoj muzičkoj tradiciji” [“The Eight-tone System and Oc- toechos in Byzantine and Serbian Music Tradition”], in: Zbornik Matice srpske za scenske

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Given that Byzantine neumatic system, familiar only to a small number of clergymen, was used for notating Serbian church chant in the Middle Ages – sporadically even until the 18th century – the craft was handed down mostly through oral tradition until the second half of the 19th century. Under Metro- politan Stefan Stratimirović, more recent Serbian church chant – based on the foundations of the old Serbian chant tradition but under Russian and Greek in- fluences and limited to the territory of the Archbishopric of Karlovci as so- called Karlovci Chant – was written down using modern notation.2 A great number of priests, teachers, and students of the Karlovci Semi- nary, the Teachers’ School in Sombor, the Great Serbian Grammar School in , as well as in Sarajevo, Pakrac, Osijek, and Sombor, were engaged in writing down Serbian folk church chant in the late 1800s and early 1900s. The chant was taught thanks to good cantors who became teachers at the Karlovci Seminary and other institutions of theological education, as well as in secular schools. Chanting was subsequently handed down through oral tradition, but it was still taught using sheet music. These written documents were printed or multiplied and met the daily practical needs of the students. Before, during, and after Mokranjac, the hymns of the Octoechos were written down by Gavr- ilo Boljarić and Nikola Tajšanović (1891), Branko Cvejić (1905, 1920, 1941), Nenad Barački (1923), Božidar Joksimović (1924), Jovan Kozobarić (1935), Lazar Lera,3 Stefan Lastavica (1955), Damaskin Grdanički (1972), as well as umetnosti i muziku [The Matica Srpska Journal of Stage Arts and Music], Novi Sad, Matica srpska, 1987, 1, 11–17; “Osmoglasnik u srpskom pojanju i melografskom radu Stevana St. Mokranjca” [“Octoechos in Serbian Chant and the Transcribing Work of Stevan St. Mokran- jac”], in: Danica Petrović (ed.), Stevan Stojanović Mokranjac, Duhovna muzika IV, Osmo- glasnik [Stevan Stojanović Mokranjac, Sacred Works IV, Octoechos], Complete Works, Vol. 7, 4th edition, Belgrade and Knjaževac, Zavod za udžbenike i nastavna sredstva and Muzičko izdavačko preduzeće “Nota”, 1996, XV–XXXIV; Vesna Peno, “Sličnosti među glasovima srpskog osmoglasnog pojanja – prilog analitičkom proučavanju crkvenog pojanja” [“Simi- larities between the Tones of Serbian Eight-tone Chant – toward an Analytical Research of Church Chant”], in: Zbornik Matice srpske za scenske umetnosti i kulturu, Novi Sad, Matica srpska, 1998, 22–23, 67–77. 2 Danica Petrović, “Srpsko narodno crkveno pojanje i njegovi zapisivači” [“Serbian Folk Church Chant and its Transcribers”], in: Srpska muzika kroz vekove [Serbian Music down the Centuries], Belgrade, Galerija SANU (offprint), vol. 22, SANU, 1973, 257–258. 3 Lazar Lera devoted all his life to collecting and transcribing Serbian folk church chant. The Library of the Institute of Musicology of the Serbian Academy of Sciences and Arts contains his Zbornik crkvenog pojanja u rukopisu [Manuscript Collection of Church Chant] (1940), with transcriptions from 1920, 1923, 1925, and 1927, whereas his entire legacy, comprising about 2,200 Serbian church hymns, also in manuscript, was purchased by the Holy Synod of the Serbian Orthodox Church. The first audio recordings of Serbian church

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Kornelije Stanković, who harmonized them (1858–1859).4 Many handbooks of church chant were in circulation around the Archbishopric of Karlovci in the second half of the 19th century. However, they were unknown to the Belgrade theological school. There was almost no exchange of chant between Karlovci and Belgrade, because the two centres were culturally and politically remote. The notion of ‘textbook’, in the sense of a handbook for teaching church chant, was first mentioned in Karlovci only in 1891, in Tihomir Ostojić’s review of the Osmoglasnik [Octoechos] by Mita Topalović and Stanko Morar, and in Bel- grade even later, in 1908, with the publication of Mokranjac’s Octoechos. Mokranjac first began transcribing Serbian folk church chant already in 1897. When in 1901 he took over as teacher of chant at the Semi- nary in Belgrade (a post he held until fleeing the Austro-Hungarian invasion in 1914), he was faced with the lack of any sort of notated collection. He thus made his Octoechos whilst teaching at the Seminary. It is a work of an educated musician and teacher of chant, and the only book of Mokranjac’s transcriptions of folk church melodies that was printed in his lifetime.5 In his transcription of eight-tone chant, Mokranjac was guided by the principle of instructiveness, creating a fusion of a folklore church anthology and a chant textbook.6 Since chant (160 hymns) were made precisely by Lazar Lera, Đorđe Parabućski, and Dušan Lam- brin, on 64 gramophone records (78 rpm), under the title Rasadnik srpskog pravoslavnog crkvenog pojanja [A Grove of Serbian Orthodox Church Chant] (Zagreb, Edison Bel Pen- kala, 1933). Cf. Dimitrije Stefanović, “Lazar Lera (1885–1966)”, in: Zbornik za društvene nauke Matice srpske [The Matica Srpska Journal of the Humanities], Vol. 50, Novi Sad, Matica srpska, 1968, 163–165; Milica Andrejević, “Zvučni snimci srpskog pravoslavnog crkvenog pojanja” [“Audio Recordings of Serbian Orthodox Church Chant”], in: Sveske Matice srpske [The Proceedings of the Matica Srpska], 45, Serija umetnosti [The Art Se- ries], 10, Novi Sad, Matica srpska, 2006, 75–87. 4 See the first printed edition of selected Vespers hymns from the Octoechos, harmonized by Kornelije Stanković, in his Complete Works, Volume 3, with two accompanying compact discs (64 hymns, recorded at Krušedol Monastery in June 2008, performed by the Saint Stephen of Dečani , conducted by Tamara Petijević), released by the Orfelin Vocal Stu- dio, Novi Sad and Srpska pravoslavna crkvena opština, Vienna, 2001; the recording is avail- able at http://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLRfh8jFiIUiyIIFv8lm1BvazsQIU6Yvgq. 5 Srpsko narodno crkveno pojanje. I Osmoglasnik [Serbian Folk Church Chant. I Octoe- chos], 1st edition, Belgrade, Sv. Sava, 1908; 2nd edition, Belgrade, Geca Kon (a reprint of the 1st edition in a smaller format), 1922; 3rd edition, Belgrade, Sveti arhijerejski sinod SPC (phototypic reprint of the 2nd edition), 1964; Stevan Stojanović Mokranjac, Duhovna muzika IV, Osmoglasnik [Stevan Stojanović Mokranjac, Sacred Works IV, Octoe- chos], Collected Works, Vol. 7, 4th edition, op. cit. 6 Cf. Zorislava M. Vasiljević, “Mokranjčev ‘Osmoglasnik’ kao udžbenik crkvenog pojanja” [“Mokranjac’s ‘Octoechos’ as a Textbook on Church Chanting”], Razvitak [The Develop- ment], Zaječar, 1990, XXX, 6, 72.

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he did not consider himself an expert in church chant, he transcribed the melo- dies according to performances by other cantors, and as a creative musician he eliminated all superfluous ornamentation, keeping only what he deemed neces- sary.7 This paper focuses on three different audio recordings of chants from the Octoechos as written down by Mokranjac, dating from 1987 to 2004.8 In my research, I looked for similarities and differences in their respective interpre- tations. The recordings were made in a studio. Two of the recordings feature selections of hymns by the performers, while the third recording contains an integral version of the collection. At the suggestion of the Union of Orthodox Clergy, one of the two record- ings of selected hymns (131 altogether), in compliance with the Holy Synod of the Serbian Orthodox Church, was made by protodeacons Vlado Mikić and Radomir Perčević, two highly expert cantors.9 In an advanced age, professor Vojislav J. Ilić (1912–1999), a theologian, composer, conductor, and teacher, produced a valuable performance and recording of a selection of 19 chants from the Octoechos as written down by Stevan Mokranjac.10 Officially the latest audio recording of all 330 hymns from the Octoechos as written down by Mokranjac was made by Bratislava and Olivera Barac, two sisters who were studying con- ducting at the Faculty of Music in Belgrade at the time. They made eight discs (328 tracks in total – 41 tracks in each tone, including two Beatitudes in ‘the

7 Cf. St. St. Mokranjac, “Predgovor” [“Foreword”], in: Stevan Stojanović Mokranjac, Duhovna muzika IV, op. cit., 4. 8 The first archive recording – namely, a selection of hymns sung at the Divine Liturgy, from the Octoechos as written down by Stevan Stojanović Mokranjac – on a gramophone record (33 rpm), was made by protodeacon Marko Ilić (+ 1987) in West Germany: Gesamt- ausgabe Serbischer Osmoglasnik (Blažena, Kondak, Prokimen) in kirchenslawischer Spra- che nach Stevan Stojanović Mokranjac zur Liturgie, Tabor 7155, Ton-Archiv zum Byzantinisch – Ostkirchlichen Ritus, Munich, 1974. Cf. Danica Petrović, “Osmoglasnik u srpskom pojanju i melografskom radu Stevana St. Mokranjca”, op. cit., XXXIII. 9 St. St. Mokranjac: Osmoglasnik. Srpsko crkveno pojanje. Večernje, jutrenje i liturgija [St. St. Mokranjac: Octoechos. Serbian Church Chant. Vespers, Orthros and the Divine Liturgy], Belgrade, Zadruga pravoslavnog sveštenstva, 1987[89] (two audio cassettes) – on the occa- sion of the 770th anniversary of the Serbian Orthodox Church – and 2000 (reissue on two compact discs, ed. Rade I. Zelenović). Cf. Hvalite Gospoda [Praise the Lord], Artis, 1995 (two audio cassettes: Tebe Boga hvalim [We Praise Thee, O Lord] and Hvalite Gospoda) – holiday chant (also a selection of hymns from the Octoechos). 10 The same compact disc released by PGP RTS, in memory of Professor Ilić, also contains Mokranjac’s two-part Liturgy of St. John Chrysostom, which Ilić arranged and dedicated to the Kolibri Choir. The Liturgy was recorded in the Cathedral Church in Belgrade, in March 2003. The soloist was Nenad Ristović, tenor, and the conductor was Milica Manojlović.

25 New Sound 43, I/2014 old way’ in the first tone), with the blessing of the Right Rev. Stefan, bishop of Žiča.11 There is also a recording of dogmatika in the third, fifth, sixth, and seventh tones, made by Predrag and Nenad Radaković, deacons and twin brothers.12 Valuable recordings of hymns from the Menaion, Triodion, and Pentikostarion, as well as eleven evangelical stichera from the Octoechos, were made with great skill by Dr Sava (Vuković, 1930–2001), bishop of Šumadija.13 On the In- ternet, one can also find sound examples in the form of selected hymns from the Octoechos as written down by Mokranjac, sung by Stefan Mirković, a student of divinity,14 and there are forthcoming recordings by the Saint Luke’s Ortho- dox Mission in Canada.15 The interpretations by protodeacons Mikić and Perčević were an attempt at presenting various types of chant and ways of performing them through a spe- cific selection of hymns.16 Thus, the selected hymns from the Vespers include

11 A bilingual release (in Serbian and English) by the Monastery of Voljavča, 2002–2004; edited by the rev. Žarko Barac and engineered by Marjan Milanović. 12 The compact disc Bogoslužbeno pojanje: Stihire i veliko pojanje [Liturgical Chant: Stichera and Grand Chant], released by Jugovideo in 2003, also contains Stihira srpskim svetiteljima [Sticheron to Serbian Saints], the refrain “Da ispravitsja molitva moja” [“Let My Prayer Arise”], “Tebe pojem” [“We Sing to You”] and “Svjat” [“Sanctus”]. Cf. Bogdan Đaković, “Pojava novih zvučnih izdanja pravoslavne duhovne muzike kao odraz današnjeg stanja ovoga žanra u nas” [“The Appearance of New Releases of Orthodox Sacred Music as a Reflection of the Current State of the Genre in Serbia”], in: Vesna Mikić and Tatjana Marković (eds.), Muzika i mediji: Šesti međunarodni simpozijum. Folklor, muzika, delo [Music and Media: The Sixth International Conference. Folklore, Music, the Work], 14–17 November 2002, Belgrade, Signature, FMU, 2004, 212–231. 13 Cf. accompanying CD-ROM with a bilingual edition of: Danica Petrović (ed.), Srpsko pojanje u XX veku: pojačka riznica vladike dr Save (Vukovića) = The Treasury of Serbian Chant: bishop Sava Vuković, Belgrade, Muzikološki institut SANU, 2013. 14 http://www.bogoslovija.org/ser/pojanje/osmoglasnik/index.htm (accessed on 22 February 2014). 15 http://www.sv-luka.org/pevnica/osmoglasnik.htm (accessed on 22 February 2014). 16 The three basic types of chant in contemporary Serbian monophonic church music are the troparion, antiphon, and idiomelon. Further consideration of the typology of chant would be beyond the scope of this paper. For more details on my previous research in this domain, see my unpublished BA final thesis: Udžbenik crkvenog pojanja i pravila u razvoju novijeg srp- skog crkvenog pojanja [A Textbook on Church Chant and Rules in the Development of Con- temporary Serbian Church Chant] (Belgrade, FMU, 1995). Cf. also VesnaPeno, “O napevu u pravoslavnom crkvenom pojanju – prilog tipologiji crkvenih napeva” [“On the Chant in Orthodox Church Chanting: Towards a Typology of Church Chants”], Muzikologija [Musi- cology], Belgrade, Muzikološki institut SANU, 2003, 3, 219–234; Petar Bingulac, “Stevan Mokranjac i crkvena muzika” [“Stevan Mokranjac and Church Music”], in: Vlastimir Peričić

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stichoi from the stichera on “Gospodu zavapih / Gospodi vozvah” [“Lord, I cry unto thee”] (Ps 140: 1, 2), the first Easter sticheron “in verse” with a refrain (Ps 141: 8a) – only in the first tone, a dogmatikon with the Lesser Doxology, the first sticheron, troparion, and theotokion with the Lesser Doxology (only in the first tone). From the Orthros, the performers selected two psalm verses, “Bog je Gospod” [“God is the Lord”] (Ps. 117: 27, 26), which are sung at the beginning of the service after the Hexapsalmos; the first troparion (Sessional Hymn) after the first Kathisma; the first antiphon; a prokeimenon; the Song of the Theotokos from the Ninth Ode of the Canon (Luke 1: 46–55) – the first two verses with the refrain, stichoi from the stichera on “Hvalite” [Praise ye the Lord] (Ps. 150: 6; 148: 1, 2), and a part of the Great Doxology. The selected excerpts from the Divine Liturgy include: a variation of the first Beatitudes (the ‘old way’) – only in the first tone; the first Beatitudes – the refrain (Matthew 5: 7) and troparia (from the second to the seventh tones); the kontakion and prokeimenon for the reading of the Epistle. I was using here the fourth and last edition of the Oct- oechos, printed in the seventh volume of Mokranjac’s Collected Works, from where I also borrowed the ordinal number markings (Table 1).17 The hymns are presented in all eight tones, except the Easter sticheron (No. 3) and Theotokion (No. 15), which are recorded only in the first tone. Also, the performers chose the first antiphon (No. 23),18 the first two verses from the the Song of the Theotokos from the Ninth Ode of the Canon (No. 26) – “Veliča duša moja Gospoda, i obradova se duh moj Bogu, mome Spasitelju” [“My soul doth magnify the Lord, and my spirit hath rejoiced in God my Saviour”]) with the refrain (“Veličamo tebe, prečasniju od heruvima i neuporedivo slavniju od serafima, stvarno Bogorodicu, koja si u čistoti rodila Boga reč” [“We magnify Thee, more honourable than the Cherubim and more glorious beyond compare than the Seraphim, true Theotokos, without corruption thou gavest birth to God the Word”]), as well as a part of the Great Doxology (No. 34, “ Tebi koji nam pokaza svetlost. Slava na visinama Bogu i na zemlji mir, među ljudima dobra volja” [“Glory to thee, who hast shown us the light, glory be to God on high and on earth peace and goodwill among men.”]) One must note, however, a few inconsistencies. Tracks Nos. 28, 34, 36, 36’, 40, and 41 are missing from

(ed.), Petar Bingulac: Napisi o muzici [Petar Bingulac: Articles on music], , Belgrade, Uni- verzitet umetnosti, 1988, 31–55. 17 The same book also contains 11 each of Exapostilaria, Theotokia, and evangelical stichera. For more details on the order and types of hymns, see the appendix of the book. Cf. Stevan Stojanović Mokranjac, Duhovna muzika IV, op. cit., 396–405. 18 In each tone, the Song of Degrees contains three antiphons, except in the eighth tone where there are four. Each antiphon has three short troparia, the third of which is always preceded by the Lesser Doxology.

27 New Sound 43, I/2014 the reissued CD recording (2000), although they were included on the audio cassette (1987). I suppose this is due to technical reasons, because otherwise the total duration would be exceeded. There are three more details in the reissue that require further explanation: 1) the second stichos in the first tone (No. 28) which, as the refrain, precedes Easter stichera on “Hvalite” [“Praise ye the Lord”], lacks the final verse (“Tebi dolikuje pesma Bogu” [“To You, O God, is due our song”]);19 2) the refrain of the Easter sticheron in the first tone (No. 3) is sung to the existing melody, but with the text “Hvalite Gospoda” [“Praise ye the Lord”] instead of the canonical verses in all eight tones – “Izvedi iz tamnice dušu moju” [“Bring my soul out of prison”]; 3) the third-tone kontakion – which, unlike all other kontakia, is the only one accompanied by the Lesser Doxology20 – was recorded without it. Also, it would have been simpler, and much more useful, if the releases had included a table of contents, i.e. a list of hymns. Vojislav J. Ilić’s21 norm in choosing the hymns for his recording was to include all eight tones and all types of chant, so that Serbian church chant, little known outside worship, would be presented in the best possible way: – the troparion type – troparia in the first, second, fourth, fifth, sixth, and eighth tones (No. 14); the first two verses and refrain of the Song of the

19 Supposedly, it was the cantors who decided in favour of such a technical solution, be- cause they had already performed the last verse in the first stichos, which precedes it (No. 27). 20 Cf. Vesna Peno, “O melodiji božićnog kondaka trećeg glasa Djeva dnes” [“On the Mel- ody of the Third-tone Christmas Kontakion Today the Virgin”], in: Zbornik Matice srpske za scenske umetnosti i muziku [The Matica Srpska Journal of Stage Arts and Music], Novi Sad, Matica srpska, 2005, 32–33, 25–42. 21 Vojislav J. Ilić made his first steps in music in his home village of Rosomač near Pirot. In the village church he had an opportunity to listen to Milan Džunić, a blind but excellent can- tor with a beautiful baritone voice. The young Vojislav was happy to help him with reading church texts during worship, thus gradually acquiring his cantor skills. Although he gradu- ated from the Seminary in Sremski Karlovci (1927–1932), instead of theology he began studying music (composition and conducting) at the State School of Music in Berlin. As choirmaster of the First Belgrade Choral Society, he assisted Predrag Milošević, the conduc- tor at the time (1932–1937), and at the same time led the Choir of the Faculty of Orthodox Theology. With the First Belgrade Choral Society he participated in Sunday and feast-day services and with the student choir in all-night vigils on Saturdays and the eves of feast days. Cf. Romana Ribić, “Sećanje na Vojislava J. Ilića (1912–1999)” [“Remembering Vojislav J. Ilić (1912–1999)”], in: Zbornik Matice srpske za scenske umetnosti i muziku [The Matica Srpska Journal of Stage Arts and Music], Novi Sad, Matica srpska, 2012, 46, 159–165.

28

Theotokos from the Ninth Ode of the Canon in the eighth tone (No. 26);22 a kontakion in the third tone (No. 40’) with the Lesser Doxology (No. 40); – the antiphon type – the Easter sticheron in verse with a refrain in the second tone (Nos. 11, 11’); two Beatitudes – a refrain (Matthew 5: 7) and troparion – in the fourth and eighth tones, respectively (Nos. 36, 36’); – the idiomelon type – the first stichos (Ps. 140: 1) in the sticheron on “Gos- podu zavapih” [“Lord, I cry unto thee”] (No. 1) in all eight tones. The hymns are sung at the Vespers (Nos. 1, 11, 11’, 14), the Orthros (No. 26) and the Divine Liturgy (36, 36’, 40, 40’). (Table 2) With the same goal and investing much effort, the Barac sisters recorded the entire Octoechos. Their intention was to help laity get acquainted with the basics of traditional Serbian church chant, as well as students of divinity and monks, particularly novices, to establish which version of a given melody is the right one and thus put their own chanting to the test (Table 3a, b, c). In their recordings, all the cantors sing in F, adhering to Mokranjac’s origi- nal transcription, except the Barac sisters, who sing in E, probably due to the nature of their voices. Radomir Perčević, tenor, was in charge of the first four authentic tones (tones 1–4), whereas the rev. Mikić, in a deeper, darker bass timbre, chanted the other four, plagal tones (5–8). Ilić chants gently, softly, smoothly, slowly, calmly, nasally, and naturally, without glottal mordents or any immoderation. “U napeve ponekad sasvim diskretno unosi male ukrase (trile) kojih nema u notnom tekstu, ali koje verovatno pamti iz školskih dana i žive bogoslužbene prakse. Tekstove pesama izgovara jasno i razgovetno, što je jedan od bitnih preduslova ispravnog pojanja” [“Occasionally and very discretely, he enriches the chants with small ornaments (trills) that are not present in the no- tation, but which he probably remembers from his school days and current li- turgical experience. He pronounces the text clearly and distinctly, which is an important prerequisite for correct chanting”].23 The Barac sisters sing in one of three ways: in parallel thirds, in unison, and each one solo. We have noted that the Barac sisters strictly adhere to Mokranjac’s tran- scription, as if it were a school exercise, not using the variants he added. The only exception was made at the end of the closing section of the refrain of the Song of the Theotokos from the Ninth Ode of the Canon (No. 26), in the fourth- tone Orthros, which contains six two-verse stanzas with six refrains between the verses, in adherence to Mokranjac’s instructions – “na kraju strofa završna

22 Mikić and Perčević recorded the same excerpt, but in all eight tones. 23 Cf. Danica Petrović, Accompanying booklet with the compact disc St. St. Mokranjac: Liturgija Sv. Jovana Zlatoustog, op. cit., 4–5.

29 New Sound 43, I/2014 formula se peva ovako, a na kraju pesme ovako” [“at the end of each stanza, the closing formula is to be sung like this, and at the end of the hymn, like this”] (Example 1). Ilić did not record the Song of the Theotokos in the fourth tone, whereas Mikić and Perčević recorded only the first stanza with the refrain in all eight tones. Also, in the first-tone troparion (No. 14) at Vespers, the closing section con- tains a variation performed by Perčević and Ilić (Example 2). In the sticheron on “Gospodu zavapih” [“Lord, I cry unto thee”] in the sixth tone at Vespers (No. 1), Ilić uses three of Mokranjac’s variants – Nos. 6, 9, and 10 in the second part of the fifth section, while Mikić chants only versions Nos. 9 and 10 in the closing section (Example 3). For decades, our theological schools mostly insisted on teaching the old- fashioned way, by ear, without notation or audio recordings. Nevertheless, the transcriptions by Mokranjac, and other transcribers, have been used in teaching, allowing young students of divinity to master the canonical versions of chants and use them in their further education. That, however, by no means eliminates the need to acquire the skill of ‘tailoring’, a genuine creative act which requires an excellent command of the Church Slavonic text, to which one must adjust the melodic formulae, thus producing a melodic entity.24 I am not familiar with the practice of teaching chant at theological schools of the Serbian Orthodox Church today. At the Faculty of Orthodox Theology in Belgrade, for instance, church chant is taught as part of the ‘Chant and Musicology’ course.25 Recently, there has been an increased interest in studying Serbian as well as Greek church music and chant. In the academic year of 1998/99, at the suggestion of Metro- politan Nikolaj of Dabar and Bosnia, the Music Academy in Eastern Sarajevo established its Department of Church Music and Chant,26 featuring, among other,

24 Cf. Dimitrije Stefanović, “Fenomen usmene tradicije u prenošenju pravoslavnog liturgi- jskog pojanja” [“The Phenomenon of Oral Tradition in Handing Down Orthodox Liturgical Chant”], in: Zbornik Matice srpske za scenske umetnosti i muziku [The Matica Srpska Jour- nal of Stage Arts and Music], Novi Sad, Matica srpska, 1990, 10–11, 13–17. 25 Cf. Danica Petrović, “Pojanje u bogoslužbenoj praksi Srpske pravoslavne crkve (4. Let- nja duhovna akademija, jul 1995. godine)” [“Chant in the Worship Practice of the Serbian Orthodox Church (The Fourth Summer Spiritual Academy, July 1995)”], in: Snežana Nikolajević (ed.), Studeničke besede: odabrana predavanja sa Letnjih duhovnih akademija [The Studenica Talks: Selected Lectures from the Summer Spiritual Academies], Belgrade, Muzička omladina Srbije, 2011, 70–79. 26 http://pravoslavlje.spc.rs/broj/1096/tekst/decenija-rada-kamernog-hora/print/lat (accessed on 15 February 2014).

30

Predrag Đoković, MA, among its teaching staff.27 Another recently established school is the Saint John of Damascus School of [Greek, author’s note] Church Chant, founded by a monk, Jerotej (Petrović), in Novi Sad (2011).28 Also, thanks to the advocacy of Vladimir Milić, a conductor and professor, the Department of Church Music at “Dr Miloje Milojević” Music School in Kragujevac was formed in September 2013, as the first of its kind in Serbia. It was the fruition of an idea conceived seven years ago at Mokranjac Music School in Belgrade but unrealized at the time.29 We remain hopeful that these audio recordings, made by their creators so diligently and painstakingly, will be used both as theoretical and practical tools by students, priests, cantors, as well as young researchers and devotees of church chant. Translated by Goran Kapetanović

27 Predrag Đoković leads courses and workshops in traditional Serbian church music at the Summer School “In Memory of Kornelije” in Sremski Karlovci and the Academy of Arts of the University of Novi Sad, where he defended his master’s thesis Srpsko crkveno pojanje – teorijska i praktična pitanja [Serbian Church Chant – Theoretical and Practical Issues] (2010), under the supervision of professor Danica Petrović, PhD. 28 Upon completing his studies at the Faculty of Orthodox Theology of the University in Belgrade (2009), Fr. Jerotej continued his education at the Athens Conservatory, where he earned the degree of church cantor, as well as the rank of church music teacher at the Church Music School of the Archdiocese of Athens (2011). Cf. http://skolajovandamaskin.beseda.rs/ index.php/predavaci/9-jerotej-petrovic (accessed on 17 February 2014). 29 Brane Kartalović, “Povratak korenima, put u budućnost” [“A Return to the Roots, the Road to the Future”], Politika, 5 January 2014, 35977, 11.

31 New Sound 43, I/2014

Table 1 Performers: VLADO MIKIĆ AND RADOMIR PERČEVIĆ (1987–2000) Type of worship: GREAT VESPERS Hymn Hymn title Tone number number 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 1 Stichos from the sticheron on “Gospodu za- ++++++++ vapih” (Ps. 140: 1) Stichos from the sticheron on “Gospodu za- 2 vapih” (Ps. 140: 2) + +++++++ 3, 3’ Easter sticheron with refrain (Ps. 141. 8а) +/////// 9, 9’ Lesser Doxology. Dogmatikon ++++++++

10 Sticheron in verse ++++++++ 14 Troparion ++++++++ 15, 15’ Lesser Doxology. Theotokion +/////// ORTHROS 16 “Bog je Gospod” (Ps. 117: 27, 26) ++++++++ 17 Sessional Hymn after the first Kathisma – ++++++++ troparion

23 Song of Degrees – first antiphon ++++++++

24 Prokeimenon ++++++++ Song of the Theotokos from the 9th Ode of 26 the Canon (Luke 1: 46-55) – first two verses ++++++++ and refrain 27 Stichoi from the sticheron on “Hvalite” (Ps. ++++++++ 150: 6; 148: 1) 28 Stichos from the sticheron on “Hvalite” (Ps. ++++++++ 148: 2) 34 Great Doxology – partial ++++++++ DIVINE LITURGY / Beatitudes “the old way” – refrain (Mat- +/////// thew 5: 7) and troparion 36, 36’ Beatitudes – refrain (Matthew 5: 7) and / +++++++ troparion 40 Kontakion ++++++++ 41 Prokeimenon for the Epistle reading ++++++++

32

Table 2 Performer: VOJISLAV J. ILIĆ (released 2003) Type of worship: GREAT VESPERS Hymn Hymn title Tone number number 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 Stichos from the sticheron on “Gospodu za- 1 vapih” (Ps. 140: 1) ++++++++ 11, 11’ Sticheron in verse with refrain (Ps. 92: 1а) /+////// 14 Troparion + + / +++/ + ORTHROS 26 Song of the Theotokos from the 9th Ode of the ///////+ Canon (Luke 1: 46-55) – first two verses and refrain DIVINE LITURGY Beatitudes – refrain (Matthew 5: 7) and tropar- 36, 36’ ion ///+///+ 40, 40’ Kontakion with Lesser Doxology //+/////

Table 3a Performers: BRATISLAVA AND OLIVERA BARAC (2002–2004) Type of worship: GREAT VESPERS Hymn Hymn title Tone number number 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 Stichera on “Gospodu zavapih”: 1 Stichos (Ps. 140: 1) ++++++++ 2 Stichos (Ps. 140: 2) ++++++++ Easter stichera: 3, 3’ refrain (Ps. 141: 8а). sticheron ++++++++ 4, 4’ refrain (Ps. 141: 8b). sticheron ++++++++ 5, 5’ refrain (Ps. 129: 1-2а). sticheron ++++++++ Easter stichera by Anatolios: 6, 6’ refrain (Ps. 129: 2b). sticheron ++++++++ 7, 7’ refrain (Ps. 129: 3). sticheron ++++++++ 8, 8’ refrain (Ps. 129: 4-5). sticheron ++++++++ 9, 9’ Lesser Doxology. Dogmatikon ++++++++ Stichera in verse: 10 Sticheron ++++++++ 11, 11’ refrain (Ps. 92: 1а). sticheron ++++++++ 12, 12’ refrain (Ps. 92. 1b). sticheron ++++++++ 13, 13’ refrain (Ps. 92: 2). sticheron ++++++++ 14 Troparion ++++++++ 15 Lesser Doxology. Theotokion ++++++++

33 New Sound 43, I/2014

Table 3b Performers: BRATISLAVA AND OLIVERA BARAC (2002–2004) Type of worship: ORTHROS Hymn Hymn title Tone number number 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 16 “Bog je Gospod” ++++++++ Sessional Hymn after the first Kathisma: 17 troparion + +++++++ 18, 18’ refrain (Ps. 9: 1) and troparion ++++++++ 19 Lesser Doxology. Theotokion ++++++++ Sessional Hymn after the second Ka- 20 thisma: troparion ++++++++ 21, 21’ refrain (Ps. 9: 33) and troparion ++++++++ 22 Lesser Doxology. Theotokion ++++++++ 23 Song of Degrees: First antiphon ++++++++ Second antiphon ++++++++ Third antiphon ++++++++ Fourth antiphon ///////+ 24 Prokeimenon ++++++++ 25 “Sve što diše” (Ps. 150: 6, 1) ++++++++ 26 Song of the Theotokos from the 9th Ode ++++++++ of the Canon (Luke 1: 46-55) Stichera on “Hvalite”: 27 stichoi (Ps. 150: 6; 148: 1) ++++++++ 28 stichos (Ps. 148: 2) ++++++++ Easter stichera: 29, 29’ refrain (Ps. 148: 6). sticheron ++++++++ 30, 30’ refrain (Ps. 150: 1). sticheron ++++++++ 31, 31’ refrain (Ps. 150: 2). sticheron ++++++++ 32, 32’ refrain (Ps. 150: 3). sticheron ++++++++ 33, 33’ Lesser Doxology. Theotokion ++++++++ 34 Great Doxology ++++++++ 35 Troparion ++++++++

34

Table 3c Performers: BRATISLAVA AND OLIVERA BARAC (2002–2004) Type of worship: DIVINE LITURGY Hymn Hymn title Tone number number 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 Beatitudes: 36, 36’ refrain (Matthew 5: 7) and troparion ++++++++ 37, 37’ refrain (Matthew 5: 8) and troparion ++++++++ 38, 38’ refrain (Matthew 5: 9) and troparion ++++++++ 39, 39’ refrain (Matthew 5: 10) and troparion ++++++++ 40 Kontakion ++++++++ 41 Prokeimenon for the Epistle reading ++++++++ Beatitudes “the old way”: / refrain (Matthew 5: 7) and troparion +/////// / refrain (Matthew 5: 8) and troparion +///////

Example 1: Stevan Stojanović Mokranjac, Duhovna muzika IV, Osmoglasnik [Sacred Works IV, Octoechos], Complete Works, Volume 7, Belgrade – Knjaževac, Zavod za udžbenike i nastavna sredstva – Muzičko izdavačko preduzeće “Nota”, 1996, Theotok- ion, 4th tone, No. 26, refrain, closing section, p. 147, bb. 3–4.

“sing the end of each stanza like this,

and the end of the hymn like this.”

35 New Sound 43, I/2014

Original melody

Variation

Example 2: St. St. Mokranjac, Duhovna muzika IV, Osmoglasnik, ibid., Troparion, 1st tone, No. 14, closing section, p. 25.

original melody

chanted by V. Mikić

chanted by V. Ilić Example 3: St. St. Mokranjac, Duhovna muzika IV, Osmoglasnik, ibid., sticheron on “Gospodu zavapih” [“Lord, I cry unto thee”], 6th tone, No. 1, the second part of the fifth section and the closing section, page 204.

36 Činč, E.: Melodic Links between Serbian and Romanian Orthodox Chant... (37–51)

Article received on 12th Jun 2014 Article accepted on 26th Jun 2014 UDC: 783(497.11:498) 78.071.1:929 Мокрањац Стојановић С.(082)

Dr Euđen Činč* Mihailo Palov Vocational Teachers’ College, Vršac

MELODIC LINKS BETWEEN SERBIAN AND ROMANIAN ORTHODOX CHANT: EXAMPLES FROM WORKS BY STEVAN ST. MOKRANJAC AND DIMITRIE CUSMA

Abstract: Even though over the last century a number of researchers in the field of mu- sicology have addressed the similarities between Serbian and Romanian (Banat) church music, i.e. chant, the topic has never been thoroughly investigated. On the one hand, this is probably due to the unavailability of sources and, on the other hand, perhaps also due to the language barrier. This paper is a modest contribution to more detailed research in the field, supported by concrete examples of similarities and shared elements in Serbian and Romanian church music in the former Metropolitanate of Karlovci, which are far less pronounced in other regions (in the practice of the Romanian Orthodox Church). Key words: melodic flow, melodic and cadential formulae and configurations, modal- ity.

Given the longevity and versatility of his career, Stevan Stojanović Mokran- jac is perhaps the most significant figure of the Serbian musical past. As is well- known, Mokranjac dedicated much of his work to church, i.e. sacred music. His most prominent work is certainly the Liturgija [Divine Liturgy], arranged for a mixed choir, with variants for a women and children’s choir. Even though it is rather mellifluous and easy to sing, Mokranjac’s Liturgy is a perfect demon- stration of his many compositional skills, standing out especially for its strong

* Author contact information: [email protected]

37 New Sound 43, I/2014 ecclesiastic character. The fact that it still prevails in church practice today is irrefutable evidence of its worth. Apart from the Liturgy, one should also men- tion other works by Mokranjac with strong sacred features, written in adherence to the canons of the Church and thus often an indispensable part of services, i.e. liturgy, such as Akаtist Bogorodici, Tebe Bogа hvаlim, Opelo, and many others. Nevertheless, it is different area of Mokranjac’s work that we find more in- teresting for our present purposes. A composer as well as a conductor, Mokran- jac was a good judge and an expert in church singing. Mokranjac himself once mentioned that as a little boy, he attended church services, helping and singing from the choir loft.1 Mokranjac openly admitted that he had learnt to sing in church by ear, in the choir loft, whereas he formally studied sacred music only much later, paying special attention to certain rules of the profession and sci- ence. Most composers are not that fortunate and although their works may be sacred in character and command exceptional artistic value, they are often not well adjusted for use in church services.2 It is common knowledge that in his choral works Mokranjac used already familiar church melodies. His biographers, as well as Mokranjac himself, have said as much. However, it is usually difficult to find in his pieces entire melodic lines borrowed directly from chant. His borrowings are usually confined to in- dividual phrases, motives, or a specific cadence. Nevertheless, in some of his pieces, Mokranjac used broad fragments of church melodies. As it turns out, when listening to them, one notes that they are very similar to certain melodies we find in Romanian churches in Banat. These similarities are noticeable not only in his choral works, but also when comparing the church singing of Banat with Mokranjac’s source of inspiration, synthesised in his work Oktoih.3 One could argue that these similarities stem from our shared Byzantine past. That might be a logical explanation. But the problem therein is the fact that neither Banat church melodies nor their variants found in Mokranjac’s works may be located in other parts of Romania. If the similarities indeed stem from our common Byzantine past, why do we only find them in Banat and the practice of the Serbian Orthodox Church? Instead, one should perhaps seek an explanation in the shared past and jurisdiction of Sremski Karlovci over the

1 Kosta Manojlović, Spomenica Stevanu Stojanoviću Mokranjcu, Belgrade, Državna štamparija Kraljevine Srba, Hrvata i Slovenaca,1923, 6. 2 Kosta Manojlović, op.cit., 123–126. 3 Eugen Cinci, Eclesiastic şi folcloric în cântarea de strană bănăţeană (The Eclesiastic and the Folk in Banat Church Singing), Bucharest, National University of Music, 2009, 66–67.

38 Činč, E.: Melodic Links between Serbian and Romanian Orthodox Chant... (37–51) entire Orthodox population north of the Danube, a jurisdiction that existed for decades or even centuries. Or, maybe one should concentrate on the fact that the and Romanians studied church singing together. Finally, one might also want to take into account the oral transmission of chant from one generation to the next, which highly resembles the transmission of folk music. What is certain is that there are similarities; sometimes, they are obvious and sometimes, rather discrete. In other words, that there is considerable common ground between Serbian Orthodox chant and Romanian chant in Banat seems beyond dispute. In the preface to his Church Songs, His Eminence Nicolae Corneanu, Archbishop of Timişoara and Metropolitan of Banat, confirms that the Romanian population living in Banat shares the same style and repertory of church singing with the Serbian Orthodox Church.4 Another piece of data, found in Serbian sources related to church sing- ing, seems especially interesting. Namely, according to these sources, folk ele- ments are easily recognizable in the practice of Serbian chant. Writing about the church songs that the composer transcribed, one of Mokranjac’s famous biographers, Kosta Manojlović, suggested that Mokranjac had actually revealed the hidden psychological harmony of the people behind the music, enabling us to reflect on their ability to create such music.5 In other words, through melody, ornaments, and other elements, folklore, i.e. folk music created by the people, had permeated not only the church music of the Romanians in Banat, but also that of the Serbian Orthodox Church. There is a variety of reasons behind this and they deserve special attention. What is significant to us here and now is that folk elements were a part of both Serbian and Romanian church music. Specu- lating, we might once again turn to the origins of the similarities mentioned above. In that case we might concentrate on the oral transmission of the music. Oral transmission went on until the church melodies were first written down by pioneers such as Mutibаrić, Stаnković, and Mokrаnjаc on the Serbian side, and Terentius Bugаriu, Trifon Lugojаn, Atаnаsie Lipovаn, etc. on the Romanian.6 Even today, when there is a variety of collections of church music, oral tradition in learning has remained an omnipresent method of work.

4 Nicolae Belean,Cântări bisericeşti [Church Songs], Timişoara, Editura Mitropoliei Bana- tului, 1995, 5. 5 Kosta Manojlović, op.cit., 123–126. 6 Euđen Činč [Eugen Cinci], Zajedničke perikope u srpskom i rumunskom crkvenom po- janju [Shared Pericopes in Serbian and Romanian Orthodox Chant].Vršac, Visoka škola strukovnih studija za vaspitače, 2013, 39.

39 New Sound 43, I/2014

One of the most important books of collected Romanian church melodies from the region of Banat is Cântări bisericeşti (Church Songs), co-authored by Dimitrie Cusma, Ioan Teodorovici, and Gheorghe Dobreanu. The book ap- peared in 1980, published by the Metropolitanate of Banat in Timişoara. In his foreword to the book, Bishop Nicolae, to whom the collection was dedicated, pointed out several arguments in favour of creating one of the most significant collections of church music in Banat. Bishop Nicolae stresses the fact that for a long time, church singing was passed on to the next generation orally, even though various collections of church songs came into being only after 1900, such as the collections of Terentius Bugаriu (1910), Trifon Lugojаn (1929), Nicolаe Firu (1933), and Atаnаsie Lipovаn (1944 and 1946). The 1980 collec- tion of church songs, recognisable by its distinctive black cover, comprises 383 pages and an appendix (Erratum), where the authors draw the reader’s atten- tion to errors made during the preparation of the book. The collection is very significant not only regarding research on church singing in Banat, but also church practice itself. Later collections, especially the one edited by Nicolae Belean and published by the Metropolitanate of Banat in Timişoara in 1995, is a continuation of the work of Belean’s predecessors, although, of course, from a newer and more modern perspective. Belean’s collection resulted from the need to complement and edit the existing collections in a new way.7 Examples of correspondences between Banat Orthodox chant and Serbian church music are easy to find. I have already highlighted some of them, i.e. the most representative ones. I will use Cusma, Teodorovici, and Dobreanu’s col- lection Cântări bisericeşti as the basis of my analysis. I will base my analysis of Serbian church music on Mokranjac’s choral works, above all his Liturgy, published in a collection prefaced by Vojislav Ilić, as well as church songs pub- lished in the second part of the same collection, issued in Belgrade in 1995. All of Mokranjac’s settings that I will analyse are strictly homophonic and harmo- nized for a choir. Rather than impede, this will facilitate our understanding of Mokranjac’s harmonized arrangements of church music. Knowing that Mokran- jac’s melodies have a solid base in chant, written down and edited by the com- poser, we can gain a clear and realistic view of Serbian Orthodox chant. The first church song I will analyse, emphasising the similarities between Romanian chant in Banat and Serbian church music, is the so-called Nedeljni аksion (Sunday Axion). The version of the Axion practised in Romanian churches in Banat is on page 376 of Cântări bisericeşti. The song is in the

7 Eugen Cinci, Eclesiastic şi folcloric, оp.cit., 284–285.

40 Činč, E.: Melodic Links between Serbian and Romanian Orthodox Chant... (37–51) fourth tone (or echos), typical for singing in a church. The Axion is often used as a model for learning to sing in the fourth tone, which is then applied to other texts. The melodic anchors are clearly the following: g’, a’, b’-flat, c’, d”, e”, f”, while e”-flat, though appearing twice, just like e”, has no clear stability. There is one flat in the key signature and on the whole, the song centres around F. Given that F is the tonal centre, we might conclude that the melody begins and ends on the third note of its tonal structure, i.e. A (a’). The melodic line, especially the main one, is mostly ascending and shows the composer’s excep- tional skill. The melodic flow and the configuration of the notes constantly give the impression of the sublime, which fully adheres to the liturgical role of the Axion, dedicated to Virgin Mary, sung at one of the most significant moments of the Divine Liturgy, immediately after the hymn Tebe pojem [To Thee I Sing] and the Holy Eucharist. To recognize a given melodic turn or formula, it must be clearly stated. One may often identify the mode of a melody by the way it proceeds. In the case of the Axion,8 several specific melodic formulae appear multiple times:

1. b’-flat – c” – b’-flat – a’ – g’ (bars 3–4) 2. d” – e”-flat – d” – c” (bb. 22–23) 3. c” – b’-flat – a’ – c” – b’-flat – a’ – g’ (bb. 16–17) 4. d” – e” – f” – d” – c” (bb. 42–43)

Regarding the cadences, we must look at the melodic outline as a whole, not merely at the cadence itself. It is worth mentioning that the cadences consist of the following internal melodic formulae: 1. c” – b’-flat – c” – a’ (b. 8) 2. b’-flat – b’-flat – a’ – b’-flat – c” – b’-flat – a’ (bb. 26–28) The Axion ends with the following formula: d” – c” – b’-flat – a’ – b’-flat – c” – a’.

One should bear in mind that there are also formulae that mark the end of a section in the text. As a rule, these formulae end on g’. As is typical for chant, the musical architecture of the Axion is governed by the text. As a consequence, the sectional makeup of the melody follows that of the text. The sections vary in length, ranging from several notes to the equivalent of several lines of text. The rhythm is not particularly demanding, comprising dotted minims, minims, crotchets, quavers, and semiquavers, and it tends to emphasise specific melodic

8 Dimitrie Cusma, Ioan Teodorovici, and Gheorghe Dobreanu, Cântări bisericeşti, Timi- şoara, Editura Mitropoliei Banatului, 1980, 9–10.

41 New Sound 43, I/2014 formulae. The time signatures are 4/4, 3/4, and 2/4, following the logic of the text.9 When it comes to Mokranjac’s use of the Axion in his Liturgy, the presence of F-sharp in the key signature orients the whole melody towards G. To high- light the similarities between the Banat version of the Axion and the one created by Mokranjac as clearly as possible, we must overcome the differences between their respective backgrounds. I am referring here to Mokranjac’s soprano line, which actually involves a melody from the Octoechos. Regarding form, i.e. the elements of rhythm and metre, it seems that there are no differences between the Banat variant (so to speak) and Mokranjac’s Axion. In both versions, the melody starts with a pickup and the time signature is arranged in the following scheme: 4/4, 3/4, and 2/4. As I already mentioned above, the melodic content of the Axion stems from the fourth tone; it is one of its melodic variants, if we rely on the terminology used by singers and authors of significant collections of church songs. The same melodic content, a model applied to other sacred texts, can be found in other church songs as well. One often finds the melodic model of the Axion in fourth-tone antiphons. Its presence in Serbian Orthodox chant demonstrates the vitality of the system of melodic models in these parts as well. In Mokranjac’s case, one melodic model appears several times, in a number of his works, of course, always supported by a different text. Along with small variations, the melodic model is, as a rule, governed by the structure of the text.10 Another obvious similarity between Serbian and Romanian chant in Banat refers to the eighth church mode. The melodic model of the eighth-tone Axion, highly distinctive and easy to sing, had to be part of Mokranjac’s arrangements. This melodic model may be found in the kontakion (Orthodox hymn) So svja- timi, which is sung during ceremonies in memory of the dead; Cusmа, Teodo- rovici, and Dobreаnu include it on page 346 of their collection of Romanian church songs.11 Aware of the beauty of the melodies of the eighth tone, Mokranjac often used them in his works. An example of this is the already mentioned kontakion So svjatimi, included in the collection Sacred Music II, page 9. Once again, we find it in the soprano line.12 There are significant similarities between the Romanian and Serbian variants. The melody and for the most part the rhythmic

9 See Example I. 10 See Example II. 11 Example III. 12 Example IV.

42 Činč, E.: Melodic Links between Serbian and Romanian Orthodox Chant... (37–51) flow are only two of the many elements that bring the two variants together. On the other hand, there are certain differences in the metre, since Mokranjac uses 4/4 and 3/4. However, the kontakion So svjatimi is not the only setting where Mokranjac used the eighth church mode. Another example is his setting of Blаgoslovlju Gospodа.13 In 1935, a collection of songs was published in Belgrade under the title of Prаvoslаvno srpsko nаrodno crkveno pojаnje – opšte pojаnje (Traditional Ser- bian Orthodox Chant – General Chant), compiled by Mokranjac and edited and prefaced by Manojlović. The collection seems exceptionally interesting right from the beginning, that is, Manojlović’s preface, which describes several sig- nificant moments from Mokranjac’s creative past. The first part of the collection Osmoglasnik was published in Belgrade in 1908 under the auspices of the Saint Sava Divinity School. Related to this is a letter Mokranjac wrote to a bishop of the Serbian Orthodox Church, asking him to use his authority to speed up the decision of the Church to publish the second part of the collection. When the Church finally decided not only to support Mokranjac, but also to retain full rights to his collection, the composer started work on it, which took 15 years. The manuscript saw the light of day in 1914, under the title of Opšte crkveno pojаnje [General Church Chant]. The original was kept in the vault of the Metropolitan- ate. The outbreak of the First World War forced Bishop Danilo to flee Belgrade, taking Mokranjac’s manuscript with him. In 1915, the manuscript was mentioned to be in Paraćin and later, a rumour had it buried near the . Manojlović, a well-known figure from the Serbian musical past, who dedicated much of his work to the life and work of Mokranjac, tried to retrieve Mokranjac’s manuscript after the war. He spent a long time at the monastery, especially its library, but unfortunately, in vain. The original was never recovered.14 The collection here at stake, i.e. the second part of Prаvoslаvno srpsko nаrodno crkveno pojаnje – opšte pojаnje [Traditional Serbian Orthodox Chant – General Chant] was published in 1935, after many difficulties. The first at- tempt to publish it had occurred in 1920, immediately after the First World War, when Manojlović, who was Professor at the Divinity School at the time, wrote an editorial note and published the collection according to an already exist- ing variant of 1914. In 1925, the state printing house began publishing musical scores, which enabled Mokranjac’s work to be published in a modern edition. Finally, after a number of attempts, carefully supervised by Manojlović, the first volume of the second part of Prаvoslаvno srpsko nаrodno crkveno pojаnje

13 Example V. 14 Euđen Činč, Zajedničke perikope,op. cit., 29–30.

43 New Sound 43, I/2014

– opšte pojаnje was published in 1935. This is the collection that will be in focus in the remaining few pages of this paper. 15 For a successful analysis of the church songs collected by Mokranjac and carefully prepared for publication by Manojlović and a proper compara- tive study of these songs and songs appearing in other similar collections such as those of the Romanian Orthodox Church, we must pay due attention to Manojlović’s editorial. Manojlović expresses his deep respect for Mokranjac’s work, which he goes on to prove by the great care and attention he pays to the elder composer’s collection of songs, an attempt, according to Manojlović, to check the constant evolution of church, i.e. sacred music. The changes to which Serbian Orthodox chant was prone at the time had produced a number of variants. In his edition of Mokranjac’s collection, Manojlović also included variants transcribed by other authors, in addition to Mokranjac’s transcriptions. These variants appear in smaller type and many songs appear in two or more versions. They include variants written down by Kornelije Stаnković, Gаvrilo Boljаrić, Nikolа Tаjšаnović, Tihomir Ostojić, Petаr Kostić, Jeftа Petrović, Jovаn Kozobаrić, Joco Pаjkаnović, Dimitrije Stojаčić, and Lаzаr Terzin, among others. These variants often depart in significant ways from those supplied by Mokranjac, showing the powerful influence of oral tradition and dissemina- tion of chant. Regarding connections between Serbian and Romanian chant, that is, in our case, between the respective collections of Mokranjac on the one hand and Kuzma, Teodorovici, and Dobreаnu on the other, one notices some rather significant similarities right at the beginning. On page 1 of Mokranjac’s collection, there is a melodic model that is rather similar to a model featured in the Romanian collection called Podobijа. This is a second-tone model. Al- though in his transcription Mokrаnjаc used four flats, whereas his Romanian colleagues used only one, some similarities are still easy to observe. In both cases there is a characteristic ascending fourth (a’ – d” in the Romanian collec- tion and a’-flat – d’-flat in Mokranjac’s). The distinct cadential pattern of the Romanian model (b’-flat – a’ – b’-flat – c” – a’) is also found in Mokranjac’s version (b’-flat – a’-flat – b’-flat – c” – a’-flat), although, of course, in a differ- ent functional context. Regarding the context, we can say that the endings are rather similar: b’-flat – c” – a’ in the Romanian version and b’-flat – c” – a’-flat in Mokranjac’s version. The difference in the functional context notwithstand- ing, it is obvious that both versions are similarly inclined to a particular tonal centre.

15 Stevan Mokranjac, Pravoslavno srpsko narodno crkveno pojanje – opšte pojanje, Bel- grade, Državna štamparija Kraljevine Jugoslavije, 1935.

44 Činč, E.: Melodic Links between Serbian and Romanian Orthodox Chant... (37–51)

On page 14 of his collection, Mokranjac uses another melodic model that has its counterpart in Romanian Banat chant: the sixth-tone troparion. Whereas Mokranjac used a single b-flat in his key signature, Cusma, Teodorovici, and Dobreаnu also used a g-flat, furnishing their version of the chant with a special colouring. Nonetheless, there are noticeable similarities in both versions. For instance, Mokranjac’s version begins with f’ – g’ – a’, close enough to f’ – g’- sharp – a’ of in Romanian version. In both cases, the final cadence ends on A. In both versions, the tonal centre is F. In Mokranjac’s version, the configuration g’ – a’ – b’-flat – a’ appears at a number of places, which is a typical ending formula in Banat. As for the Romanian version, what seems rather interesting and deserves our attention is the appearance of G-sharp in the key signature. This may be due to the oral transmission of these church songs in the past. It is unlikely that it was present in the Serbian variant and then simply disappeared from it. Both versions feature a modest melodic range: f’–d” (Mokranjac) and f’–c” (Cusma et al.). On page 24 of Mokranjac’s collection, there is a melodic model that resem- bles seventh-tone melodies as they appear in Romanian ecclesiastic sources in Banat. For instance, the beginning of Doamne Strigat-am, included in the Ro- manian collection on page 170, features melodic content similar to that offered by Mokranjac. The key signature is the same in both cases (a single b-flat), as well as the first cadence (a’ – g’ – a’ – f’). Both melodies are centred around F and share the same final melodic configuration, ascending from D through A. In both melodies, the very ending (f’ – g’ – a’ – f’) is melodically identical. The opening E in Mokranjac’s version should not confuse us, as it probably resulted from the evolution of church songs and the influence of oral tradition. The me- lodic content is indisputably rather similar in both songs. Although over the years a number of scholars have addressed the relations and connections between the Romanians and the Serbs, as well as social, politi- cal, and cultural life in the states they have inhabited (Romania, the Habsburg Monarchy, Austria-Hungary, the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats, and Slovenes, Yu- goslavia, and Serbia), their musical connections have not been addressed to a similar extent. In that regard, similarities between Romanian church music in Banat and Serbian church music, which share many points of contact, have re- mained marginalized in musicological approaches. Their common Byzantine heritage, the course of historical events that shaped the context whereby the Romanians and Serbs living north of the Dan- ube occupied similar positions in the political hierarchies of the time, and their similar social circumstances may only partially explain evident similarities

45 New Sound 43, I/2014 between their respective church music traditions. Research has confirmed the existence of similarities between Romanian Orthodox chant in Banat and Ser- bian church music, personified chiefly by Mokranjac. But one should search for similarities not only in musical, that is, melodic configurations, but also in their powerful spiritual and emotional plenitude, the beauty of the music of the two nations, which certainly pertains to the One to whom it is dedicated.

46 Činč, E.: Melodic Links between Serbian and Romanian Orthodox Chant... (37–51)

Example I

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Example II

48 Činč, E.: Melodic Links between Serbian and Romanian Orthodox Chant... (37–51)

Example III

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Example IV

50 Činč, E.: Melodic Links between Serbian and Romanian Orthodox Chant... (37–51)

Example V

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Article received on 26th Jun 2014 Article accepted on 28th Jun 2014 UDC: 78.071.1:929 Мокрањац Стојановић С. 784.077:061.2(497.11

Biljana Milanović* Institute of Musicology Serbian Academy of Sciences and Arts

THE DISCOURSE OF TRAVELOGUES ABOUT STEVAN MOKRANJAC AND THE BELGRADE CHORAL SOCIETY IN THE NATIONAL- POLITICAL CONTEXT BEFORE THE FIRST WORLD WAR*

Abstract: The paper deals with the travelogues Iz Beograda u Solun i Skoplje by Spira Kalik (1894), Sa Avale na Bosfor by Dragomir Brzak (1897), and Na Adriju by Milivoje Komarčić (1911), which describe the concert tours of Stevan Mokranjac and the Belgrade Choral Society to Thessaloniki and (1893), Sofia, Istanbul, and Plovdiv (1895), and Sarajevo, Mostar, Cetinje, Split, Šibenik, and Zadar (1910). The goal is to examine the discourse of these travelogues and to interpret it as a source on Mokranjac and his ensemble’s missions abroad in the national-political context of the 1890s and the years preceding the First World War. Key words: Stevan Mokranjac, Beogradsko pevačko društvo / Belgrade Choral Society, Spira Kalik, Dragomir Brzak, Milivoje Komarčić

Beogradsko pevačko društvo [Belgrade Choral Society], led by Stevan Mokranjac, had major concert tours of foreign countries, most notable being the visits to the centres of the most powerful European empires at the time – from Budapest, Skopje, Thessaloniki, and Istanbul to various Russian and German cities during the 1890s. The Society also travelled the region, which was chron- ologically condensed mainly at the beginning of the second decade of the 20th century. These tours were among Serbia’s first attempts at systematic presenta-

* Author contact information: [email protected] This study was carried out within the project Identiteti srpske muzike od lokalnih do globalnih okvira: tradicije, promene, izazovi [Identities of Serbian Music from a Local to a Global Scale: Traditions, Changes, Challenges] (ON 17704) by the Institute of Musicology of the Serbian Academy of Sciences and Arts. The project is funded by the Ministry of Education and Science of the Republic of Serbia.

52 Milanović, B.: The Discourse of Travelogues about Stevan Mokranjac ... (52–69) tion of its national music abroad, encouraged by its aspirations to overcome the utter inferiority, or, in fact, anonymity of its national musical culture on the international stage. The Society’s distinctiveness was an important factor in so- lidifying its elite status on the domestic stage and contributed towards blending the institution, its composer-conductor, and repertoire into a unique notion of national music, which was constantly built and rebuilt in public.1 Certain important tours were accompanied by published travelogues, as another exclusive practice cultivated in the same context. These included Iz Beograda u Solun i Skoplje [From Belgrade to Thessaloniki and Skopje] by Spira Kalik (1894) and Sa Avale na Bosfor [From Avala to the Bosporus] by Dragomir Brzak (1897), with detailed descriptions of the Society’s tours of Thessaloniki and Skopje (1893) and Sofia, Istanbul, and Plovdiv (1895), respec- tively, as well as Na Adriju. Sa Beogradskim pevačkim društvom kroz Bosnu, Hercegovinu, Crnu Goru i Dalmatinsko primorje [To the Adriatic. With the Bel- grade Choral Society through Bosnia, Herzegovina, Montenegro, and along the Dalmatian Coast] by Milivoje Komarčić (1911), which described the choir’s concert appearances in Sarajevo, Mostar, Cetinje, Split, Šibenik, and Zadar in 1910.2 Their other tours were not accompanied by separately printed records, but it is worth noting that the foregoing editions covered both chronological stages in the Society’s concert tours.3 Parts of Kalik’s and Brzak’s travelogues were abundantly quoted in Spomenica Beogradskog pevačkog društva [In Honour of the Belgrade Choral Society] from 1903 and Brzak’s notes were republished in 1980, but access to

1 Basic data on the tours can be found in: Roksanda Pejović, Pevačka društva [Choral Soci- eties], Vol. 1, Belgrade, Pro musica, 1986, 36–40; Danica Petrović, “Osnivanje i prvih šest decenija” [“The Founding and the First Six Decades”], in: Dinko Davidov (ed.), Prvo be- ogradsko pevačko društvo – 150 godina [The First Belgrade Choral Society – 150 years], Belgrade, SANU, Muzikološki institut SANU, Galerija SANU, 2004, 53–78. 2 Spira Kalik, Iz Beograda u Solun i Skoplje s Beogradskim pevačkim društvom. (Putničke beleške) [From Belgrade to Thessaloniki and Skopje with the Belgrade Choral Society. (Travel Notes)], Belgrade, Štamparija P. K. Tanaskovića, 1894; Dragomir Brzak, Sa Avale na Bosfor. (Putne beleške sa pohoda Beogradskog pevačkog društva) [From Avala to the Bosporus. (Travel Notes from a Sojourn of the Belgrade Choral Society)], Belgrade, Izdanje i štampa Dragoljuba Mirosavljevića, 1897. 3 It should be mentioned that two earlier travelogues, by Sreten Stojković and Miloš Cvetić, were a sort of harbingers of these editions. They described the celebrations accompanying the unveiling of monuments to Hajduk Veljko in Negotin and Ivan Gundulić in , where the Belgrade choir also participated. Sr. J. Stojković, Na lepom srpskom Dunavu. Od Beograda do Radujevca [An der schönen serbischen Donau. Von Belgrad nach Radujevac], Belgrade, Štamparija Kraljevine Srbije, 1893; An emissary [Miloš Cvetić], O Gundulićevoj proslavi [On the Gundulić Celebration], Belgrade, Štamparija Kraljevine Srbije, 1893.

53 New Sound 43, I/2014 all of these sources remains incomplete.4 Although literary historians have ex- amined the two older travelogues, none of the books has ever been subjected to detailed musicological research.5 Hence, the question arises: what kind of knowledge and/or interpretation has this material to offer? In order to take a stand on the problem stated above, it is necessary to de- scribe the phenomenon of the travelogue as a polymorphic genre, which can approximate various other forms or even blend with them – ranging from nov- els, essays, letters, reports, diaries, and autobiographies to cultural-historical, ethnographic, and other kinds of treatises, either with large quantities of facts or as a completely personal expression of its author.6 It almost manifestly confirms Jacques Derrida’s claim about the illusion of a ‘pure’ genre,7 while its quality of mimicry presents a joint scholarly challenge to literary studies, imagology, cultural geography, post-colonial, Balkan and other studies, coming together in the domain of iterology as a post-disciplinary convergence of different types of knowledge.8 The openness of the travelogue as a genre is also demonstrated by certain studies of compositional creativity, which use this concept mostly in the metaphorical sense.9 If “putovanje kao pojedinačno iskustvo” [“a journey as an individual ex- perience”] produces “višak znanja” [“a surplus of knowledge”] compared to all those who did not participate in it, then “narativno oblikovanje toga znanja” [“narrative shaping of that knowledge”] is a process in which the traveller be-

4 Spira Kalik, Spomenica Beogradskog pevačkog društva prilikom pedesetogodišnjice [In Honour of the Belgrade Choral Society on its Fiftieth Anniversary], Belgrade, “Miloš Ve- liki” – Štamparija Bojovića i Mićića, 1903; Dragomir Brzak, Sa Avale na Bosfor [From Avala to the Bosporus], Knjaževac, Nota, 1980. (Subsequent quotations are taken from the 1897 edition.) 5 Cf. Goran Maksimović, “Putopisna Makedonija Spire Kalika i Branislava Nušića” [“Mac- edonia in Travelogues by Spira Kalik and Branislav Nušić”], Zbornik Matice srpske za književnost i jezik, 2006, 54/2, 33–50. 6 Slobodanka Peković, “Putopis – uslovljenost žanra” [“The Travelogue – The Contingency of a Genre”], in: Slobodanka Peković (ed.), Knjiga o putopisu [Book on the Travelogue], Belgrade, Institut za književnost i umetnost, 2001, 11–26. 7 Jacques Derrida, “The Law of Genre”, Critical Inquiry, 1980, 7/1, 59–65. 8 Dean Duda, Kultura putovanja. Uvod u književnu iterologiju [Travel Culture. An Introduc- tion to Literary Iterology], Zagreb, Ljevak, 2012. 9 Cf. Melita Milin, “Ciklusi obrada narodnih pesama kao specifični muzički putopisi” [“Cy- cles of Arranged Folk Songs as a Sort of Musical Travelogues”], in: Slobodanka Peković, op. cit., 261–268; Srđan Atanasovski, “Stevan Stojanović Mokranjac and Producing the Image of Serbian Folk-Song: Garlands from ‘Old Serbia’ as a Form of Musical Travelogue”, Muzikološki zbornik, 2012, XVIII/1, 75–90.

54 Milanović, B.: The Discourse of Travelogues about Stevan Mokranjac ... (52–69) comes the narrator.10 In all three travelogues about the Belgrade Choral Soci- ety’s tours, the act of narration was assumed by notable representatives, i.e. officials of the Society.11 They labelled their documents as “travel records” or “travel notes”, which was meant to understate their positions as authors and instead suggest an unpretentious chronicler or record keeper. Nevertheless, they used various literary techniques in their texts and so their narrations about his- tory, important buildings, people, and nature, as well as digressions in the form of dialogues and monologues, are precisely a proof of the hybrid nature of the travelogue genre. At the same time, the diversity of their discourses and inclu- sion of personal observations were meant to contextualize the main goals of these books, which permanently commemorated the distinctive “putnički kapi- tal” [“travel capital”]12 of the ensemble and shaped it as a tool of institutional self-presentation. Therefore, Kalik’s, Brzak’s, and Komarčić’s records were a kind of collective autobiographies. Written along the way, they followed the travels chronologically, thus bearing the marks of a collective diary and report. In a nutshell, they described the distinctive ‘travel culture’ of the Belgrade Cho- ral Society. This culture was concerned less with the performances themselves and more with the junctures of time, places, encounters, and impressions that, in the process of mobility, were read into their meanings. Since the crucial role was played by the link with the official national and political discourses of Ser- bia, it was this domain that, besides all their mutual connections, generated the main differences between the travelogues from the two time periods – Kalik’s and Brzak’s on the one hand, and Komarčić’s on the other. Therefore, these are also the fundamental relations whereby these travelogues become a major re- source for musicological research. Unlike Kalik and Brzak, whose voluminous narratives can also be inter- preted as the result of a certain literary experience on their part, Komarčić’s travelogue is more concise, imbued with his journalistic and feuilletonistic approach. However, all three writers had the same task: to use the genre of

10 Dean Duda, op. cit., 48. 11 Spira Kalik (1858–1909), a grammar-school teacher, translator, and author of studies in literature, history, and education, was vice-president (1893–1896) and manager (1897–1909) of the Belgrade Choral Society. Dragomir Brzak (1851–1904), the first secretary of the Pub- lic Funds Administration, translator, poet, writer, and playwright, popular for a while and remembered for his play Đido [Hero] (1892), co-written with Janko Veselinović, was the secretary of the Society in 1893 and 1896–1900. There is no available information on Milivoje L. Komarčić, son of Lazar Komarčić, a writer and journalist. According to the list of members of the Belgrade Choral Society administration, published in his travelogue, we know that he worked as a clerk and was the Society’s secretary at the time of the tour. 12 Dean Duda, op. cit., 14.

55 New Sound 43, I/2014 the travelogue to portray an ideal picture of the ensemble as a distinguished representative of a nation, thus contributing to the preservation and consolida- tion of the Society’s position at the top of the hierarchy of the nation’s artistic values. Therefore, all three travelogues begin by giving a special treatment to the Belgrade Choral Society’s national mission abroad. Kalik presents it as the pin- nacle of the institution’s gradual development, progressing side-by-side with occupying an ever larger geopolitical space, even with announcements of future tours: Svesno svoga zadatka i verno svojoj devizi ‘Pesmom za Srpstvo’, ovo je društvo za nekoliko godina prešlo unakrst celu Srbiju šireći srpske pesme … Docnije, puno vere u svoju spremu, ožareno rodoljubljem, pronelo ih je u srpske krajeve izvan Srbije, pa se, ohrabreno tolikim uspesima, odvažuje na pohod u Peštu i Beč, da tamo pred obrazovanom publikom … iznese srpske kompozicije i pokaže, da Srbija i u toj grani umetnosti zauzima znatno mesto [Aware of its mission and true to its motto, ‘Singing for Serbdom’, this Society, over the course of a few years, had travelled all over Serbia, spreading Serbian songs … Later, highly confident of its capabilities, burning with patriotism, it brought them to Serb-populated areas beyond Serbia and after that, encouraged by such great successes, it undertook a voyage to Budapest and Vienna in order to present Serbian compositions … there, before educated audiences, and show that Serbia occupies a high place even in that branch of art”].13 In his travel- ogue, Brzak regards its national mission abroad as something that already belongs to the tradition of the ensemble, which “širi divotne zvuke srpskih narodnih pesama po belome svetu [“is spreading the wonderful sounds of Serbian folk songs around the whole wide world”],14 while Komarčić, writing considerably later, was able to speak of a long-stand- ing historical continuity. Not forgetting to sketch a map of all of the Society’s previous tours abroad, he emphasizes the Society’s merit for enabling “lepa srp- ska pesma, obučena u svoje umetničko, savremeno ruho, kulminirala [je] međ’ pesmama svetskoga glasa” [“the beautiful Serbian song, in its contemporary artistic guise, to reach its summit among world-famous songs”].15 With Kalik and particularly with Komarčić, these discourses, conspicu- ously pertaining to an engaged national historiography, had some polemic over- tones as well, criticizing the perceived lack of public awareness in Serbia of the importance of music. Kalik spoke of “crv razdora” [“the apple of discord”] that undermined and obstructed “sve naše ustanove” [“all of our institutions”],

13 Kalik, op. cit., V–VI. Unrealized tour of Vienna is not mentioned in the other sources. 14 Brzak, op. cit., 6. 15 Komarčić, op. cit., 3–4.

56 Milanović, B.: The Discourse of Travelogues about Stevan Mokranjac ... (52–69) blaming narrow-minded personal interests for neglecting choral art, “koju svi kulturni narodi poštuju i s najvećom zainteresovanošću prate i potpomažu” [“which is respected, followed, and supported with the greatest interest among all civilised nations”] and considering it shallow, thus preventing the survival of choral societies in smaller towns.16 Komarčić openly pounced on partisan and political divisions and the destructive influence of petty politics on the activities of choral societies: ensembles “treba da imaju i viši i plemenitiji za- datak, no što je to sićušna i bedna dnevna politika” [“should have a task both higher and nobler than puny and deplorable petty politics”], because “pesma služi jedinstvu, mirenju i ljubavi, ne samo jednokrvne braće, već i čitavoga čovečanstva …” [“the purpose of song is the unity, reconciliation, and love, not only of consanguineous brothers, but of the entire humankind …”].17 Their criticism was spurred by the fact that the Society’s tours of Budapest in 1894 and Montenegro in 1910, that is, the ceremony marking the elevation of that principality to a kingdom, were assailed by a part of the Serbian press.18 The travelogue authors stood by the Society, stressing that its mission performed “velike usluge Srbiji i Srpstvu” [“a great service for Serbia and Serbdom”]19 and elevated them “na dostojnu visinu kulturnih država i naroda” [“to a height worthy of civilized states and nations”],20 while their discourses suggest that they were also reflecting on broader cultural issues. However, it was impossible to ignore the fact that the national mission of Mokranjac and the Belgrade Choral Society was connected to politics. The choir’s great tours abroad were assisted by representatives of the state and its diplomatic service, which was made possible thanks to contacts that Mokranjac and some prominent choir members had with important figures from Serbian political circles. Their links with state officials, as well as membership in Ma- sonic lodges and cooperation with the Saint Sava Society were important factors that helped the realization of the tours. Particularly helpful during their terms in office as high-ranking state officials were Freemasons Svetomir Nikolajević, who was Prime Minister in 1894, and Vladan Đorđević, Serbia’s ambassador in Istanbul in 1895 and Prime Minister in 1899 – the time when most of the tours took place.21 Also, the tours emphasized the strategic loci of Serbian politics,

16 Kalik, op. cit. 17 Komarčić, op. cit., 29. 18 More on the negative reactions to the tours in: Mirka Pavlović, “Sto četrdeset godina od rođenja Stevana Mokranjca” [“140 Years since the Birth of Stevan Mokranjac”], Zbornik Matice srpske za scenske umetnosti i muziku, 1996, 18–19, 174. 19 Brzak, op. cit., VIII. 20 Komarčić, op. cit., 32. 21 Biljana Milanović, “Odnos sfere države prema pevačkim udruženjima u Srbiji i Kralje-

57 New Sound 43, I/2014 which created an important dimension of the national mission of the Belgrade Choral Society. The presentation of Serbian national music among groups con- sidered an integral part of the Serbian nation was carried out in the context of Serbia’s long-standing aspirations for cultural unification and territorial expan- sion. And the tour of Thessaloniki and Skopje was the first instance of includ- ing music in Serbian national-propaganda activities in the South, which at the time were an official responsibility of the Educational-Political Division of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Serbian Consulates, as well as the Saint Sava Society. While the visit to Sofia and Plovdiv was marked by Serbia’s ambition to improve its relations with Bulgaria after the war of 1885 , the rest of the tours were oriented towards the centres of all the great powers, which were not only the main factors in Serbian state’s foreign policy, but also the dominant factors of politics in the Balkans and Europe in general. Kalik’s and Brzak’s travelogues not only complement all of the foregoing but enable us to interpret the broader context of the relation between politics and the national mission of Mokranjac and the Belgrade Choral Society on their tours of Thessaloniki, Skopje, Sofia, Plovdiv, and Istanbul. If Mokranjac’s creative and melographic work was at least partly aimed at mapping the space of and Macedonia, i.e. Old Serbia, and if his con- cert appearances with the choral ensemble in Thessaloniki and Skopje were an even more direct involvement with the Serbian propaganda in the South, then Kalik’s travelogue was part of the same activities, which enabled the Belgrade Choral Society and its prominent members to become an active part of the net- work of the political and intellectual practices of negotiating Serbian identity in the ethnically diverse regions of the Balkans that were still under Ottoman rule. Kalik’s text adhered to the pattern of a large number of travelogues deal- ing with the South at the turn of the century and hence this context can be used to interpret its glorification of Serbia and Serbdom, patriotic fervour, and wish to familiarize its readers with regions, places, areas, and people, cities like Skopje, Veles, and Thessaloniki, through detailed historical reminiscences, demographic facts, legends, and descriptions of nature.22 Kalik’s discourse also includes other usual travelogue topoi, such as descriptions of distrustful Turkish customs officers, or coping with Bulgarian educational propaganda,23 but his travelogue shows that including music in this entire context could offer a pos- sibility to overcome the complex and conflicting relations in this area. This new vini Jugoslaviji” [“Attitude of the Government Sphere towards Choral Societies in Serbia and the ”], Muzikologija, 2011, 11, 224. 22 Goran Maksimović, op. cit. 23 Kalik, op. cit., 12–15, 20–21, 46.

58 Milanović, B.: The Discourse of Travelogues about Stevan Mokranjac ... (52–69) way of communicating by presenting music is particularly prominent in Brzak’s travelogue, because it was “neutrven put” [“an untrodden path”], where one had to, as the author points out rather picturesquely, “zaokružiti šiljkaste diferencije, koje stoje između Srba i Bugara” [“blunt the spiky differences standing be- tween the Serbs and the Bulgarians”] and compel the elite of Istanbul’s Pera to bestow to the Choral Society “parčence svoje aristokratske pažnje” [“a morsel of their aristocratic attention”].24 Kalik’s and Brzak’s travelogues show that it was primarily the Serbian con- suls and ambassadors who took care of the ensemble’s need in these foreign en- vironments.25 They were in charge of the reception, accommodation, and public appearances of the choir, as well as many other formal and informal events, protocols, and interventions whilst presenting the ensemble to foreign officials, thus making the tours strategic events in the context of Serbian diplomacy. The tours included contacts with representatives of local Serbian com- munities, while in Thessaloniki the promotion of the concert and ticket sales were greatly improved by the help of prominent merchants and industrialists from those circles and the Jewish Community.26 The Society kept contact with Musa Bey, the governor of the city, who greeted them at the railway station, “da se društvu nađe pri ruci” [“to assist the Society if need be”], and “tolika predusretljivost od strane turske vlade” [“such attentiveness from the Turkish government”], as Kalik notes, made everyone feel “slobodnije u ovim novim

24 Brzak, op. cit., 5. 25 These included the consul and vice-consul in Skopje, Todor Stanković and Milojko Veselinović, consul Vasiljević in Thessaloniki, and ambassadors Rista Danić (Sofia) and Vladan Đorđević (Istanbul). The two diplomats stationed in Skopje were also prominent members of the Saint Sava Society. Moreover, Veselinović wrote a travelogue about Kos- ovo, which Mokranjac used as a reminder of folk-song texts whilst gathering folk-music material in Kosovo in 1896. Cf. Milojko Veselinović, Pogled kroz Kosovo [A View of Kos- ovo], Belgrade, Štamparija Kraljevine Srbije, 1895; Borislava Lilić, “Znamenita ličnost Sr- bije, nacionalni radnik i narodni poslanik, Todor Stanković” [“Distinguished Serbian Personage, National Worker, and Member of Parliament, Todor Stanković”], Peščanik – Časopis za istoriografiju, arhivistiku i humanističke nauke, 2003, 1; http://www.arhivnis. co.rs/cirilica/idelatnost/br%201/cznamlic.htm. 26 Kalik mentions the Alatini brothers, industrialists whose factory was visited by members of the Society; Antonije Jakša, a merchant; Nikola Savić; and a certain Bajona, a representa- tive of Schenker and Comp. The Society’s representatives also met Serbian teachers in Thes- saloniki and visited their school. Writing about the Jewish Community, Kalik stresses the affability of the Chief Rabbi and an advertisement for the concert published in Jewish papers in Thessaloniki. By contrast, the Greek consul was reserved – he even returned his concert ticket, a gesture of dissatisfaction with the programme notes, which were printed in French and Turkish, but not in Greek. Cf. Kalik, op. cit., 26–40.

59 New Sound 43, I/2014 i nepoznatim krajevima” [“more at ease in these new and unfamiliar parts”].27 According to Kalik, the ensemble’s performances at the Italian Theatre in Thes- saloniki and the Turati hotel in Skopje took place in packed halls and were met with standing ovations, whereas the audience in Skopje was particularly hetero- geneous, made of Serbian officials, Turkish dignitaries, the Russian and Greek consuls, members of the Greek clergy, Bulgarian teachers, and many female spectators.28 This was only the beginning of the international and decidedly élite tours that the ensemble undertook during the 1890s. During their tour of Sofia, Istan- bul, and Plovdiv, described by Brzak, members of the Belgrade Choral Society began having meetings with individuals occupying various positions in foreign governments, who expressed their interest in the ensemble not only by attending their public concerts, but also by providing official audiences, receptions, and opportunities to perform for the most exclusive royal and diplomatic circles. In Sofia, receptions for the ensemble were organized at the court of Prince Ferdinand I, at the residence of minister of foreign affairs Načević, and at the residence of mayor Ivan Grozev, and all of them, alongside other distinguished guests, attended the concert at the hall of the Slavyanska Beseda Cultural Club. Cooperation with civil society institutions and the Church was not neglected either: Mokranjac and the choir made contact with the Music Society and their leader Nikolaev, as well as the Metropolitan of Sofia, who served a liturgy with the Belgrade ensemble singing. Upon their return from Istanbul, the choir held a concert at the theatre in Plovdiv and the city officials organised a banquet for the city elite, alongside the mayor and several members of the Sobranie.29 The author of the travelogue describes all of these encounters as full of amicability and Slavonic solidarity. Minister Načević expressed his belief that the goal of the Bulgarian government was “gajenje najprijateljskijih odnosa sa susednom bratskom državom Srbijom” [“to cultivate the friendliest of relations with the neighbouring sister state of Serbia”] and that the choir’s visit was “na- jpodesniji put da se ti odnosi što skorije i što lakše vaspostave” [“the most suit- able way to establish such relations as soon and as easily as possible”].30 He paid tribute to Serbian culture and to the choir in particular: “Ja sam vazda go- vorio Bugarima: da se imaju mnogome čemu dobrome od Srba naučiti, iako su mi to često puta sporili. … Beogradsko pevačko društvo čuveno je sa valjanosti svoje i ja se veoma radujem što će moji Bugari videti koliko ste vi napredni i

27 Kalik, op. cit., 28. 28 Kalik, op. cit., 49–60. 29 Brzak, op. cit., 14–36, 154–157. 30 Brzak, op. cit., 20.

60 Milanović, B.: The Discourse of Travelogues about Stevan Mokranjac ... (52–69) na kulturnom polju. U nas nema gotovo nikakvih pevačkih društava” [“I have always told the Bulgarians that they could learn a lot from the Serbs, although I was often contradicted. … The Belgrade Choral Society is famous for its qual- ity and I am very happy that my Bulgarians will see how prosperous you are in the field of culture as well. We have almost no choral societies whatsoever”] – he claimed, outlining a similarly dire situation in Bulgarian theatre as well.31 The reception at the princely court was marked by official protocol, including introductions with toasts, as well as performances of the Serbian and Bulgar- ian anthems by the court orchestra. The conversation with the princely couple turned more intimate, however, and the author of the travelogue thought he could glimpse a “trajno bratimljenje Srpskoga i Bugarskoga naroda” [“perma- nent fraternisation of the Serbian and Bulgarian nations”], but also an honest dilemma as to whether mutual assurances of rapprochement would bear fruit.32 Finally, at the banquet in Plovdiv, numerous toasts were proposed, which “skroz disale prema Srbiji i srpskome narodu” [“were full of warm feelings for Ser- bia and the Serbian people”] and stressed “savez između Srbije i Bugarske” [“the alliance between Serbia and Bulgaria”], while “mnogi su Bugari plakali” [“many of the Bulgarians cried”] while the choir sang Our Father.33 In Istanbul, the singers were hosted by the Serbian ambassador on three occasions and greeted “kao prva velika korporacija Srba koja dođe na Bosfor, da osvetla ime Srbinovo” [“as the first great body of Serbs which came to the Bosporus to honour the good name of the Serbs”], as pioneers of “srpske pesme, srpske muzike, srpske kulture na Istoku” [“of Serbian song, Serbian music, Ser- bian culture in the East”].34 At the reception at Đorđević’s residence, they per- formed the Fifth and Eighth Garlands, which convinced the ambassador that the Society could “svuda producirati” [“entertain anywhere”].35 The Istanbul concert, in the Petits Champs theatre in Pera, where mostly French and Italian companies performed, was also highly élite in character.36 In addition to the Serbian ambas- sador and military attaché with their families, the audience included the ambas- sadors of the great powers with their entire missions, the Grand Vizier Cevat Pasha, ministers, marshals, pashas, feriks, rich people from Pera and Galata, as well as Serbian teachers and the rest of the Serbian community, together with

31 Brzak, op. cit., 21. 32 Brzak, op. cit., 34–35. 33 Brzak, op. cit., 156. 34 Brzak, op. cit., 74. 35 Brzak, op. cit., 91. 36 The price of a box was five golden liras (125 dinars) and due to a great demand, the entire balcony was refashioned into boxes; Brzak, op. cit., 117.

61 New Sound 43, I/2014 students of the Ottoman Academy. Brzak notes only the absence of the Greeks, which might have been related to an earlier decision by the Holy Synod not to allow the Society to sing in a Slavonic language in a church in Fanar.37 As the singers’ most exciting experience, Brzak described their concert at the court of Sultan Abdul Hamid II, when the Society was introduced to the ruler, adhering to a strict protocol, without direct intercommunication. Before the programme, Sultan’s anthem, Hamidiye, was sung, the first time ever in a choral arrange- ment, and afterwards the Sultan asked for the Serbian anthem to be performed. He showed his satisfaction with the concert by presenting Mokranjac and a few other members of the ensemble with orders and medals for the arts.38 Later tours by the Belgrade Choral Society, organized on the eve of the Balkan Wars and the First World War, included similar patterns of formal and informal performances, ritualised encounters accompanied by toasts, speeches, intoning the national anthems, but in a changed ideological and political con- text. The Belgrade ensemble actively supported the opinion of a large part of the intellectual and artistic elite that the Yugoslav nations needed to grow closer, which was supported by Serbian politics, too. Also, the pronounced per- meability of the identity boundaries corresponded with feelings of ethnicity in the narrow sense and so the acceptance of Yugoslavism was often perceived as preservation and strengthening of individual nations from that common circle. This is precisely attested by Komarčić’s book, showing that the tours of 1910 were marked by the ideologies of Serbdom and/or Yugoslavism, that the en- counters and events, regardless of ideological positions, necessarily included representatives of different ethnic communities, and that cooperation was aimed not only at state officials, but also at civil society to a great extent. The occasion for touring Sarajevo was the consecration of the flag of the Srpkinja Charity Association, followed by a separate concert of the Belgrade ensemble, organised after the celebration. The events were attended by mem- bers of all Serbian institutions in the city, Governor Varešanin, vice-speaker of Parliament Šola, banker Ješua D. Salom, and Croat and Muslim representatives. A dance party after the Society’s concerts went on until dawn, and “srpsko kolo vilo se i na samoj ulici koju je prekrilio silan svet” [“the Serbian round dance kept going even in the street, filled with a huge crowd”].39 The Society’s visit to Mostar included a concert, church service, and a banquet organized by the Mostar Serbs, but the formal and informal events were attended by members of all Serbian and Croatian institutions of the city, the ethnic-Serb member of

37 Brzak, op. cit., 118. 38 Brzak, op. cit., 133–141. 39 Komarčić, op. cit., 24.

62 Milanović, B.: The Discourse of Travelogues about Stevan Mokranjac ... (52–69) parliament Stojanović, merchants, bankers, as well as writers Aleksa Šantić and Svetozar Ćorović.40 According to Komarčić, in Cetinje, around 28,000 people had gathered for the coronation. The Belgrade Choral Society sang at the liturgy after the ceremony and gave three concerts for the representatives of the royal family, foreign courts, and the diplomatic corps, as well as a large number of journalists. They were guests at the banquet organized by the City of Cetinje and at the royal ball, they had an audience with Prince Aleksandar, as well as the newly-crowned King Nicholas, for whom they performed Primorski napjevi [Coastal Melodies] and Mokranjac’s Ninth Garland.41 In Šibenik they were hosted by local Serbs, in Split and Zadar they were greeted by the Croatians, and in each of the three cities they gave a concert, followed by a banquet with entertainment and toasts. From Rijeka they returned to Belgrade by train.42 The discourses of Serbdom and/or Yugoslavism were part of various as- pects of these visits, most obviously in press articles and toasts, often quoted by Komarčić. In that context, an ideological discrepancy in two reports carried by the Sarajevo newspaper Srpska riječ [Serbian Word] is worth noting. An item entitled “Dobro nam došla srpska pjesmo” [Welcome, Serbian song] announced the arrival of the oldest choir “iz srpske metropole, na čelu sa Vukom srpske narodne melodije” [“from the Serbian capital, headed by the Vuk Karadžić of Serbian folk melody”], using strongly nationalist rhetoric about Mokranjac’s art, which displayed “složenu melodiku srpske duše – od Budima do Jadrana, od Jadrana do Soluna” [“the complex melody of the Serbian soul – from Buda to the Adriatic Sea, from the Adriatic Sea to Thessaloniki”] and “zvucima obuh- vata i ujedinjuje sve što je srpsko” [“with its sounds embraced and united every- thing that is Serbian”].43 This was a suitable piece of propaganda for assembling as many Serbs as possible at the celebration mentioned above, especially on the occasion of the first organized arrival of guests from Serbia following the 1908 Austrian annexation of Bosnia and Herzegovina. However, a special edition of the same paper announced the Society’s second concert in Sarajevo with an

40 Komarčić, op. cit., 38–48. 41 Komarčić, op. cit., 60–76. 42 Komarčić, op. cit., 106–140. The individuals who greeted them in Split included mayor Jure Kapić and member of parliament Josip Smodlaka, one of the founders of the New Course policy. The president of the Belgrade Choral Society Mihailo Cukić appealed to Freemasons to cooperate with Croatian and Dalmatian politicians, in order to improve the position of the Serbs in these parts and spread Yugoslavism. It is possible that the Society’s amicable contact with these Croatians was the result of these efforts. See Biljana Milanović, “Stevan Stojanović Mokranjac et l’aspects de l’ethnicité et du nationalisme”, Études Balka- niques, 2006, 13, 165. 43 Komarčić, op. cit., 14–16.

63 New Sound 43, I/2014 article imbued with a sense of unity of the citizens of Sarajevo. The announce- ment emphasized the quality of the ensemble, which had toured great European capitals, and the public was encouraged to experience “do kog se savršenstva može dići srpska i jugoslovenska nacionalna muzika” [“the high level of perfec- tion attainable by Serbian and Yugoslav national music”]; in particular, it was stressed that the Society, at the request of the officials and “braće Muslimana i Hrvata, odlučilo da jednu noć posveti sarajevskoj publici bez razlike vjere” [“our Muslim and Croatian brothers, decided to dedicate one evening to the Sarajevo audience of all creeds”].44 Similar sentiments could be heard in toasts offered in Mostar, where Aleksa Šantić’s speech teemed with the poetical atmo- sphere of a burning Serbian patriotism, while others “dodirivale jedinstvo Srba i Hrvata, zbog čega je bilo oduševljenoga klicanja i burnih ovacija” [“related to the unity of the Serbs and Croats, which resulted in enthusiastic cheering and roaring ovations”].45 Wishing to distance himself from political disputes at the time, Komarčić was reserved in his nationalist-political narratives regarding the Society’s visit to Cetinje. Therefore, his description of the reception and speeches in Split saw the pinnacle of the discourses on the unity of the Serbs and the Croats. Namely, due to high traffic at the port of Kotor after the ceremony in Cetinje, as well as transport difficulties on the way from Cetinje to the coast, the Society was late for their scheduled arrivals to the cities along the Croatian coast, the concert in Dubrovnik had to be cancelled, and other performances rescheduled. Although the ship carrying the ensemble landed in Split in the middle of the night, the reception was impressive. In honour of the guests from Belgrade, the port was illuminated with Bengal lights; a crowd of some two thousand people waving their head scarves and hats could be seen from the open sea and their cheers of delight mingled with the sounds of music. Kalik described the fascination “ovako kraljevskim dočekom” [“with such a regal reception”], which contin- ued into an exchange of welcoming speeches by Jure Kapić and Josip Smod- laka, on the one hand, and the Society officials, on the other. Their words about “međusobna sloga” [“common unity”], “zajednički jezik od Triglava do Bal- kana” [“a common language from Mount Triglav to the Balkan Mountains”], “bratska ljubav” [“brotherly love”], and “srpsko-hrvatsko jedinstvo” [“Serbo- Croatian unity”] were cheered by the large crowd, comprising mostly young people, who then spontaneously formed a single file in order to accompany the guests to their hotel.46

44 Komarčić, op. cit., 20–22. 45 Komarčić, op. cit., 46. 46 Komarčić, op. cit., 112–116.

64 Milanović, B.: The Discourse of Travelogues about Stevan Mokranjac ... (52–69)

For the most part, the travelogues cover the concerts themselves rather briefly. It was important to emphasize their success, expressed through loud and long applauses, frequent extensions to the programme and repeated perfor- mances of compositions on the audience’s request, presenting Mokranjac with laurel wreaths, among other gifts, and soloists with floral arrangements, as well as appropriate speeches that confirmed an extremely positive reception of the performances. This typified way of concise reporting on public concert activities some- times also included a review of the repertoire. Thus Kalik lists most of the works performed at the Thessaloniki concert, but only as an aside, given in order to de- pict the joint enthusiasm of the performers and the audience.47 Brzak writes about the responses of the distinguished guests, not missing to mention the Princess’s praises to Mokranjac, since she thought that his interpretation was better even than the famous choir of Mr Slavyansky.48 Unlike Brzak, who rarely mentioned individual works from concert programmes, Komarčić appended his travelogue with a list of compositions performed at the tours he accompanied (Example 1). However, he, too, focuses on isolated moments and emotions, the feeling of collective unity. For instance, at the first Sarajevo concert “bura je dostigla svoj vrhunac kad dvoranom zagrme pesma: ‘Što no mi se Travnik zamaglio…’ A suze nam na oči navreše kad … oduševljeni slušaoci poneše na rukama kroz salu našeg horovođu g. Mokranjca, grleći ga i ljubeći ga” [“the tumult peaked when the hall thundered, singing: ‘Što no mi se Travnik zamaglio…’ And our eyes welled up with tears when … the overjoyed audience took our choirmaster, Mr Mokranjac, and carried him on their shoulders through the hall, hugging and kissing him”]. The second performance “bio je samo nastavak jučerašnjih ovacija. Muslimani su plakali slušajući turske pesme” [“was just a continuation of the ovations from the night before. The Muslims cried listening to Turkish songs”] and the audience generally preferred the Fifth Garland and Kozar [The Goatherd].49 Komarčić also quotes two reviews from the local press: a report on the concert in Šibenik, summarizing the impressions about the ensemble, i.e. the remarkable training, quality, and character of the voices,50 and one from Split, emphasizing local enthusiasm about some of the works. The men’s choir was “burno aklamiran od općinstva, koje je poustajalo na noge” [“loudly acclaimed by the audience, who stood up on their feet”] when they performed the Croatian anthem. Mokranjac’s compositions Kozar, the Twelfth Garland, and Dve orijen- talke [Two Oriental Songs] “bile su upravo s udivljenjem slušane, a iznenadila

47 Kalik, op. cit., 49–51. 48 Brzak, op. cit., 28. 49 Komarčić, op. cit., 19, 22. 50 Komarčić, op. cit., 128.

65 New Sound 43, I/2014 je izvedba poznatih Primorskih napjeva” [“were listened to with nothing short of admiration, and there was surprise on the performance of the famous Coastal Melodies”]. Folk melodies “u krasnom umjetničkom ruhu” [“in beautiful artistic attire”] and “s beskraj varijacija, s divnim motivima” [“with countless variations, with wonderful motives”] established a strong rapport with the audience: “Bio je to jedan umjetnički užitak rijedak, i bio je to duh narodne duše, velike i poetične, koji je brujao kazalištem” [“It was a rare artistic pleasure, and it was the spirit of the national soul, broad and poetic, that resonated around the theatre”].51 Admittedly, neither Kalik nor Brzak nor Komarčić were professional mu- sicians, but nor were their travelogues, aimed at a broader readership, meant to discuss expert topics related to the compositions and their interpretations. The repertoire of the 1890s tours, which was always dominated by Mokranjac’s works, also included examples of German, French, Russian, and Czech choral heritage, drawing a line of national tradition on the map of an imaginary Eu- rope, while the repertoire from 1910 mapped Yugoslav territories.52 The authors of the travelogues only hinted at that, writing about the impressions and the atmosphere of rapport with the audience created by Mokranjac’s performances. The concerts were significant moments, which – together with informal events, encounters, banquets, toasts, anthems, entertainment with music and dance, as well as many other activities – created an integral part of the ‘travel culture’ of the Belgrade ensemble. The authors also illustrated the atmosphere of these travel experiences by photographs. Kalik and Brzak mostly portrayed the cities, while Komarčić created a sort of parallel visual narrative about places, land- scapes, the people, and the choir, depicted in 82 photographs (Examples 2–5). The travelogues attest to an attempt to expand the domain of Serbian dip- lomatic activities by a systematic inclusion of music into these strategies, pin- pointing its historical role in the development of Serbian cultural diplomacy. In the context of political instrumentalization, the tours were friendly missions abroad, supposed to leave the image of a peace-loving and prosperous Serbia, ready to present its national tradition in foreign contexts. The authors perma- nently commemorated the Belgrade Choral Society and Mokranjac as the main protagonists of that mission and, through a popular genre at the time, empha- sized the significance of the ensemble and its leader, contributing toward main- taining and strengthening their positions at the top of the hierarchy of national artistic values. Translated by Goran Kapetanović

51 Komarčić, op. cit., 119. 52 Cf. Biljana Milanović, “Stevan Stojanović Mokranjac et l’aspects de l’ethnicité et du na- tionalisme”, op. cit., 164.

66 Milanović, B.: The Discourse of Travelogues about Stevan Mokranjac ... (52–69)

Example 1: The repertoire of the Belgrade Choral Society on their tour of 1910. Choirmaster: Stevan Mokranjac, Choirmaster II: Hinko Maržinec. Mil. L. Komarčič, Na Adriju, 1911, 146–147.

Example 2: Belgrade Choral Society in Thessaloniki, 1894. Spira Kalik, Iz Beograda u Solun i Skoplje, 1894, III.

67 New Sound 43, I/2014

Example 3: Belgrade Choral Society in Plovdiv, 1895. Dragomir Brzak, Sa Avale na Bosfor, 1897, 152–153.

Example 4: From the Belgrade Choral Society’s tour of Sarajevo, 1910. Serbian round dancing in the courtyard of the Srpkinja Charity Association. Mil. L. Komarčić, Na Adriju, 1911, 23.

68 Milanović, B.: The Discourse of Travelogues about Stevan Mokranjac ... (52–69)

Example 5: From the Belgrade Choral Society’s tour of Dalmatia, 1910. Disembarking following their arrival from Šibenik. Mil. L. Komarčić, Na Adriju, 1911, 129.

69 New Sound 43, I/2014

Article received on 28th Jun 2014 Article accepted on 30th Jun 2014 UDC: 78.07(=162.3)(497.11)"1800/1900" 78.071.1:929 Мокрањац Стојановић С.(082)

Milica Gajić* University of Arts in Belgrade Faculty of Music Faculty Library

CZECH MUSIC AND MUSICIANS AS MOKRANJAC’S COMPANIONS ON HIS PATH TOWARDS THE PROFESSIONALIZATION OF SERBIAN MUSIC

Abstract: The great anniversary – 100 years since the death of Stevan Stojanović Mokran- jac – is an opportunity to survey his overall activity from a different angle, which has so far been sidelined in our historiography: his contacts and cooperation, but also discords with some of the many Czech musicians who played various roles in Serbian music during the 1800s and early 1900s. For the sake of clarity, they are presented here in the context of those institutions where Mokranjac was personally most involved and made important achievements along various developmental lines of our music history: in the domains of interpretation, teaching, and compositional creativity. Also, the paper mentions only those who helped Mokranjac as his driving force, loyal, or like-minded associates in the realiza- tion of his diverse musical and creative intentions. Key words: Stevan Mokranjac, Czech musicians in Serbia, Belgrade Choral Society, Serbian Music School, Belgrade , First Belgrade Gymnasium

For a long time, there were no conditions for the development of cultural, including musical, life in Serbia, because our people carried the burden of long struggles and servitude on their own shoulders. Likewise, there was no econ- omy to speak of that could support a spiritual superstructure until the 19th cen- tury, when nationalist movements abruptly arose and a bourgeois class became rapidly established. Throughout the 19th century music was present in Serbia in various ways, but its development still hinged on many ravages of war, long-

* Author contact information: [email protected]

70 Gajić, M.: Czech Music and Musicians as Mokranjac’s Companions ... (70–90) standing oppression in the country and frequent migrations of the population. Plenty of Czech musicians decided on to pursue their professional lives in Ser- bia, and in such times they still managed to bring outstanding progress to our musical life in general. It cannot be disputed that the Czech musicians who worked in Serbia in the 19th century improved and, in many ways, professional- ized our music life overall. Besides, they fused their knowledge and diligence with numerous aspects of the development of Serbian art music, a fact which Stevan Mokranjac was able to recognize, sometimes even choosing some of them for his closest associates. Although many foreign musicians, among them Czechs too, came to the Principality of Serbia looking for a livelihood rather than, as was the general opinion, prompted by some pan-Slavic ideas and a desire to enlighten the Serbian people, only those who had graduated from the Conservatory could realize significant achievements and influence the development of musical art in our midst. Stevan Mokranjac, who occupies a significant place in the history of music in Serbia, inevitably met them, and often cooperated with some of them through- out his life, in those aspects where his overall activity and work built a firm and reliable foundation for Serbian music: first and most of all, in teaching – by es- tablishing and skilfully managing the Serbian Music School, and by his work at the First Belgrade Gymnasium; then in the domain of performing, where, apart from choral singing, he broadened the horizons of domestic audience by the activities of his chamber ensemble, the first string quartet assembled in Serbia. Stating the relevant facts and historical evidence on the cooperation and mutual influences between Mokranjac and certain Czech musicians will, I be- lieve, successfully illuminate the complementary relationship between their ac- tivities, because some of these events were even groundbreaking in the history of Serbian music.

Belgrade String Quartet1 With a few of his colleagues, Stevan Mokranjac founded the first string quartet in Serbia, whose activities were pioneering in the cultivation of cham- ber music in our midst. Chamber music-making was extremely important for Serbian music, despite the fact that in the 19th century it still thrived almost ex- clusively on vocal compositions. Following the pattern of ‘developed Europe’, the first chamber ensembles were nevertheless soon established in our country

1 Besides playing in the string quartet, Mokranjac also wrote some works for chamber string ensembles: in August 1875 he wrote songs for string quartet: Sve se kunem; Ti momo, ti de- vojko; and Sunce jarko ne sijaš jednako. Also, he arranged the piece entitled Slovensko pot- puri [Slavonic Potpourri] by Ferdinand Langer for string quintet.

71 New Sound 43, I/2014 too. The first among them was Srpski gudački kvartet [Serbian String Quar- tet], whose active members, among others, were certain Czech musicians who led their professional lives in Serbia at the time. Since the very beginning and the first concert, the Belgrade String Quartet was highly important for Serbian music. They managed to put an end to the practice of omnipresent amateurism in instrumental performance, increasing the professionalism, and to push Ser- bian music at the time somewhat closer to the European trends in the domain. The founding of a string quartet was very significant for Serbian music. Con- cert activities in Belgrade during the late 1880s were increased precisely due to the establishing of the string quartet, whose founding members were Ferdinand Melcher, Stevan Šram, Josef Svoboda and Stevan Mokranjac. The founding charter of this quartet has been preserved in the Music School archives, and I quote it in its entirety due to its historic significance: Danas 26. septembra 1889. g. osniva se gudački kvartet, koji ima zadatak, da izvođenjem klasične i slovenske muzike, priređuje koncerte, te da širi muzikalni ukus u prestolničke publike, i time da popune prazninu, koja se odavna oseća. Svaki član obavezuje se i daje poštenu reč, da će svim silama nastojati da toj uzvišenoj celјi koristi, da od svoje strane ne požali truda, da uredno na probe dolazi i da svoju partiju savesno študira, kako bi kvartet stajao na visini, na kojoj stoje podobna udruženja po drugim srećnijim varošima. Udruženje će postizati svoju celј: 1. Redovnim i prilјežnim upražnjavanjem rada iz te struke (Kammermusik) 2. Priređivanjem koncerata, da bi uzvišeni muzikalni ukus zahvatio korena u naše publike 3. Osnivanjem biblioteke muzikalne, koja će sadržavati dela kamerna 4. Potpomaganjem Srba i srpskih građana, koji bi se odvažili, da svojom stvaralačkom moći, porade na komponovanju muzikalnih dela iz te struke 5. Moralnim zastupanjem i odbranom uzajamnom protivu svakoga napada, ako bi ovaj, ne da Bože, bio upravlјen protivu celјi udruženja Potpisati se u svemu ovome složili i međusobno zaverili, da savesno i pošteno vrše gornji zadatak.2

[Today, on September 26th, 1889, a string quartet is founded, with the task to hold concerts of classical and Slavonic music and to propagate good taste in music among the audiences of the capital, thus filling a long-standing void.

2 J. Zorko: “Osnivači gudačkog kvarteta i kamermuzičkih koncerata u Srbiji” [“Founders of the String Quartet and Chamber Music Concerts in Serbia”], Muzički glasnik, 1922, 3, 3–4; Kosta P. Manojlović, Spomenica Stevana St. Mokranjca [In Honour of Stevan St. Mokran- jac], Belgrade, Državna štamparija, 1923, 51–59.

72 Gajić, M.: Czech Music and Musicians as Mokranjac’s Companions ... (70–90)

Each member obliges and solemnly pledges to give his best to achieve this sublime goal, to make every effort to attend the rehearsals regularly, and to study his part thoroughly, in order to make the quartet reach a high level, comparable to similar societies in other more prosperous cities. The society will accomplish its goal: 1) By exercising regular and diligent work in that the relevant domain (Kammer- musik) 2) By giving concerts so that a sublime musical taste may take root among our audi- ence 3) By establishing a music library, which will contain chamber works 4) By supporting Serbs and Serbian citizens endeavouring to employ their composi- tional skills to write musical works in this domain 5) By ethically representing and defending each other from any attack that, God forbid, might be directed against the society’s goal The undersigned have agreed on all of this and vowed to perform the tasks described above in a conscientious and honest manner.] The Quartet rehearsed and held concerts mostly at the Građanska kasina Social Club, and the first public performance took place on 12 November 1889. However, more precise data as to why the ensemble ceased to exist are not available – perhaps “teške prilike u kojima su se nalazili naši muzičari i razne trzavice u otadžbini” [“hardship that befell our musicians and constant frictions in the homeland”],3 but it is assumed that they were active for four full concert seasons. They performed as “četiri muzičara ozbiljna i svesna svojih visokih zadataka” [“four serious musicians, aware of their serious tasks”].4 By name, the members of this chamber ensemble were: Ferdinand Melcher, particularly renowned as a teacher of stringed instruments who gave private lessons, and played the first violin; Stevan St. Mokranjac, who played the sec- ond violin; Stevan Šram, who played the viola, but otherwise he was a reliable Mokranjac’s protector who, among other things, exercised his influence at the Ministry of Education to extend and finance Mokranjac’s music studies; and Josef Svoboda, a Czech who played the violoncello. The Quartet planned to organize a cycle of six concerts every year, that is, every season. The ensemble mostly performed classical repertoire and works by Slavonic authors, sometimes with guests. Other soloists performed and made music with them at concert evenings, such as the pianist Sidonija Ilić, the singer Ana Šram, and the composer Stanislav Binički.5 The quartet’s repertoire ori-

3 J. Zorko, op. cit. 4 Ibid. 5 The periodicals of the time contain many reports on the ensemble’s activities in coopera-

73 New Sound 43, I/2014 entation displayed their desire to meet professional criteria in their choice of music works, and presumably in the quality of their performance as well. They played compositions by Haydn, Mozart, Beethoven, Dvořák, Svendsen, Volk- mann and Svoboda – Klavirski kvartet na narodne melodije [Piano Quartet on Folk Tunes]6. In addition to string quartets, they also performed piano trios, violin sona- tas, etc. The members of this ensemble, whose performance capabilities were apparently not negligible, commemorated the 100th anniversary of W. A. Mo- zart’s death in 1891 with a concert dedicated to his compositions.7 They per- formed at concert evenings organized by other artistic and cultural societies, e.g. Lumír,8 alongside other soloists and ensembles. It was a regular practice of Czech immigrants to report frequently and me- ticulously about the activities of Czech societies in countries where they lived and Czech periodicals back home regularly published such items as a gesture of tion with other musicians. Here are some of them, as they may be important as sources of information on Mokranjac’s life and work: “Koncert E. Mašeka uz sudelovanje kvarteta” [“E. Mašek’s concert with the participation of the quartet”], Male novine, 14 September 1890, 2; “Sa Beogradskim društvom za gimnastiku i borenje uz prijateljsko sudelovanje…” [“With Belgrade Gymnastics and Martial Arts Society, with friendly participation…”], Nar- odni dnevnik, 17 October 1890, 2 and Srpske novine, 17 October 1890; “Na koncertu Be- ogradskog pevačkog društva” [“At the concert of Belgrade Choral Society”], Srpske novine, 10 March 1891. 6 Relevant information about the ensemble can also be found in the following sources: Sonja Marinković, “Život i rad Stevana Mokranjca u svetlu aktuelnih muzikoloških istraživanja” [“Life and Work of Stevan Mokranjac in Light of Current Musicological Research”], in: Ivana Perković Radak and Tijana Popović Mlađenović (eds.), Mokranjcu na dar: prošeta – čudnih čuda kažu – 150 godina 1856, 2006, Belgrade, Fakultet muzičke umetnosti, and Ne- gotin, Dom kulture “Stevan Mokranjac”, 2006, 21; Roksanda Pejović, Srpska muzika 19. veka (Izvođaštvo, Članci i kritike, Muzička pedagogija) [Serbian Music in the 19th Century (Performance, Articles and Reviews, Music Pedagogy)], Belgrade, FMU, 2001; Roksanda Pejović, Koncertni život u Beogradu 1919–1941 [Concert Life in Belgrade 1919–1941], Belgrade, FMU, 2004. 7 Anonymous, “Šesti koncert Beogradskog gudačkog kvarteta – 100. godišnjica smrti Mo- carta” [“The sixth concert of the Belgrade String Quartet – the 100th anniversary of Mozart’s death”], Odjek, 5 April 1891, 3. 8 Made of several departments, including a choir, Lumír was a Czech entertainment society whose primary task was cultural work and keeping contact with their homeland. It was estab- lished in 1888 in Belgrade, at the Bajloni Public House near the railway station, and occupied those premises until 1914. After the First World War, the society was restored on a broader basis and under the name Československá obec (The Czechoslovakian Community). Contem- porary daily press frequently carried announcements of their performances, with focus on their achievements and cooperation with other artists, including the Belgrade String Quartet and Mokranjac. Cf. Srpska nezavisnost, 30 May 1891, 3; Velika Srbija, 15 March 1892, 2.

74 Gajić, M.: Czech Music and Musicians as Mokranjac’s Companions ... (70–90) support. Here I will present – for the first time in our country, as far as I know – some of these reports which are of interest for our subject, primarily regarding the activities of one of the quartet members, Mr Svoboda. In the same year when the Lumír society was founded, one could read the following news item as well: “Beograd u Srbiji. Ovdašnje češko zabavno društvo Lumir priređuje dana 6. jula na dan uspomene na spaljivanje Jana Husa, veliku večernju proslavu u prostori- jama društva Kod Hajduk Veljka. Program čine numere deklamovanja, muzike i pozorišne. Prolog za proslavu napisao je Jos. Zd. Raušar… Gospodin Jos. Svo- boda, učitelj muzike sastavio je za ovu proslavu za violončelu sopstvenu smešu od čeških narodnih pesama pod nazivom Uspomena na domovinu. Biće odigran i peti čin tragedije Jan Hus Matije Bana… Sav prihod biće namenjen uspešnom popravljanju spomenika Janu Husu” [“Belgrade, Serbia. On 6 July, in memory of the burning of Jan Hus, the local Czech Entertainment Society Lumír will organize a great evening celebration at the Kod Hajduk Veljka Society. The eve- ning will feature declamatory numbers, music, and theatre. The prologue was written by Jos. Zd. Raušar… Mr Jos. Svoboda, a music teacher, has written for this occasion a medley of Czech folk melodies for violoncello, entitled Memo- ries of the Homeland. The fifth act of Matija Ban’s tragedy Jan Hus will be performed… The entire revenue will be allotted for successful restoration of the Jan Hus monument”].9 Also this: “Beograd u Srbiji. Ovdašnje češko zabavno društvo Lumir priredilo je proslavu povodom otvaranja svoje nove zgrade na Slaviji koncert uz sudelovanje g. D. Jankovića i J. Milankovića… Da pojas- nimo, predsednik našeg društva je Fr. Nekvasil, arhitekta, a J. Svoboda profesor muzike, horovođa i danas društvo broji 70 članova” [“Belgrade, Serbia. The local Czech Entertainment Society Lumír organized a celebration to mark the opening of their new building on , as well as a concert featuring Mr D. Janković and Mr J. Milanković … To clarify, the president of our society is F. Nekvasil, an architect, and J. Svoboda, a music teacher, is the choirmaster, while the society presently counts 70 members”].10

Serbian Music School11 It is well known that Stevan Mokranjac founded Srpska muzička škola [Ser- bian Music School] as the first regular music school in Serbia at the time and

9 Dalibor, 1888, 29, 229 (Czech texts translated into Serbian by Milica Gajić). 10 Dalibor, 1888, 47–48, 372. 11 Stana Đurić Klajn, “Muzičko školovanje u Srbiji do 1914. godine” [“Music Education in Serbia before 1914”], in: Branka Radović (ed.), Muzička škola “Mokranjac”: prvih 100 godina – 1899–1999 [Mokranjac Music School: The First 100 years – 1899–1999], Bel- grade, Muzička škola “Mokranjac”, 1999, 5–23.

75 New Sound 43, I/2014 thus completed his work by creating the first Serbian institution of music edu- cation. In 1916, its name was changed to Beogradska muzička škola [Belgrade Music School], in 1919 to Muzička škola u Beogradu [The Music School in Belgrade], and finally in 1944 to Muzička škola Mokranjac [Mokranjac Music School]. “Srpska muzička škola postala je u jedno doba, kada je kulturni nivo našega društva počeo da se diže i dobija sve određeniji i zreliji izraz. Kada je interes inteligencije postao širi i na sve se kulturne faktore počela obraćati pažnja koju oni i zaslužuju… u našoj sredini ona (je) postala potreba jedna, jedan deo kulturnih težnji i kulturnih ideala… Iz početka skromna, svakim je danom, bez mnogo pompe i reklame, kao savestan radenik koji se uzda u svoje mišice, napredovala i danas može sa zadovoljstvom da posmatra plodove svoga intenzivnog i savesnog rada.” [“The Serbian Music School was founded at a time when the cultural level of our society began to rise and acquire more defi- nite and mature shape. When interests of the intellectuals broadened and when all the cultural factors received their due attention… it became a necessity in our midst, a part of our cultural aspirations and cultural ideals… Modest at first, it progressed day after day, without much pomp and publicity, like a diligent worker relying on his muscles, and today it can contentedly enjoy the fruits of its vigorous and conscientious work.”]12 It was the music education provided by the Serbian Music School that first gave Serbia genuine musical enlightenment, knowledge of the artistic achieve- ments of the developed world, and genuine contact with foreign art music. As music teachers, the Czechs worked not only in this school but also in many gen- eral secondary schools. However, their work was not necessarily greeted with wholehearted enthusiasm.13

12 St. Mokranjac, “Izveštaj o radu u Srpskoj muzičkoj školi za školsku 1907/08 i predlog za budući rad” [“Report on the activities of the Serbian Music School in the academic year of 1907/08 and a proposal regarding future activities”], Prosvetni glasnik, 30/1909, 69–75; “Izveštaj o radu Srpske muzičke škole od prvih dana do školske 1911/1912” [“Report on the activities report of the Serbian Music School from its founding to the academic year of 1911/1912”]. Arhiv grada Beograda [Belgrade City Archives]. 13 Not everyone appreciated such kind of their involvement in Serbian music education: “Doneli su nam germanizovanu početnu muzičku nastavu koja je morala delovati kao strano telo, kao nešto potpuno neprihvatljivo za naš muzički mentalitet. Prisustvo čeških muzičara nije dalo odgovarajuće plodove zato što su u Kneževinu Srbiju dolazili i nedovoljno obra- zovani muzikanti” [“They brought us Germanized elementary music education, which must have felt like a foreign body, like something completely unacceptable to our musical mental- ity. The presence of Czech musicians did not yield appropriate results also because it was insufficiently educated bandsmen who came to the Principality of Serbia”]. Zorislava Vasiljević, “Milovuk i Mokranjac, muzički prosvetitelji” [“Milovuk and Mokranjac, Musi- cal Enlighteners”], in: Mokranjac, Negotin, 2001, 3, 16.

76 Gajić, M.: Czech Music and Musicians as Mokranjac’s Companions ... (70–90)

Founded under the patronage of Beogradsko pevačko društvo [Belgrade Choral Society], the School opened at the end of the 19th century, on 21 Sep- tember 1899, the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary. Upon its foundation, the school board was appointed and rules about studying and funding were defined. At first, only four teachers were employed, including the Czech Jovan Ružička, who taught the violin. In the academic year of 1900/01 the school bought a vio- loncello, and Vićeslav Rendla (Vítězslav Rendla) was hired as the first teacher of this instrument. By establishing the Serbian Music School in Belgrade, music education in Serbia for the first time received a professionally stable basis and its steady de- velopment could begin. By his activities as the headmaster, Stevan Mokranjac seems to have succeeded in bringing a European spirit to it, because the school was not only significant as the sole institution for educating future professional musicians, but also as an active organizer of concerts in Belgrade. The fact is that Stevan Mokranjac and his associates ascribed the successes of their stu- dents primarily to the School in general. And their teaching methods relied on foreign, mostly West European experiences, because the curricula and syllabi were modelled after the leading European conservatories of the time.14 The first class of 20 students were taught by the initial team of teachers, several of whom were Czechs. Jovan Ružička (1876–1945) taught the violin. At present, all we know about him is that he was Josef Hellmesberger’s student and former concertmaster of the Budapest Opera. They were very soon joined by Vićeslav Rendla (1868–1933), who was a violoncellist, music teacher, and conductor. He was invited to teach the violoncello, double bass and flute at the School, and occupied those positions until his death. In addition, he also con- ducted the School orchestra. He was a Czech musician who acquired a basic training in music knowledge from his father and came to Belgrade as early as 1890 as an orchestral and chamber musician. From 1899 he was a member of Beogradski vojni orkestar [Belgrade Military Band], the bandmaster of the 6th regiment, as well as a violoncellist in the theatre orchestra and Mertl’s salon orchestra. He was a typical Czech musician, highly skilled, who had acquired valuable experience working in Paris and the United States, before coming to Belgrade. Until his death, he also worked as a flute teacher in the School, as well as the conductor of the student orchestra, and leader of the chamber en- sembles. He composed a large number of marches, overtures and other light- genre works, using motives from Serbian folk music. Emil Sachs (1884–1968) was hired as the third violin teacher in the School. This Czech musician, who took up his duties after working in theatre orches-

14 S. Marinković, op. cit., 22–23.

77 New Sound 43, I/2014 tras in Novi Sad and Belgrade, would later be known to us as Milan Saks, an excellent symphonic and operatic conductor, as well as the director of the opera houses in Zagreb and Brno. One should add that, in our country, this capable musician was the concertmaster of the theatre orchestra in Belgrade from 1907 to 1910, as well as a teacher in the music school in Novi Sad from 1910 to 1911. After that, he first became the concertmaster and accompanist at the opera house in Zagreb, and later the conductor and director of the same institution.

First Belgrade Gymnasium From 1887 to 1900, Stevan Mokranjac worked as a music teacher in Prva beogradska gimnazija [The First Belgrade Gymnasium]. After completing his education in in 1887, he returned to Belgrade and was soon appointed conductor, choirmaster, and teacher at the Belgrade Choral Society, which he continued to lead until his death. Besides, he also found his humble Serbian job at the time, because in the August of the same year he was hired as a music teacher at the First Belgrade Gymnasium. There, Mokranjac also acted as a pioneer of music education, musical culture, and music creativity, using West European standards of music teaching adapted to the conditions in our country. In his time, the school was called Gimnazija Aleksandra I [Alexander the First Gymnasium], and Mokranjac, as a former pupil, became a music teacher. Sing- ing lessons, which he gave, were divided into theoretical and practical parts. At that time, music teachers were obliged to teach the pupils how to play the violin, which led to the hiring of Josef Svoboda (1856–1898), mentioned previ- ously in the section on the String Quartet. He was an instrumentalist, teacher, and composer of Czech origin. He studied double bass at the Prague Conserva- tory from 1870 to 1876. Beside the aforementioned educational work, in 1894 he established his own private music school, where he mostly taught the violin to young children. Among his pupils was even King Aleksandar Obrenović. In addition, he participated in many other kinds of music activities. Kamerni orkestar Akademskog muzičkog društva [Chamber Orchestra of the Academic Music Society], made of professionals and amateurs, had a short concert activity in Belgrade, during the 1890s, and their successes should be credited to their conductor, Josef Svoboda. He received the Order of Saint Sava in 1883. Fur- thermore, he composed works in the Serbian national style, for orchestra, piano trio, and piano, mostly based on Serbian folk melodies: two collections, Srpske narodne i omiljene pesme i igre [Serbian Folk and Popular Songs and Dances] for piano and Srbijanka (printed in Prague)15 for piano four hands; a Diverti-

15 Czech periodicals at the time carried reports on this work being printed by the renowned

78 Gajić, M.: Czech Music and Musicians as Mokranjac’s Companions ... (70–90) mento for piano trio, and a number of songs. He wrote and published two text- books: Teorija muzike [Music Theory]16 and Škola za violinu [School of Violin Playing].17 Josef Svoboda taught music in the First Belgrade Gymnasium until 1886. Then Stevan Mokranjac joined this institution, upon returning from his studies in 1887, as a ‘third class teacher’, and remained there until 1899, when he was promoted to ‘senior teacher’ and transferred to the Orthodox Seminary. His post in the Gymnasium was taken by Toša Andrejević. Several reports read that Mokranjac taught solfeggio “po učeničkim gru- pama iz sviju razreda” [“to groups of pupils of all classes”],18 but further de- scriptions of the curriculum show that he taught music theory only to groups of first-grade students, whereas in more senior grades he only led rehearsals of individual voice parts and prepared performances of choral songs. As almost no other educational institution in Serbia, the Gymnasium had two music teachers – Mokranjac was in charge of solfeggio from 1887, and Svoboda of the violin. Josef Svoboda taught the violin to a group of more talented pupils, and, with Mokranjac, he also founded the Gymnasium Orchestra. They also made the cur- riculum together.19 Apart from working together as gymnasium teachers and members of the first string quartet, they were also Freemasons. Together with Svoboda, Mokranjac joined Freemasonry in 1890 and became a member of the lodge “Brother” in Belgrade. Most probably, they were introduced to the organiza- tion by Sreten Stojković, a high-positioned Freemason who was the headmaster of the Gymnasium where they both taught, but also one of the directors of the Belgrade Choral Society and, later, a chief administrator at the Ministry of Edu- cation.20 Regardless of that, in 1894, Stevan Mokranjac resigned from all of his music publisher Urbanek; cf. Dalibor, 1889, 38, 303. According to currently available infor- mation, this composition was published twice in our country: (1) Srbijanka (Kolo), J. Svo- boda, Beograd, (S. a.): Složio Jos. Svoboda; (2) Srbijanka. Splet srp. narod. igara. Beograd, Jovan Frajt (S. a.), Narodno izdanje, 122. 16 This work had as many as three different editions, which is an undisputable indicator of its great usefuleness: (1) Teorija muzike. Napisao J. Svoboda, Beograd. Izdanje knjižare D. M. Đurića, 1895; (2) Teorija muzike. Napisao J. Svoboda, Beograd, 1908; (3) Teorija muzike za učenike građanskih škola. Napisao J. Svoboda. Beograd /1914/. 17 Škola za violinu. Za svoje učenike sastavio J. Svoboda, Beograd. Štamparija i litografija Petra Đurčića (S. a.). 18 Zorislava Vasiljević, “Stevan Mokranjac u Prvoj beogradskoj gimnaziji” [“Stevan Mokranjac at the First Secondary School of Belgrade”], in: Rat za srpsku muzičku pismenost [War for Serbian Musical Literacy], Belgrade, Prosveta, 2000, 180–183. 19 Ibid. 20 Cf. K. Manojlović, Spomenica Stevana St. Mokranjca, op. cit. and re-edition: K. Manojlović, Stevan Stojanović Mokranjac, Negotin, 1988, 75–76; Z. Nenezić, Masoni u

79 New Sound 43, I/2014 positions. The conflict arose because Mokranjac spent more time on a journey to Vienna then allowed.21 In spite of this conflict, Stojković always cherished friendly feelings towards Mokranjac and only had the kindest words for him, before and after the incident.

The First Belgrade Choral Society From 1887 to his death, Stevan Mokranjac was the choirmaster of Beograd- sko pevačko društvo [Belgrade Choral Society]. A chronological survey of this choir’s activities yields numerous contacts of the ensemble and Stevan Mokran- jac with Czech music and Czech musicians. On this occasion we will highlight only the details pertinent to the present subject of Stevan Mokranjac’s contacts with some of the Czech musicians who participated in, and contributed to, the activities of this important choral society. In 1877 Ferdinand Melcher accepted the choirmaster position, but he was replaced later in the same year by Stevan Šram.22 Both of them later joined Mokranjac in the string quartet. In 1880, Stevan Šram, as the choirmaster at the time, formed a permanent mixed choir (with 11 female singers), and upon his re- quests new compositions were obtained, including works by Antonín Dvořák. In 1883, the Society celebrated its 30th anniversary with concerts including pieces by Czech authors.23 In 1890, Mokranjac conducted a concert at the National The-

Jugoslaviji [Freemasons in Yugoslavia], Belgrade, Narodna knjiga, 1984, 387. 21 On 10 February 1894, Mokranjac asked the Ministry of Education for a ten day leave so that he could travel to Vienna and hear the pianist Arthur Rubinstein. However, since Mokranjac was four days late on his return to Belgrade, Sreten Stojković, the headmaster of the First Belgrade Gymnasium at the time, officially asked him for an explanation upon re- turn to Belgrade. Instead of providing one, Mokranjac submitted his resignation directly to the Minister of Education. His tardiness was also taken amiss at the Belgrade Choral Soci- ety. His resignations were accepted and he was relieved of his duties at both institutions. However, after a few months without salary, Mokranjac was reinstated “za učitelja veštine u I beogradsku gimnaziju i horovođu pevačkog društva” [“as a teacher in the First Belgrade Gymnasium and the choirmaster of the choral society”] (according to the documents from the Archives of Serbia MPs 9 – 12 – 1894). 22 Danica Petrović, “Osnivanje i prvih šest decenija” [“The Founding and the First Six Dec- ades”], in: Danica Petrović, Bogdan Đaković, and Tatjana Marković (eds.), Prvo beogradsko pevačko društvo: 150 godina [The First Belgrade Choral Society: 150 Years], Belgrade, SANU, Muzikološki institut SANU, Galerija SANU, 2004, 17–78. 23 Ibid., 49. Works by Horejšek and Havlasa were performed. Václav Horejšek (1839–1874) was a Czech choirmaster and composer. He studied at the Prague Organ School from 1856 to 1858, and from 1873 he was a music teacher and choirmaster of Srpsko crkveno pevačko društvo [Serbian Church Choral Society] in Pančevo and Zemun. He mostly composed oc- casional works, Orthodox Christian works, male choir songs (eight of which were printed in

80 Gajić, M.: Czech Music and Musicians as Mokranjac’s Companions ... (70–90) atre, and the participants included Ana Šram, singer and Stevan Šram’s wife, and Josef Svoboda. They also performed at a concert of the Belgrade String Quartet. In 1892, at a party organized by the Czech Society Lumír,24 they sang “češku marseljezu Bivali Čehove” [“the Czech Marseillaise Bývalí Čechové”].25 “Horovođa Mokranjac je 1896. uz pomoć Branislava Nušića u Staroj Srbiji sakupio i pribeležio oko 200 tamošnjih narodnih pesama… Tokom odsustvo- vanja Mokranjca je zamenjivao dirigent Josif Svoboda” [“In 1896, choirmaster Mokranjac, with Branislav Nušić’s help, collected and wrote down about 200 folk songs from Old Serbia… During his absence, Mokranjac was substituted by the choirmaster Josef Svoboda”]. Stevan Mokranjac advocated compulsory elementary music education for the members of his Belgrade Society. That en- deavour won the support of the Society’s administration, and finally in 1899 a music school was established, with the staff that included him and some Czech musicians too. On 24 June 1901 they held a major concert on the Belgrade For- tress with the military band conducted by the bandmaster Josif Brodil, for the benefit of the Music School.26 Following the practice of other European countries, their great jubilee cel- ebration, engaging as many as 23 from Serbia and what was then Aus- tria-Hungary, included the Historical Concert, conceived to present, for the first time, the development of Serbian choral music. Thus, on 25 May 1903, on the Society’s 50th anniversary, Stevan Mokranjac and his companions held their Istorijski koncert srpske pesme [Historical Concert of Serbian Songs], which included compositions by Czech authors: Tuga [Sorrow] by Václav Horejšek and Padajte braćo by Quido Havlasa, in the section “Znamenitiji Sloveni koji su

Prague under the title Gusle), as well as a medley of folk songs for a male choir and orches- tra. Quido Havlasa (1839–1909) was a choirmaster and composer of Czech origin. Upon graduating from the Prague Organ School, he was the choirmaster of Serbian Church Choral Societies in Vršac (1870–1874) and in Senj (1874–1876). After that he returned to his home- land. He wrote a large number of occasional and salon compositions inspired by our folk- lore, choral settings of poems by Serbian poets, and Orthodox sacred works. His patriotic song Padajte braćo [Perish, Brothers] on the verses by Đura Jakšić became very popular. He also published an instrumental piece, Davorije sa Kosova [Patriotic Songs from Kosovo]. He wrote a range of textbooks on playing the piano and singing. Cf. Milica Gajić, “Vršac – crtice iz muzičkog života” [“Vršac – Sketches from Its Musical Life”], Mokranjac, 2010, 57–65. 24 Czech Society Lumír, see footnote 9. 25 Danica Petrović, op. cit., 53. 26 As recorded in the press on an earlier occasion: (Beogradsko pevačko društvo, Mokranjac i vojna muzika, kapelnik Brodil) [(Belgrade Choral Society, Mokranjac and military band, the bandmaster Brodil)], Odjek, 26 July 1891, 4; Male novine, 31 July 1891, 2–3.

81 New Sound 43, I/2014 radili na srpskoj muzici” [“Notable Slavs Who Contributed to Serbian Music”].27 As one of the documents preserved from this celebration, an invitation to this important cultural event in our midst is presented (Appendix 1). Choirs from all around the country took part, by performing Mokranjac’s Tenth Choral Gar- land. The choral society from Šabac, conducted by Robert Tolinger,28 won the first prize and the famous composer congratulated them in person. On the occa- sion, Mokranjac praised Tolinger in the highest terms: “Ti si, pobratime, za De- setu rukovet učinio više nego ja. Istina, ja sam je komponovao, ali ti si je stvorio i tek sam je sad osetio onakvu kakvu sam je zamišljao” [“You, my brother, did for the Tenth Garland more than I did. True, I composed it, but you created it and only now have I felt it the way I imagined it”].29 Czech music was also performed ever more often at concerts and the opera house. Thus, one of the traditional Holy Saturday concerts of sacred music at the National Theatre featured, among other works, Antonín Dvořák’s Stabat Mater.30 Judging by the placard for this concert, the seventh item on the pro- gramme was only an excerpt from the work, or more precisely, two movements, which were also printed in an unusual translation into Old Slavonic language (Appendix 2). In 1909 Hinko Maržinec was hired as the second conductor.31

27 Ibid., 68. Cf. “Svečani koncert proslave 50 godina BPD. Istorija srpske pesme u pesmi” [“Gala concert on the occasion of the 50th anniversary of the Belgrade Choral Society. A sung history of Serbian song”], Male novine, 24 May 1903, 3; Beogradske novine, 31 May 1903, 3. 28 Biography of Robert Tolinger, an important Czech musician, can be found in: Milica Gajić, “Crtice iz muzičkog života Šapca” [“Sketches from the Musical Life of Šabac”], Mokranjac, 2012, 14, 80–88. 29 Milica Gajić, op. cit. 30 Danica Petrović, op. cit., 70. 31 Ibid., 73. Danica Petrović describes him as follows: “Po rođenju Čeh. Diplomirao je na Konzervatorijumu u Pragu 1891. Radio je kao horovođa, kapelnik, nastavnik muzike, diri- gent opere u Osijeku, a potom u Sremskoj Mitrovici, Šapcu, Skoplju i Novom Sadu” [“Czech by birth. Graduated from Prague Conservatory in 1891. Worked as a choirmaster, bandmas- ter, music teacher, opera conductor in Osijek and later in Sremska Mitrovica, Šabac, Skopje, and Novi Sad”]. Ibid., 155, footnote 155. I would also add the following details from his biography: (Osijek, 12 June 1873 – ?). Before entering military service, he worked as a thea- tre bandmaster and music teacher in Šabac, 1911–1913. During the First World War, he was a fourth-class junior bandmaster in the divisional area of Vardar, from 18 August 1913, to be promoted to first-class in 1918. From 30 September 1913 he served with the 20th infantry regiment band as bandmaster, and from 18 June 1919 to 2 June 1920, he worked as the of- ficer in charge of military bands, as well as the singing teacher at the Military Academy. From 2 June 1920 to 1 September 1921 he worked as a bandmaster in Potisje, and from 1 September 1921 to 24 March 1924, having resigned, he was headmaster of Stanković Music School. From 24 March 1924 to 30 June 1928 he once more worked as a bandmaster in Po-

82 Gajić, M.: Czech Music and Musicians as Mokranjac’s Companions ... (70–90)

Enriching the musical life of Belgrade, they held a major concert with an or- chestra complemented with the members of the Serbian Music School Orches- tra, performing The Spectre’s Bride, a cantata for soloists, choir, and orchestra by Antonín Dvořák (Op. 69). Surviving testimonies about the performance are controversial – the Society members claimed it was a failure, while some of the press articles were more forgiving.32 Besides Mokranjac as the honorary choirmaster and chairman of the Odbor za procenu novih horskih kompozicija [Committee for the Appraisal of New Choral Works], another member of this body was also Vítězslav Rendla.33 It is also interesting that “Miloje Milojević, po želji Mokranjca, primljen za diri- genta. Nije pokazao revnost u radu pred turneju društva u Trst – Sušak – Zagreb, pa je angažovan Hinko Maržinec. Posle turneje i nemilih rasprava Milojević je podneo ostavku” [“Miloje Milojević, in accordance with Mokranjac’s wish, was hired as a conductor. He failed to show assiduousness before the Society’s tour of Trieste, Sušak, and Zagreb, and thus Hinko Maržinec was employed. After the tour and acrimonious disputes, Milojević resigned”].34

tisje, and from 30 June 1928 to 17 May 1929 in the region, where he stayed until re- tirement. He was decorated with the Order of Saint Sava of the Fifth Class in 1920 and the Order of the Yugoslav Crown of the Fifth Class in 1938. Cf. Gordana Krajačić, Vojna muzika i muzičari 1831–1945 [Military Bands and Musicians 1831–1945], Belgrade, Novinsko- izdavački centar Vojska, 2003, 116. 32 “Gospođica Sofija Predićeva pevala je svoju partiju sa razumevanjem i sa onoliko glasa koliko ga ima i koliko on kod nas može biti obrađen. Gospodin Mijat Mijatović ima onu dobru stranu pravog pevača da stvar uzima ozbiljno i da lepo i razgovetno izgovara tekst. Hor je bio dobar, samo je pevao bez dosta nijansa – sve u forte. Hor i orkestar su se držali u glavnom zajedno i ako ne baš vrlo čvrsto, što se da objasniti malim brojem proba i retkih pevanja naših horova sa orkestrom. Gospodinu Stevanu Mokranjcu koji je upravljao koncer- tom može se čestitati na uspehu sa njegovim odličnim horom” [“Miss Sofija Predić sang her part with a good understanding of the music, with as much voice as she could muster and with as much training as one can get in our country. Mr Mijat Mijatović has that good trait of a true singer: to take matters seriously and pronounce the text nicely and articulately. The choir was good, though they sang without much nuance – everything was forte. The choir and the orchestra were together most of the time, though not constantly, which can be ex- plained by the small number of rehearsals and the inexperience of our choirs in singing with orchestras. We can congratulate Mr Stevan Mokranjac, the conductor of the concert, for this success with his excellent choir”]. Dušan Skovran, “Koncertni život pre pola veka u Be- ogradu” [“Concert Life in Belgrade Half a Century Ago”, Pro musica, 1965, 4, 5. 33 Danica Petrović, op. cit., 75. 34 Ibid., 76.

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Similarities and Differences, Influences and Inducements A number of Czech musicians have dealt with our folk music in most di- verse ways. In this domain, they sometimes even came very close to the oeuvre of Stevan Mokranjac. A popular activity at the time was compiling collections of folk songs – mostly not artistic in character, because they had other purposes and goals; – which were most often produced by foreign musicians, mainly Czechs. This genre was most exploited by foreigners, for the most part Czechs. A partic- ular and individual imprint on this genre was left by Ludvík Kuba (1863–1956), who was among the first to study, archive, and publish it, and even compose after his own written records. This Czech, who was a folklorist, musicologist and painter, collected 2,673 songs on his numerous field trips and published im- portant theoretical works in that domain. Many composers, for their own needs, borrowed folk songs from his Collections, and even Mokranjac, as it seems, took some of Kuba’s choral songs from his records. Mokranjac’s Ninth Choral Garland contains arrangements which, in an almost identical form, can be found in Kuba’s collection of arrangements of 70 Montenegrin folk songs for piano and choir.35 This collection was printed in Prague in 1890, after Kuba had fin- ished his work as a melographer, but also three years before Mokranjac’s travel to Cetinje in 1893, and six years before Mokranjac’s Ninth Garland (Songs from Montenegro) was written and published.36 One cannot help noticing the similar- ity with Kuba’s work and the arrangements in this collection.37 Deveta rukovet. U njoj su objedinjene četiri pesme iz Crne Gore – raspevana Poljem se njija, a ostale su asketski lapidarne u kratkoći svojih napeva i skučenosti melodi- jskog obima, što je karakteristično za muzički folklor ovog kraja. Intenzivne su u svojoj kondenzovanoj ekspresivnosti i nametale su jednostavnu obradu, ali i nesvakidašnja harmonska rešenja… U Ivana gospodara – čiji melodijski obim ne premaša tercu – Mokranjac je preuzeo harmonizaciju koju je istoj pesmi dao češki melograf Ludvik Kuba u svojoj zbirci crnogorskih pesama.

35 Ludvík Kuba, Album černohorské, Praha, 1890. 36 It is less known that Kuba composed his own Montenegrin garland, from the written records made on the same occasion. Cf. Milica Gajić, “Nepoznato delo Ludvika Kube: ‘Z luhů slovenských’ i ‘Písně černohorské’: kontekst nastanka” [“An Unknown Work by Lud- vík Kuba: ‘Z luhů slovenských’ and ‘Písně černohorské’: The Context of Its Emergence], Novi zvuk, 2004, 23, 71–83. 37 More in: Sonja Marinković, “Mokranjčev odnos prema zapisima folklornih napeva iz Devete rukoveti” [“Mokranjac’s Attitude towards Written Records of Folk Melodies in the Ninth Garland”], in: Dragoslav Dević et al. (eds.), Simpozijum Mokranjčevi dani 1994–1996, Negotin, 1997, 55–68.

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[The Ninth Garland. It includes four songs from Montenegro – the melodious Poljem se njija, while the others are austerely terse, with their short tunes and narrow me- lodic ranges, which is typical of this area’s folk music. They are intense in their condensed expressivity, calling for simple arrangements, but also unusual harmonic solutions… In U Ivana gospodara – whose melodic range does not exceed a third – Mokranjac appropriated the harmonization of the same song made by Czech melog- rapher Ludvík Kuba in his collection of Montenegrin songs.]38 The chain of arrangements and revisions of other people’s compositions rel- evant to Stevan Mokranjac’s oeuvre was, in a way, initiated by Slavoljub Lžičar personally,39 who first rewrote works by Alois Kalauz, while Lžičar’s Primorski napjevi [Coastal Melodies] were rearranged, or, rather, recomposed by Stevan Mokranjac, dissatisfied with Lžičar’s efforts. Coastal Melodies (1893) occupy a special position among Mokranjac’s works: they are woven from lyric folk melodies of Croatian coastline,40 and represent a brilliant, remarkably ‘poly- phonized’ transcription of Slavoljub Lžičar’s simple composition for male choir. By writing the arrangement for a large mixed choir,41 Mokranjac – at first under the pen name “Ljubisav Istinski”, in order to emphasize the seriousness of his work compared to Lžičar’s – produced a score that, by its freshness, original sound, and technique, stands shoulder to shoulder with the best of his Garlands. On the other hand, the pun with Mokranjac’s pen name was not very successful and speaks rather of his insufficient command of the Czech language. Namely, in Czech, “Lžičař” does not mean a liar or anything fake (as opposed to some- thing true, “Istinski”). Instead, this family name comes from the word ‘lžica’

38 Vlastimir Peričić, Stevan Stojanović Mokranjac – Sabrana dela [Stevan Stojanović Mokranjac – Collected Works], Belgrade and Knjaževac, Zavod za udžbenike i nastavna sredstva and Muzičko izdavačko preduzeće “Nota”, Vol. 2, XX–XXII. 39 Slavoljub Lžičar (Eduard František Lžičař, 1832–1901) was a composer and music teacher of Czech origin. After receiving his education in Prague and Vienna, he worked as an organist, organizer, and music educator in various Croatian towns. He was a singing teacher in Pančevo until 1865, then in Sremska Mitrovica, then, from 1869, in Subotica, and finally in Petrinja. Among other works, he wrote Album srpskih pesama za klavir [Album of Serbian Songs for the Piano] (1882) in the Biedermeier style, the music for a Singspiel Tri bračne zapovesti [Three Marital Commandments], and arrangements of various Serbian folk songs. He wrote about Topalović’s rearrangement of Kornelije Stanković’s Liturgy for a male choir. He published two collections for a male choirs: Bački napevi [Songs from Bačka] (Prague, 1871) and Milovan (Prague, 1863). 40 Petar Konjović, “Stevan St. Mokranjac”, in: Stevan Stojanović Mokranjac – Sabrana dela [Stevan Stojanović Mokranjac – Collected Works], Belgrade and Knjaževac, Zavod za udžbenike i nastavna sredstva and Muzičko izdavačko preduzeće “Nota”, 1999, Vol. 10, 100–101. 41 There is also a version of this Mokranjac work for a children’s or female choir.

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– spoon – and so the last name of the composer of the first Coastal Melodies could be translated as “Spoonmaker”, rather than “Liar”. Thus, in spite of many justified professional objections to Lžičar’s composition, Mokranjac’s penname was perhaps linguistically inadequate at the time when his composition was written and performed. Coastal Melodies became the Garland from the Croatian Parts – after the eponymous composition for male choir by Slavoljub Lžičar (Eduard František Lžičař, 1832–1901), a Czech musician who also worked in Croatian and Serbian parts from 1860. At one time, these two works and their authors’ disagreements were the subject of an important study, from which I quote the most relevant parts, valid to this day: “I kad danas konfrontiramo Lžičareve i Mokranjčeve Primorske napjeve, upravo je tekstura i forma djela u cjelini onaj element po kojem je Mokranjčevo djelo preraslo svoj uzor. Jer, ako načas ispustimo iz vida niz Lžičarevih doista diletantskih harmonizacionih postupaka, ostaje ipak činjenica, da njegove jednostavne harmonije, svedene uglavnom na glavne har- monijske funkcije, upravo u toj svojoj jednostavnosti bolјe odgovaraju karak- teru i latentnoj harmonijskoj osnovi odabranih narodnih pjesama, nego što je to slučaj s daleko bogatijom, suptilnijom Mokranjčevom harmonizacijom, koja je u svojoj osnovi bliža zapadnoevropskoj umjetničkoj muzici ranog roman- tizma… U rukama Lžičara narodni su napjevi ostali mozaički slijeplјeni u sa- lonski površni potpuri, karišik, ostali su jednostavno niz dopadlјivih pjesmica; u rukama Mokranjca taj je isti niz napjeva prerastao u cjeloviti organizam, u sabito, punokrvno i logički isklesano jedinstvo, u novo djelo koje uzbuđuje neposrednošću i svježinom svoga govora, bogatstvom nijansi, produblјenom dramaturgijom i psihološki uvjetovanom gradacijom. Tako je iz Lžičareva ma- terijala Mokranjac sazdao umjetničko djelo koje živi i danas, dok je model ostao osuđen na brz zaborav zajedno s nestankom jedne generacije sentimentalnih građanskih gospođica i trećerazrednih diletantskih pjevačkih društava.” [“And today, when we confront Lžičar’s Coastal Melodies with Mokranjac’s, it is by its overall texture and form that Mokranjac’s work surpasses its model. Because even if we briefly put aside Lžičar’s many truly dilettante harmonic solutions, the fact remains that his simple harmonies, reduced mostly to tonal degrees, are by their simplicity actually better suited to the character and latent harmonic basis of the selected folk songs, much more so than Mokranjac’s far richer and more delicate harmonization, which is essentially closer to West European music of the early Romanticism… In Lžičar’s hands, the folk melodies were left pasted together into a mosaic, a superficial salon potpourri, a mere medley; they simply remained a series of sweet ditties. In Mokranjac’s hands, the same series of melodies grew into a solid organism, into a dense, full-blooded and logically chiselled entity, into a new work that excites by the directness and

86 Gajić, M.: Czech Music and Musicians as Mokranjac’s Companions ... (70–90) freshness of its discourse, the richness of its nuances, its profound dramaturgy, and psychologically guided gradation. Thus using Lžičar’s material, Mokran- jac built a work of art which lives on today, while the model was condemned to quick oblivion, along with the disappearance of a generation of sentimental bourgeois demoiselles and third-grade dilettante choral societies”].42 Mokranjac’s Coastal Melodies were premiered on 16/28 October 1893 at a concert of the Belgrade Choral Society. In 1900, after a surgery in Vienna in, Stevan Mokranjac underwent several medical and recovery treatments in Karlsbad – which is the German name for the Czech spa of Karlovy Vary – where he had travelled regularly since 1897. In 1898 he went there with Uroš Predić,43 as well as in 1909. At that time they attended spa concerts, described by Mokranjac personally in written documents that have been preserved. In one letter, he wrote thus about one of those con- certs: “Program je bio interesantan i vrlo lep. Za mene je bilo novih stvari od Glazunova Poème lyrique i od Dvoržaka Aus der neuen Welt44 simfonija. Ja sam slušao, kao što muzičari obično slušaju, sekcirao sam deo po deo i ocenjivao… Ja ne ću da ti pišem referat o ovom koncertu, jer bi to bilo po sve nezanimlјivo, ali ćeš mi dozvoliti, da Ti kažem šta je bilo najlepše na ovom koncertu – to je bio Finale. Taj finale bio je pun duše i prepun lјubavi…” [“The programme was interesting and very nice. Some things I heard for the first time: Glazunov’s Poème lyrique and Dvořak’s symphony Aus der neuen Welt.44 I listened as mu- sicians usually do, dissecting part by part and evaluating… I won’t write to you a full report on the concert, because that would be completely uninteresting, but you’ll allow me to say what was the most beautiful thing at this concert – it was the Finale. That Finale was so soulful and full of love…”]45 In one report, Stevan Mokranjac is mentioned as the reviewer of Crkvene pesme u notnom sistemu [Notated Church Songs] by Živko S. Braković, cantor and priest, and Vojtěch Šístek, transcriber,46 but apart from this note, I have not been able to find the review in question.

42 Koraljka Kos, “Primorski napjevi Stevana Mokranjca” [“Coastal Melodies by Stevan Mokranjac”]. in: Mihailo Vukdragović (ed.), Zbornik radova o Stevanu Mokranjcu [Collec- tion of Papers on Stevan Mokranjac], Belgrade, SANU, 1971, 93–94. 43 This renowned Serbian painter was a paternal uncle of Mokranjac’s wife Mica. 44 Dvořák’s Symphony ‘From the New World’. 45 Tatjana Marković, “Život i delo Stevana St. Mokranjca u svetlu njegove prepiske” [“Life and Work of Stevan St. Mokranjac from the Perspective of his Correspondence”], Sabrana dela [Collected Works], Vol. 10, op. cit., 227. 46 Anonymous, “Iz glavnog prosvetnog saveta” [“From the Head Council on Education”], Nastavnik, 1894, 124, 12.

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Let us also mention a testimony, most likely oral, by Václav Vedral, long- standing teacher at Stanković Music School in Belgrade. At some point in the early 20th century, he took Mokranjac’s Liturgy from Serbia and showed it to Antonín Dvořák, who went over it and, so the story goes, more than once ex- claimed enthusiastically: “This matches up to Bach himself!”47 I will also add the following speculation: “Mokranjac se mogao i sresti sa Janačekom u Rusiji 1896. kada je gostovao u Njižnjem Novgorodu, sa horom Beogradskog pevačkog društva, a Janaček doputovao privatno, sa svojim bratom u isto mesto, da poseti Sverusku ekonomsku i umetničku izložbu” [“Mokranjac may have met Janáček in Russia in 1896, when he toured Nizhny Novgorod with the Belgrade Choral Society, and Janáček was there on a private visit with his brother, to see the All-Russian Exhibition of Economy and the Arts”].48 Finally, one should note that some of Mokranjac’s Garlands, thanks to Czech conductor Alois Buchta,49 were also performed in Vienna. For instance, the Sla- vonic Choral Society alongside the Zora [Dawn] society, conducted by Buchta, their long-standing Czech choirmaster, performed one of the Garlands from the cycle From My Country, most likely in late 1892 and early 1893 – at a concert of the Zora Society and Medo Pucić’s (1821–1882) anniversary.50 In 1894, also conducted by Buchta, the Zora Society performed the Sixth Garland.51 Translated by Goran Kapetanović

47 Mirka Pavlović, “Stevan Mokranjac i savremena kritika” [“Stevan Mokranjac and Con- temporary Critique”], in: Stevan St. Mokranjac 1856–1981, special edition, Pro musica, 44. 48 Nadežda Mosusova, “Mesto Stevana Mokranjca među nacionalnim školama evropske muzike” [“The Place of Stevan Mokranjac among the National Schools of European Music”], in: Zbornik radova o Stevanu Mokranjcu, op. cit., 133, footnote 66. 49 Alois Buchta (1841–1898) was a Czech violinist and choirmaster. From 1852 he lived in Vienna, working at the Court Opera, and played in a string quartet with three other members of the house. For our purposes, it is important to note that he was also the choirmaster of the Slawisch Gesangverein [Slavonic Choral Society] in Vienna and that he conducted the Or- thodox Church choir in this city. 50 Mirka Pavlović, “Dva pisma Petra Krstića Stevanu Mokranjcu” [“Two Letters from Petar Krstić to Stevan Mokranjac”], Zbornik Matice srpske za scenske umetnosti i muziku, Novi Sad, 1989, 4–5, 300; Branik, 1893, 1, 4, 9, 3. 51 Branik, 1894, 162, 4.

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Appendix 1

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Appendix 2

90 Arnautović, J.: Various ‘Faces’ of S. Mokranjac at The Mokranjčevi Dani... (91–106

Article received on 3rd Jun 2014 Article accepted on 14th Jun 2014 UDC: 78.091.4(497.11) 78.071.1:929 Мокрањац Стојановић С.

Jelena Arnautović* University of Priština Faculty of Arts

VARIOUS ‘FACES’ OF STEVAN MOKRANJAC AT THE MOKRANJČEVI DANI FESTIVAL IN THE 21ST CENTURY1

Abstract: The discourses on Stevan Stojanović Mokranjac, as one of the most significant composers in the history of Serbian music, reflect not only our attitude towards the com- poser, but also toward ourselves and the community to which we belong. The objects of analysis in this item are the discourses on Mokranjac in the 21st century, particularly at the festival Mokranjčevi dani in Negotin. A deconstruction of the narratives which are an inte- gral part of the festival, primarily keynote addresses, as well as articles about the festival in printed media and on websites, shows that Mokranjac is interpreted as an important symbol of Serbian identity. Since Mokranjac is mythologized as an original artist, a genius who sang ‘from the very soul of the Serbian people’, the glorification of Mokranjac, traditional folklore, and Eastern Orthodoxy grows into a large-scale glorification of the entire Serbian nation. In some other narratives, Mokranjac is understood as a cosmopolitan, a manager, and a potential brand that may help us make a better showing on the international stage and be used for building an identity based on ‘European civic values’. These various ‘faces’ of Stevan Mokranjac reflect different ways in which music tradition, as a powerful means of identification, can be utilized, invented, selectively remembered, or in fact forgotten. Key words: Stevan Mokranjac, Mokranjčevi dani, narratives, Serbian identity, tradition, symbol, mythologization

* Author contact information: [email protected] 1 This paper is an abridgment of more comprehensive research that I am conducting for the purposes of my doctoral thesis, entitled Muzički festivali u Srbiji u prvoj deceniji 21. veka kao mesta interkulturnih dijaloga [Music Festivals in Serbia in the First Decade of the 21st Century as Places of Intercultural Dialogues] under the supervision of Dragana Jeremić Molnar, PhD, Associate Professor at the Department of Musicology of the Faculty of Music in Belgrade.

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The festival Mokranjčevi dani [The Days of Mokranjac] is dedicated to Stevan Stojanović Mokranjac and it has been held in Negotin, his hometown, every year since 1966.2 The core of the festival programme is made of Mokran- jac’s compositions, but also comprises the works by many other authors of a comparable stylistic orientation. For several decades, the festival has been a venue for performers and researchers of Mokranjac’s oeuvre, as well as various composers and artists whose creative output resonates with Mokranjac’s in one way or another. Over the course of the history of Mokranjčevi dani, views of Mokranjac have changed, and so I will try in this paper to determine in what way is Mokranjac talked about at the festival today, in the 21st century. To that end, I have analysed the narratives which are an integral part of the festival Mokranjčevi dani (keynote addresses and speeches at the festival’s opening and closing ceremonies and within the festival forum),3 and the narratives about Mokranjčevi dani in printed media and on websites.4 The festival Mokranjčevi dani in the first decade of the 21st century is dom- inated by narratives which – by means of the Romantic ideal of an original artist, a genius – lead to a sort of mythologisation of Mokranjac.5 He is spoken

2 The founder and main sponsor of Mokranjčevi dani is the Town Council of Negotin and the organizer is the Stevan Mokranjac Cultural Centre in Negotin. Today, the festival enjoys the status of a state-level event of national and international significance. 3 A keynote address has been a regular feature at the opening ceremony at Mokranjčevi dani since 1969, and the speakers are selected distinguished individuals from Serbia’s cultural life. Speeches at the festival opening and closing ceremonies are entrusted to the program- ming directors and organizers, but also to politicians and other important public figures. 4 The sources used for the purposes of this research are the journal Mokranjac (published annually by the Stevan Mokranjac Cultural Centre in Negotin), selected reviews of the festi- val Mokranjčevi dani from various daily newspapers (Politika, Timok, Danas, Večernje nov- osti, Politika ekspres, Blic, Glas, etc.), as well as texts published on websites of the festival, the Cultural Centre and the Municipality of Negotin. 5 Analysing scholarly discourses on Mokranjac, Tijana Popović-Mlađenović has concluded that the Romantic ‘myth of un/originality’ was the basic criterion for evaluating his oeuvre almost until the end of the 20th century. His music, being based on folklore, was considered ‘unoriginal’. Cf. Tijana Popović-Mlađenović, “Recepcija stvaralaštva St. St. Mokranjca u kontekstu savremene pisane reči o muzici” [“The Reception of St. St. Mokranjac’s Oeuvre in the Context of Contemporary Writing on Music”], Mokranjac, 2011, 13, 2–20. Paradoxi- cally, the same myth has been revitalized in contemporary non-scholarly narratives on Mokranjac, precisely for the purpose of glorifying his ‘originality’. Vesna Mikić has written about contemporary positions and interpretations of Mokranjac in Serbian culture and edu- cation, tackling the questionability of narratives advanced at the festival Mokranjčevi dani. Cf. Vesna Mikić, “‘Naš’ Mokranjac – tranzicijske kulturne prakse i delo Stevana Mokran- jca” [“‘Our’ Mokranjac – Transitional Cultural Practices and the Oeuvre of Stevan Mokran- jac”], Mokranjac, 2012, 14, 2–12.

92 Arnautović, J.: Various ‘Faces’ of S. Mokranjac at The Mokranjčevi Dani... (91–106 about as “nedokučivom geniju iz Negotina” [“the unfathomable genius from Negotin”] and “našem poslednjem autentičnom velikanu” [“our last genuine greatness”], whose creativity was motivated “iskonskim talentom koji je nosio u sebi” [“by the primordial talent that he carried in himself”].6 The mythologi- sation of Mokranjac is most obvious in the festival keynote addresses. The very fact that this dated verbal form, atypical of contemporary festivals, has been favoured to this day suggests the need to lend Mokranjac the importance of a traditional, historically very significant, almost legendary, and mythological phenomenon.7 In the keynote addresses, he is portrayed as a miracle, a medium between humankind, the mundane, and something unfathomable and supernatu- ral, a figure whose character and work must be treated with utmost reverence. As an example, we can take the keynote address delivered in 2010 by the renowned player Bora Dugić, who approached Mokranjac’s biography in a way that almost calls forth the descriptions of Christ’s birth. “Nalazimo se na mestu gde je te, 1856. godine, trećeg dana Božića, svetlost sunca ugledao muškarčić ni po čemu različit od novorođene dece toga doba” [“We are stand- ing at the place where in 1856, on the third day of Christmas, a little boy saw the light of day, a boy who was no different from any other newborn child at the time”]. However, he “svojim genijalnim talentom nesebično uzdigao srpski svetovni i muzički opus u neviđene visine” [“and his talent of a genius self- lessly took Serbian secular and musical oeuvre to unimagined heights”] and reached a glory that “svrstala ga u klasike i besmrtnike” [“placed him among great masters and immortals”]. As soon as he had finished his education abroad, Mokranjac embarked on “veliku misiju uzdizanja narodnog stvaralaštva do nečutih i nepojmljivih visina” [“a great mission to exalt the folklore to heights unheard of and inconceivable”] because all of his choral works “odišu visi- nom, dubinom i širinom duha” [“exude spirituality in all its height, depth, and breadth”]. The myth becomes more convincing if one adds at least some ordi- nary and familiar features to it, and so this “istinski genije” [“veritable genius”] also had attributes of a joyful and witty man, “narodnog u duši, sa gradskim

6 Marija Adamov, “Dela Svetislava Božića” [“Works by Svetislav Božić”], Dnevnik, 15 September 2001; Milovan Nikolić, “Beseda” [“Keynote Address”], Baštinik, Godišnjak Is- torijskog arhiva u Negotinu, 2006, 9, 144. 7 One of the few festivals in Serbia that still feature keynote addresses is Dragačevski sabor trubača [Trumpet Players Assembly in Dragačevo] in Guča. The character of the keynote addresses is similar to those at Mokranjčevi dani, except that the object of mythologization in Guča is – the trumpet. Given that both festivals have roots in traditional folklore celebra- tions, and that they were very similar in the initial stages of their development, one can as- sume that this firm connection with folklore was the main reason for introducing and retaining keynote addresses as a regular feature at both festivals.

93 New Sound 43, I/2014 otmenim ruhom, ali i strogim, dostojanstvenim licem” [“in his heart a man of the people, wearing elegant urban attire, but also having a stern and dignified countenance”].8 The mythologization of Mokranjac then spreads diffusely to cover the en- tire festival and the city hosting it. Thus, the press and keynote addresses de- scribe Mokranjčevi dani as a “svetkovina muzike” [“festivity of music”] and “istinski praznik kulture i umetnosti” [“a genuine celebration of culture and art”], while Negotin is labelled “muzička metropola” [“musical metropolis”], “mesto hodočašća” [“a place of pilgrimage”], “hram kulture” [“a temple of culture”], “sveto mesto za srpsku kulturu” [“a sanctum of Serbian culture”].9 Similar references are used for Mokranje, the village where Mokranjac’s fam- ily came from. Thus, for instance, one can read that, at the 2010 edition of the festival, the First Belgrade Choral Society “stiglo u Mokranje na poklonjenje ishodištu velikog maga srpske muzike” [“arrived in Mokranje to pay homage to the place of origin of the great master of Serbian music”].10 While the narratives glorifying Mokranjac are somewhat understand- able and justified, given the purpose of the festival, the problem arises when Mokranjac is interpreted as a symbol of Serbian identity and a means to fortify the sense of fellowship. For example, Milovan Nikolić, professor of literature, in his keynote address from 2005 emphasized that Mokranjac had paved the way for generations of musicians who would “na temeljima postojećeg graditi novo čuvajući identitet duše srpskog naroda” [“build on existing foundations, preserving the identity of the soul of the Serbian people”].11 Similar was the drift of the speech by the theatre director Nebojša Bradić, who as the Minister of Culture opened Mokranjčevi dani in 2010. On the occasion, Bradić stressed that “naša privilegija u tome što za Mokranjca znamo otkako znamo za sebe same” [“we are privileged to have known about Mokranjac for as long as we can remember”]. For, one could say about poets that they speak “iz glave celog naroda” [“from the head of the entire nation”], while Mokranjac “peva iz glave i srca naroda” [“sings from the head and the heart of the nation”]. Therefore it would be “vredelo da narod i svet danas govore iz glave kompozitora Stevana

8 Bora Dugić, Virtuelni razgovor sa Stevanom Stojanovićem Mokranjcem [Virtual Conver- sation with Stevan Stojanović Mokranjac], 2010, http://www.domkulture-negotin. rs/?p=2292 9 Zoran Hristić, “Beseda” [“Keynote Address”], Baštinik, Godišnjak Istorijskog arhiva u Negotinu, 2006, 9, 132–134; Gordana Krajačić, Muzički zapisi [Writings on Music], Bel- grade, authorial edition, 2011, 263. 10 Niti tradicije u Mokranju [Threads of Tradition in Mokranje], 2010, http://www.domkul- ture-negotin.rs/?p=167. 11 Milovan Nikolić, op. cit., 146.

94 Arnautović, J.: Various ‘Faces’ of S. Mokranjac at The Mokranjčevi Dani... (91–106

Mokranjca, jezikom muzike!” [“worth it if the people and the world spoke from the head of the composer Stevan Mokranjac, in the language of music!”]12 The cult of Mokranjac in certain narratives is reinterpreted as the cult of Serbian nation, which is, like Mokranjac, presented as more unique and worthy than others. For example, Bradić in the foregoing speech concluded that it is “teška istina” [“hard truth”] that without Mokranjac “ovaj svet i Srbija bili sas- vim drugačiji” [“this world and Serbia would be completely different”],13 while Ljubomir Trifunovski, the conductor of the Macedonian choir Stiv Naumov”, called Mokranjac at the 2010 Singing Contest Forum the greatest composer “ne samo na Balkanu već i na svetu” [“not only in the Balkans, but also in the world”].14 At the same forum, Milovan Pančić, the conductor of the choir Lola, asserted: “Blago nama što imamo Stevana Mokranjca. To nema niko… To je nešto veličanstveno, nešto što uzdiže svaki narod. Kroz svu njegovu muziku provlači se vera, slava, karakteristika, duh Srbije i ovih naših prostora… To samo ovaj narod ima i time treba da se diči i ponosi dok god je sveta i veka” [“We are blessed to have Stevan Mokranjac. Nobody else has such a man… This is something sublime, something that exalts every nation. All of his music is permeated with religion, glory, character, the spirit of Serbia and these parts of ours… This nation is the only one that has it, and this nation should be proud of it to all eternity”].15 The most efficient means of glorifying the Serbian nation through Mokran- jac is Serbian folklore, which is interpreted as the ‘real’, ‘original’, ‘genuine’ Serbian culture and key factor in strengthening Serbian identity.16 Returning to the ‘sources’ and ‘roots’ is at the same time returning to Mokranjac, as a composer whose works are based on Serbian folk music.17 For example, in his

12 Nebojša Bradić, Govor [The Speech], 2010, http://www.domkulture-negotin.rs/?p=2295. 13 Ibid. 14 Cf. Maja Čolović Vasić, “Tribina Mokranjčevih dana” [“The Forum at Mokranjčevi dani”], Mokranjac, 2010, 12, 38. 15 Cf. ibid., 36. 16 Folklore is similarly interpreted in narratives on Dragačevski sabor trubača in Guča. Cf. Jelena Arnautović, “Čija je ovo truba? Medijski stereotipi o festivalu Guča kao simbolu srpskog kulturnog identiteta” [“Whose trumpet is this? Media stereotypes about the Guča festival as a symbol of Serbian cultural identity”], in: Milivoje Pavlović (ed.), Kulturna poli- tika, umetničko stvaralaštvo i medijska praksa u funkciji održivog razvoja [Cultural Policy, Artistic Creativity, and Media Practice serving Sustainable Development], Belgrade, Uni- verzitet Megatrend, Fakultet za kulturu i medije, 2012, 287–300. 17 Curiously enough, the fact that Mokranjac also drew his inspiration from the folklore of other countries (Croatia, Macedonia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Turkey, Bulgaria…) is thereby usually forgotten (or deliberately disregarded?). A rare exception in this regard was the keynote address given by Branka Radović at the 2010 Singing Contest Forum. Cf. Maja Čolović Vasić, op. cit., 39.

95 New Sound 43, I/2014 keynote address from 2003, composer Zoran Hristić pointed out that “u minu- lim godinama, ceo srpski narod prisustvovao demonstraciji muzičkog beščašća muzike vlasti, koja je doprinela da Rukoveti budu povremena iznenađenja osuđena na skrajnuto postojanje, jer je nametnut haremski zvuk Šumadiji koja će, umesto da igra kolo, vrteti kukovima i mahati rukama. Zaslepljena pol- umesecom, neće videti sopstveni krst” [“in past years, the whole Serbian nation has witnessed how disgraceful is the music of the establishment, which had reduced the Garlands to occasional surprises condemned to a marginal exis- tence, because harem sound has been imposed on Šumadija, which will shake its hips and wave its arms instead of dancing circle dances. Blinded by the crescent moon, it will not see its own cross”].18 Something similar was noted by Bora Dugić, when in an imaginary conversation he asked Mokranjac how he interpreted “estetsko posrnuće srpskog naroda” [“the aesthetic decline of Ser- bian people”]. Because “danas u Srbiji vlada neka druga muzika, stranci nas po pesmi mešaju sa Arapima i Turcima. Kada bi stranac došao u Srbiju sa zadat- kom da po muzici prepozna gde se nalazi, mislio bi da je bilo gde samo ne u Srbiji” [“today Serbia is dominated by some other music, and foreigners listen- ing to our songs mistake us for Arabs and Turks. If foreigners came to Serbia and had to recognize by music where they were, they would think of anywhere but Serbia”]. To that Mokranjac allegedly replies: “Izgubili smo i pesmu i iden- titet. Ako posle pesme izgubimo i jezik, izgubili smo naciju… Izbrišite ono što nije dostojno srpskog junačkog, Veljkovog i Obilićevog, nađite tačku gde je narodni pevač i igrač stao. Pevajte srpsku pesmu na srpskom jeziku, to je jedino bogougodno. Skaredno je i rogobatno kad na svom jeziku pevate tuđe melodije. Voleti druge ne znači pustiti ih u svoj um dalje nego što bi vas pustili; ako vi zapevate jednu njihovu, neka oni zapevaju jednu našu. To jedino ima smisla” [“We have lost both our songs and our identity. If following our songs we lose our language too, we will have lost our nation… Erase what is not worthy of the heroics of the Serbs, of Veljko and Obilić, find the point where the folk singer and dancer stopped. Sing Serbian songs in the Serbian language, only this is God-pleasing. It is obscene and clumsy when you sing other people’s songs in your own language. Loving others does not mean letting them into your mind deeper than they would let you into theirs; if you sing one of their songs, they should sing one of ours. Only that makes sense”].19 Obviously, the proclaimed ‘return’ to Mokranjac and traditional folklore as the ‘roots’ and ‘source of the Serbian nation’s soul’ is understood as a ‘cure’

18 Zoran Hristić, op. cit., 132–134. 19 Bora Dugić, op. cit. These imaginary answers reflect not only Dugić’s perception of Mokranjac, but also his own role as a musician and Mokranjac’s potential ‘heir’. Other key- note addresses can also be viewed from that angle, as multiple playing with identity.

96 Arnautović, J.: Various ‘Faces’ of S. Mokranjac at The Mokranjčevi Dani... (91–106 for the sorry condition of Serbian culture and potentially as a means for initi- ating a ‘national revival’. In that way, these narratives transform Mokranjac, as the ‘guardian’ of Serbian folklore, into the incarnation of ‘genuine’ Serbian cultural and national identity, the quintessence of Serbian tradition, and ulti- mately a means of glorifying national power. Such interpretations are based on a mechanism which Slobodan Naumović, an anthropologist, calls the utilization or instrumentalization of tradition. It is a political strategy that detaches certain cultural values and fundamental symbols of a national community’s identity from their original context and uses them for purposes not immanent to them, in line with its own interests.20 The narratives at Mokranjčevi dani instrumentalize a particular segment of Serbian musical tradition – Stevan Mokranjac and tra- ditional folk music. Mokranjac “služi kao instrument za raznovrsne ideološke borbe koje zapravo i postoje u srpskom društvu” [“serves as an instrument in various ideological struggles which in fact do exist in Serbian society”],21 and so the myth of Mokranjac assumes the properties of a political myth.22 In the same way we can understand the tendency to establish continuity be- tween Mokranjac and some other figures considered important for Serbian cul- ture and history. In the narratives at Mokranjčevi dani, Mokranjac is most often compared to Hajduk Veljko Petrović, the hero of Negotinska Krajina.23 Keynote speakers have also called Mokranjac “the Vuk Karadžić of folk music”, wanting to stress that his contribution to Serbian music is equal to that of Vuk Karadžić to the Serbian language. “Mi danas zborimo Vukovim, a pevamo Mokranjčevim srpskim jezikom” [“Today, we speak the Serbian language of Vuk and sing the

20 Cf. Slobodan Naumović, Upotreba tradicije u političkom i javnom životu Srbije na kraju dvadesetog i početkom dvadeset prvog veka [Utilization of Tradition in the Political and Public Life of Serbia in the Late Twentieth and Early Twenty-First Centuries], Belgrade, Institut za filozofiju i društvenu teoriju, IP “Filip Višnjić” a. d., 2009, 14, 19, 20. 21 Vesna Mikić, op. cit., 5. 22 Slobodan Naumović defined a political myth as “posebnu vrstu mitske priče u kojoj se nude odgovarajuća sećanja na izmišljenu ili stvarnu prošlost i slike poželjne budućnosti u cilju objašnjavanja i opravdavanja političke sadašnjosti, i izazivanja kolektivnih osećanja i akcija” [“special kind of mythic narrative which offers appropriate remembrance of the past, whether imaginary or real, as well as images of a desirable future, in order to explain and justify the political present and provoke collective emotions and actions”]. Slobodan Naumović, op. cit., 97. 23 It is known that Mokranjac dedicated his Sixth Garland to Hajduk Veljko, and that this work is performed every year at the opening ceremony of Mokranjčevi dani as a sort of fes- tival anthem. It is worth noting that Hajduk Veljko’s monument in Negotin and Mokranjac’s Sixth Garland are considered the main symbols of Negotin. Cf. Stojan Todorović, “Rukovet za junaka” [“Garland for a hero”], Politika, 12 September 2002.

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Serbian language of Mokranjac”].24 Mokranjac is also compared to other great Serbs, such as Karađorđe, Saint Sava, Dositej Obradović, Njegoš, and ,25 but also to some composers and performers of modern age, who are called the perpetuators of “mokranjčevske linije” [“Mokranjac’s course”],26 or “Mokranjčevi sledbenici” [“Mokranjac’s successors”].27 Some narratives of this type have a latent tendency to depict Mokranjac as the ‘original source’ (Ur- quelle) of Serbian music, which, in one way or another, gave birth to everything ‘valuable’ in Serbian music of the 20th and 21st centuries.28 Creating a (fictional) continuity with a desirable historical past makes it easier to construct the notion of a common tradition within a certain commu- nity, and so we can speak of mechanisms of imagining a nation, or even invent- ing tradition.29 National identity in such narratives is treated as a homogenous,

24 Milovan Nikolić, op. cit., 146; Miodrag Maticki, “Beseda” [“Keynote Address”], Baštinik, Godišnjak Istorijskog arhiva u Negotinu, 2006, 9, 141; Adam Puslojić, “Poruka i oporuka Stevana Stojanovića Mokranjca” [“The Message and the Testament of Stevan Stojanović Mokranjac”], Mokranjac, 2013, 15, 20. 25 For instance, the fact that Mokranjac and Nikola Tesla, “dva velika uma, dva velika Sr- bina” [“two great minds, two great Serbs”], were born in the same year is not a mere coinci- dence for Bora Dugić, but a “Božiji razlog” [“God’s reason”], because both of them “zauvek svojim delom zadužili pre svega čovečanstvo, a onda i srpski narod” [“with their work, they both forever indebted humankind, first of all, and then also the Serbian people”]. Bora Dugić, op. cit. 26 Branka Radović, “Moj selektorski kredo” [“My creed as a Programming Director”], Mokranjac, 2008, 10, 36. They primarily include composers who write (choral) works in- spired by folklore. For example, in an article on Mokranjčevi dani written in 2002, Gordana Krajačić saw Svetislav Božić and Miodrag Govedarica as “duhovne potomke i poslednike Mokranjca” [“spiritual descendants and successors of Mokranjac”]. Gordana Krajačić, “Mokranjčevi blistavi tragovi” [“In the Resplendent Wake of Mokranjac”], Blic, 16 Septem- ber 2002. 27 The Cultural Centre in Negotin organizes an annual non-festival event Zvuci Mokranjčevih sledbenika [Sounds of Mokranjac’s Successors], dedicated to young music professionals from Negotin. 28 “Umetničko-kulturno-ideološke ‘borbe’ vode se sada u odnosu na to ko je bliži Mokran- jcu, ko ga više poštuje, ko na pravilan način ceni vrednosti koje je navodno on ustanovio, ili nam pak njegovo ime, kao simbol svih pomenutih ideoloških pretpostavki, služi kao njihov zastupnik, onaj koji pokriva, udahnjuje vrednost i opravdava različite aspekte života savre- menog sveta muzike” [“Artistic-cultural-ideological ‘struggles’ are now led about who is closer to Mokranjac, who respects him more, who properly appreciates the values he alleg- edly established; on the other hand, his name, as a symbol of all the foregoing ideological assumptions, may also serve as their agent, the one who covers, valorizes, and justifies vari- ous aspects of contemporary music life”]. Vesna Mikić, op. cit., 7 29 According to Benedict Anderson, every nation builds its identity on choosing those ele- ments from its cultural past (symbols, rituals, etc.) that may provide and confirm, at a given

98 Arnautović, J.: Various ‘Faces’ of S. Mokranjac at The Mokranjčevi Dani... (91–106 closed, monolithic, unvarying entity that has survived for centuries. In that re- spect, particularly typical is the keynote address by the philologist Miodrag Maticki from 2004, which portrayed Mokranjac as one of “divova, stožera kon- tinuiteta” [“the giants, the pivots of continuity”] who are “u samom središtu pamćenja našeg naroda” [“at the very heart of our people’s remembrance”] and “na koje se oslanjaju protekli vekovi naše prošlosti” [“who are the anchors of the centuries of our past”]. “To je ono što vekovima živi u nama, što nas čini je- dinstvenim i međusobno bliskim” [“This is what has lived on in us for centuries, what has made us unique and close to one another”]. And precisely this “snaga kontinuiteta srpske kulturne i političke prošlosti… pomogla je srpskome narodu da vekovima opstojava na ovim prostorima kao jedinstveni identitet” [“energy of continuity of Serbian cultural and political past… has helped the Serbian na- tion to survive for centuries in these parts as an indivisible identity”]. Because “postoji zajednička jezgra, opšta, delatna i bremenita, spremna da se razvija i umnožava, da bogati i uzdiže vaskoliki srpski narod. Do te jezgre se dolazi samo ako se prate kontinuiteti. Samo se tako može dopreti do same matice koja je srpski narod pronela kroz tri milenija” [“there is a common kernel, universal, active and fruitful, ready to develop and multiply, to enrich and elevate the en- tire Serbian people. This kernel can be reached only by tracing the continuities. Only thus may one reach the same current that has carried the Serbian people over three millennia”.30 Such discourses on Mokranjac have also defined the meaning of the fes- tival Mokranjčevi dani. In 2008, the festival was held under the motto “Pov- ratak izvorima” [“Returning to the Sources”], where the word ‘sources’ meant folklore tradition and choral music by Mokranjac and other authors.31 At the Forum organized within Mokranjčevi dani in 2003, the composer Konstantin Babić singled out this festival as one of the few which cultivate “našu, više nego ugroženu nacionalnu kulturu” [“our national culture, which is more than endangered”], as opposed to e.g. the repertoire policy of the Belgrade Philhar- monic, which “ide putem globalizacije” [“treads the path of globalization”].32 time, the idea of continuity and belonging to a certain territory. The aim of this process of imagining a community is to represent a heterogeneous society as a homogeneous social community. Benedikt Anderson [Benedict Anderson], Nacija: zamišljena zajednica [Na- tion: Imagined Community], trans. Nata Čengić and Nataša Pavlović, Belgrade, Plato, 1998, 17–19. Invented tradition is Eric Hobsbawm’s concept. Cf. Slobodan Naumović, op. cit., 13, 27. 30 Miodrag Maticki, op. cit., 140–143. 31 Maja Čolović Vasić, “Mokranjčevi dani 2008”, Mokranjac, 2008, 10, 40–43. 32 Cf. Stojan Todorović, “Na istoku Srbije”[“In the East of Serbia”], Glas, 14 September 2003.

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Certain keynote addresses and speeches at Mokranjčevi dani had nothing to do with the festival, Mokranjac, or even music. They were dedicated to Eastern Or- thodoxy. Discourses on the Orthodoxy have the same function as the discourse on folklore: they are a call to ‘return to the roots’ which should become a key tool in the ‘national revival’. Thus in his keynote address delivered in 2002, the Academician Dejan Medaković, referring to the recent anniversary of Hilandar Monastery, asserted as our task to “pokušamo da uspostavimo duhovnu vezu sa trajnim vrednostima o kojima nas je učio Sveti Sava” [“try and establish a spiri- tual connection with the everlasting values that Saint Sava taught us about”] and “da se okrenemo svojem nacionalnom preporodu” [“to look towards our national revival”].33 As the programming director, the composer Svetislav Božić at the closing ceremony of Mokranjčevi dani in 2003 gave a speech dedicated to the anniversary of the Church of the Holy Virgin in Negotin,34 and he concluded his address from 2001 with a cry: “Verujmo u Boga i u Srpstvo!” [“Let us trust in God and in Serbdom!”]35 In the foregoing and similar narratives, Mokranjčevi dani are depicted as ‘a festival of Serbian nation’, not taking into account that members of other nations and ethnic groups also participate in it.36 When the festival narratives speak of ‘the culture of the Serbian people’, they are in fact referring to an idealized, mythic notion of a culture from a dis- tant past, which should become a model for building the contemporary ‘national

33 Dejan Medaković, “Beseda” [“Keynote Address”], Baštinik, Godišnjak Istorijskog arhiva u Negotinu, 2006, 9, 125–131. 34 In archaic language, resembling religious sermons, the programming director said: “Mokranjčevi dani, ne samo oni, u noći Roždestva okončani, no već sledeći, od ovog tre- nutka začeti, rođeni, nemaju prava na duhovne, moralne, strukovne greške. Previda je bilo isuviše i više ih ne sme biti… Mokranjčevi dani i Negotin moraju biti svetlost Tavorska, a ne Carigrad podno Karpata, žiška umašćenog agarjanskog fenjera na Bosforu, niti od zala, kišom i samoćom otežala kapucinerska megalomanija carstvujušče Vijene. Iznad čekića i nakovnja, iznad svakog zla, iznad Istoka i Zapada” [“Mokranjčevi dani, not only them, con- cluded in the night of the Nativity, but already the next festival, conceived in this moment, born, have no right to make spiritual, moral, professional mistakes. There were too many oversights and there can be no more… Mokranjčevi dani and Negotin must be the light from Mount Tabor, and not an Istanbul under Carpathians, the wick of a smeared Muslim lantern at the Bosporus, nor Capuchin megalomania of Imperial Vienna, engorged with evils, rain and solitude. Above hammer and anvil, above all evil, above the East and the West”]. Sveti- slav Božić, “Govor” [“Speech”], Baštinik, Godišnjak Istorijskog arhiva u Negotinu, 2006, 9, 136, 137. 35 Svetislav Božić, “Beseda” [“Keynote Address”], Baštinik, Godišnjak Istorijskog arhiva u Negotinu, 2006, 9, 124. 36 On the repertoire policy of Mokranjčevi dani in the 21st century see Jelena Arnautović, “Interkulturni dijalozi na Mokranjčevim danima” [“Intercultural Dialogues at Mokranjčevi dani”], Mokranjac, 13, 2011, 56–67.

100 Arnautović, J.: Various ‘Faces’ of S. Mokranjac at The Mokranjčevi Dani... (91–106 culture’. Particularly mythologized is the 19th century, presented as the time of ‘pure’, ‘original’, ‘undepraved’ culture of the Serbian nation, which is corrobo- rated with the fact that Mokranjac himself lived in the same period. In collective remembrance, this period is marked by the struggle of the Serbian people for independence, which these narratives interpret as a lesson for the current state of the Serbian nation. At the same time, some other periods of Serbian history are erased from memory as undesirable or inappropriate. For instance, there is a marked tendency to make a definite break with the nineties and to ‘start over’,37 although, paradoxically, the narratives in the 21st century are largely an extension of the narratives from the late 20th century (most of all, by their mythologization of the Serbian nation through Mokranjac). On the other hand, the significance of Mokranjac and Mokranjčevi dani was practically nil in the SFR Yugoslavia. If there are any recollections of that stage in the festival his- tory, they are mostly negative. Especially severe criticisms are aimed at banning the Orthodox music concerts in churches at the time.38 One such example is Zoran Hristić’s keynote address from 2003: “Čitave generacije u titoističkim školama vaspitavane su masovnim pesmama, bez šanse da čuju makar jedan takt, genijalne, Mokranjčeve liturgije!” [“Entire generations in Titoist schools were raised on mass songs, without a chance to hear even a single measure of Mokranjac’s brilliant Liturgy!”]39 Performing Mokranjac’s Liturgy thus became the symbol of liberation of the Serbian people from ‘oppressors’.40

37 For example, Mokranjčevi dani in 2001 were announced in the Politika ekspres daily as “prvi nakon rušenja komunizma u Srbiji” [“the first after the demise of communism in Ser- bia”]. V. C., “Nismo razumeli naš duhovni koridor” [“We did not understand our spiritual corridor”], Politika ekspres, 14 September 2001. Also, there are no written sources on Mokranjčevi dani from the nineties. Commemorative volumes by Dejan Despić and Kon- stantin Babić deal with the period only up to 1990, the journal Mokranjac was launched in 2000, and even the website of Mokranjčevi dani does not cover the last decade of the 20th century. 38 A rare exception was a concert by the conductor Darinka Matić Marović and the choir Collegium musicum, held at Mokranjčevi dani in 1978. In the Old Church in Negotin, they performed Mokranjac’s Divine Liturgy of St. John Chrysostom. Cf. Dejan Despić, Mokranjčevi dani 1966–1990, Negotin, Mokranjčevi dani, 1990, 46. The nineties saw a pro- liferation of sacred music concerts, which can also be noted in the programmes of Mokranjčevi dani. 39 Zoran Hristić, op. cit., 132. 40 In his keynote address from 2001, Svetislav Božić reinterpreted Mokranjac’s music as “simbol večne patnje srpskog naroda” [“a symbol of the eternal suffering of the Serbian people”] because “mnogi proterani velikani, istinski rodoljubi proglašeni narodnim nepri- jateljima patili su i ridali za Stevanovom i sa Stevanovom pesmom” [“many exiled great men, true patriots who were declared public enemies, suffered and wept for Stevan’s songs

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The effort to shape the remembrance of certain events from the past selec- tively, apparent in narratives from Mokranjčevi dani, can be interpreted analo- gously to the sociologist Todor Kuljić’s definition of the culture of remembrance and the culture of forgetting. “Pamćenje sklapa selektivne sadržaje prošlosti u smisaoni poredak, uspostavlja sklad u prihvatanju i tumačenju sveta, ali nara- vno ne samo čuvanjem određenih sadržaja, već i zaboravom drugih. … Sećanje je zahvat u prošlo uvek iz nove sadašnjice” [“Remembrance assembles selected themes from the past into a coherent arrangement, establishes harmony in ac- cepting and interpreting the world – naturally, not only by preserving certain themes, but also by forgetting others… Remembrance is reaching into the past, always from a new present”].41 It is therefore interesting to recollect that Stevan Mokranjac, represented in today’s narratives as a symbol of Serbian identity, was a symbol of Yugoslavism until three decades ago.42 In both cases, the pro- cess of utilizing tradition was and is in operation, albeit in different ways. For, as Naumović says, tradition is not a passive segment of the system; instead, each new generation of ‘active recipients’ chooses and reinterprets the tradi- tional themes.43 And that means that in different contexts, one and the same tradition can be interpreted in different ways. In the process, the power wielders in a certain society and at a certain time will campaign for ‘their’ interpretation of tradition as the only valid and correct one. The problem with, or, rather, the danger from, such biased and ideologically coloured interpretations of Stevan and with Stevan’s songs”], and Mokranjac himself “delio sudbinu svoje braće po Veri i duhu” [“shared the fate of his brothers in Faith and spirit”]. The speaker then related this symbolism to the ban on Orthodox music in socialist Yugoslavia: “Dugo je ćutala njegova pesma, dugo su crkve čekale srpski rod, krila se Liturgija Zlatoustog od nas” [“For too long had his song kept quiet, for too long had the churches waited for the Serbian people to return to them, for too long had the Liturgy of Chrysostom been hidden from us”]. Svetislav Božić, “Beseda” [“Keynote Address”], op. cit., 123. 41 Todor Kuljić, Kultura sećanja: teorijska objašnjenja upotrebe prošlosti [Culture of Re- membrance: Theoretical Explanations of Utilization of the Past], Belgrade, Čigoja, 2006, 8. 42 Until 1990, the speakers at Mokranjčevi dani came from various parts of ex-Yugoslavia and Mokranjac was considered a Yugoslav composer. An example of such an interpretation of Mokranjac is an address by the musicologist Stana Đurić-Klajn from 1981, where she highlighted that Mokranjac composed “u duhu jugoslovenskom, inspirišući se i obuhvatajući u svojim blistavim rukovetima narodne napeve Srbije, Makedonije, Crne Gore, Bosne i Hr- vatske, pa je u tome njegov opštejugoslovenski značaj” [“in the Yugoslav spirit, finding in- spiration in and encompassing in his brilliant Garlands the folk melodies of Serbia, Macedonia, Montenegro, Bosnia and Croatia, which constitutes his all-Yugoslav signifi- cance”]. Cf. Dejan Despić, op. cit., 125. 43 Slobodan Naumović, op. cit., 13, 14, 27.

102 Arnautović, J.: Various ‘Faces’ of S. Mokranjac at The Mokranjčevi Dani... (91–106

Mokranjac is that they come from individuals who enjoy a measure of cred- ibility with the public; another problem is that such interpretations have been publicly pronounced at the festival Mokranjčevi dani or recorded in the texts about it. Thus everyone who attends the festival or reads about it in the media will receive the message that Mokranjac and the festival in his honour should be understood in the described manner, whereas the composer and the event are both so much more than that. Interpretations of Stevan Mokranjac are also built on visions of the future. The most striking examples are the narratives about the festival Mokranjčevi dani in which Negotin, Mokranjac’s hometown, is compared to other Euro- pean cities where great composers were born. The festival chronicler Gordana Krajačić was among the first to make such a comparison. As early as in 2001 she wrote: “Salcburg se ponosi Mocartom, Bon Betovenom, Varšava Šopenom, a Negotin – najvećim srpskim kompozitorom – Stevanom Mokranjcem” [“Salz- burg is proud of Mozart, Bonn of Beethoven, Warsaw of Chopin, and Negotin of the greatest Serbian composer – Stevan Mokranjac”].44 In 2003, the same author concluded that Mokranjčevi dani was at the European level because it offered “sjaj svetskih festivala” [“the glamour of world festivals”], and in 2010 she ascertained that Negotin “iz godine u godinu sve više teži da postane naš Salcburg” [“is increasingly turning into our own Salzburg, year after year”].45 Comparison between Negotin and Salzburg has been particularly noticeable in Branka Radović’s narratives since she became the programming director of Mokranjčevi dani in 2007. In her text “Moj selektorski kredo” [“My creed as a Programming Director”] she explicitly stated: “Negotin treba da postane naš Salcburg i naš Bajrojt, svetilište srpske muzike i kulture” [“Negotin should become our Salzburg and our Bayreuth, the sanctuary of Serbian music and culture”].46 Moreover, when a Protocol on Co-Financing of Mokranjčevi dani, as a cultural event of high priority, was signed in 2010 with the Ministry of Cul-

44 Gordana Krajačić, “Nebesna liturgija” [“Heavenly liturgy”], Blic, 14 September 2001. 45 Gordana Krajačić, “Vertikala balkanske duhovne muzike” [“Pillar of Balkan sacred music”], Blic, 11 September 2003; Gordana Krajačić, Muzički zapisi, op. cit., 38. 46 Branka Radović, op. cit., 37. She reiterated the same view two years later: “Salcburg je malo mesto koje je zahvaljujući Mocartu danas jedan od svetskih festivalskih centara – takav mora postati i Negotin u kome je rođen Stevan Stojanović Mokranjac” [“Salzburg is a small town that today, thanks to Mozart, is a global festival centre – this must also happen to Ne- gotin, where Stevan Stojanović Mokranjac was born”]. Cf. Milomirka Jovović, “Sa Mokran- jcem u svet” [“With Mokranjac into the World”], Mokranjac, 12, 2010, 29. The organizers and chroniclers of the festival have likewise adopted the same comparisons. Cf. Maja Čolović Vasić, “Mokranjčevi dani 2009”, Mokranjac, 2009, 11, 36; Maja Čolović Vasić, “Tribina Mokranjčevih dana” [“Forum of Mokranjčevi dani”], Mokranjac, 2010, 12, 38.

103 New Sound 43, I/2014 ture, this partnership was symbolically named “Sa Mokranjcem u svet” [“With Mokranjac into the World”]. In the opinion of Milomirka Jovović, the festival director at the time, this justified the organizers’ and programming director’s view that “sazrelo vreme u kome Negotin mora postati svetski, muzički, kulturni i turistički centar” [“the time was ripe for Negotin to become the world centre of music, culture, and tourism”]. Signing of the protocol was an important step towards making Mokranjac’s works “pronose svetom” [“resonate around the world”] and turning them into “zajedničko kulturno nasleđe jugoistočne Ev- rope” [“collective cultural heritage of Southeast Europe”]. For his oeuvre was “čuvan i razvijan” [“preserved and cultivated”] “baš sa tim ciljem da nas pre- pozna i preporuči svetu” [“precisely to make us recognizable and present us to the world”].47 Therefore, in the narratives at the beginning of the 21st century, Mokranjac and Mokranjčevi dani have become a Serbian brand and a kind of ‘ticket to Eu- rope’. This can also be exemplified by the keynote address of Ivan Tasovac, a long-standing director of the Belgrade Philharmonics, from 2008. Unlike most of his predecessors, who saw the preservation of Serbian folklore and national identity as that continuity between Mokranjac and the present time, Tasovac perceived this continuity in communication with other European countries. Namely, Mokranjac is important to him primarily as the man “koji je pre više od sto godina razrešio pitanje o sopstvenoj umetničkoj egzistenciji u evropskom kontekstu znanja, iskustava i vrednosti… koji nas je svojim talentom upisao na svetsku muzičku mapu, koji nam je zadao standarde i potvrdio da istorija ne poznaje kategoriju nerealizovanog talenta” [“who over a hundred years ago solved the issue of his own artistic existence in the European context of knowl- edge, experience, and values… whose talent put us on the world map of music, who set the standard for us and confirmed that history does not recognize the category of wasted talent”.48 Here Mokranjac is again understood as a model, a worthy example from the past and a guide for the future of Serbian culture, but the aspect to which we should look up is different. With the speakers dis- cussed so far, this aspect concerned looking toward Serbian cultural heritage which, in their interpretation, became ‘immaculate source’ and the paradigm of ‘true values of Serbian culture’, whereas here the emphasis is on Mokranjac’s cosmopolitism, his skill to use his own talent in the best possible way and to

47 Milomirka Jovović, op. cit., 28, 29. The extent of the exorbitance and groundlessness of this statement can be seen from the fact that the protocol with the Ministry was signed for only two years. Upon the expiration of this agreement, the organizers of Mokranjčevi dani were again forced to ‘cope’ with unstable and insufficient financial resources. 48 Ivan Tasovac, “Beseda” [“Keynote Address”], Mokranjac, 2008, 10, 38.

104 Arnautović, J.: Various ‘Faces’ of S. Mokranjac at The Mokranjčevi Dani... (91–106 present it beyond the boundaries of Serbia at the time.49 Also, this particular narrative shows signs of utilizing tradition, but to a different end. That is to say: a discourse on Mokranjac who is no longer a Yugoslav, nor ‘a great Serb’, but a cosmopolitan and a European, in an echo of the post-socialist transition ideol- ogy of the necessity of Serbia becoming a member of the European Union. In conclusion of the analysis, what this paper ultimately shows is that dis- courses on Mokranjac, as one of the most significant composers in the history of Serbian music, reflect our attitude towards ourselves and the community to which we belong. Interpretations of Mokranjac have changed over the histori- cal course of Mokranjčevi dani, in line with changes of dominant ideologies and differences in personal perceptions. Thus we came from a Mokranjac who deeply felt the fellowship of the Yugoslav people, to Mokranjac as an expres- sion of the eternal suffering of the Serbian nation, to Mokranjac the cosmopoli- tan and successful manager. These various ‘faces’ of Stevan Mokranjac reflect the various ways in which musical tradition, as a powerful means of identifica- tion, may be utilized, invented, selectively remembered or in fact forgotten. The common ground between all of these narratives, which are seemingly disparate, is that they all treat Mokranjac as a sort of ‘place of collective mem- ory’ serving to determine a collective and personal identity. In some narratives in the 21st century, this identity is based on denying the immediate past and re-

49 Approaching Mokranjac’s biography from the perspective of an (orchestra) manager, Tas- ovac is particularly fascinated by the fact that Mokranjac, in spite of financial difficulties, acquired education abroad, that he pragmatically chose to devote himself to the genre of choral music aware that it was the certain way of getting it performed in Serbia, that he man- aged to tour foreign countries with Belgrade Choral Society, and established the first music school and the first string quartet. “Zbog svega toga mislim da je Mokranjac ne samo origi- nalan savremeni umetnik renesansnog tipa koji je u malu sredinu doneo duh evropskih vred- nosti već ga možemo smatrati i prvim uspešnim menadžerom u našoj muzičkoj kulturi koji nam je ostavio mogućnost da je, ukoliko imamo viziju i preuzmemo na sebe odgovornost, moguće sanjati i srpski san o uspehu, ma koliko nam polazna tačka delovala bezizlazno” [“Given all of that, I think that Mokranjac was not only an original contemporary artist of the type, who brought the spirit of the European values into a provincial setting, but that we may also consider him the first successful manager in our musical culture, who bequeathed to us with the possibility, should we have a vision and take responsibility upon ourselves, to dream a Serbian dream of success, however hopeless the starting point might seem”]. Therefore, in the speaker’s opinion, Mokranjac’s experience is important for us today, because we, just like him back then, are starting “iz neke vrste istorijskog minusa” [“from a sort of historical deficit”] and therefore should spend the precious time “na akciju čiji cilj je uključenje u magistralne tokove svetske kulturne istorije, kojoj, konačno, pripad- amo” [“in taking action aimed at joining the main flows of global cultural history, to which, after all, we belong”]. Ibid., 39.

105 New Sound 43, I/2014 turning to an idealized 19th century, i.e. ‘the sources’ and ‘the roots’ of Serbian culture, which are understood as folklore and Orthodox Christianity. For others, Mokranjac is a brand that can help us make a better showing on the interna- tional stage, thus building an identity on ‘the European civic values’. In both cases, the discourse around Mokranjac is used in an attempt to find a solution to the identity crisis and rift that have afflicted Serbian society for many years. Translated by Goran Kapetanović

106 Nikolić, S.: The Opera Question In Belgrade As ‘Staged’ By Milan Grol (107–122)

Article received on 17th Jun 2014 Article accepted on 29th Jun 2014 UDC: 792.07:929 Грол М.

Sanela Nikolić* University of Arts in Belgrade Faculty of Music Department of Musicology

THE OPERA QUESTION IN BELGRADE AS ‘STAGED’ BY MILAN GROL1

Abstract: Writer, politician, and dramaturge Milan Grol can be credited with the most important contribution of an individual to the modernization of the National Theatre in Belgrade. A reformer, legislator, organizer of international theatre cooperation, and man- ager of the National Theatre, he also played a key role in defining ‘the opera question’ in Belgrade during the first two decades of the 20th century. Commendable as his activities were in terms of the institutional organization and advancement of South Slavic theatres, it must also be noted that owing to his unfavourable attitude towards the performance of opera at the National Theatre, the development of its opera ensemble and establishment of an artistically worthy opera repertoire at this theatre came to a halt in the first decade of the 20th century. Grol’s views about opera at the National Theatre reflect a striking ambivalence in his dual professional personality of a politician and writer. As a member of the Independent Radical Party, he supported a pro-European orientation and cultural elitism, which were meant to serve democratic and educational goals. However, when it came to the question of opera at the National Theatre, he abandoned his guiding principles devoted to modern European standards. Grol thus reinterpreted his firm political basis in the field of partisan clashes and appropriated the power to regulate the repertoire of the National Theatre; yet, for all that, he never gave up his primary vocation of a writer and

* Author contact information: [email protected]. 1 This study was realized under the auspices of the scholarly project Identiteti srpske muzike u svetskom kulturnom kontekstu [Identities of Serbian Music in a Global Cultural Context] at the Department of Musicology of the Faculty of Music in Belgrade, supported by the Ministry of Education and Science, under Reg. No. 177019.

107 New Sound 43, I/2014 dramaturge, who saw the presentation of the highest aesthetic achievements of national and European literature as the sole purpose of the institution he managed. Key words: Milan Grol, National Theatre in Belgrade, modernization, opera question, operetta, Srpski književni glasnik, National Theatre Act

During the first two decades of the 20th century, the presence of a foreign and domestic operatic repertoire at the National Theatre and establishing of a separate opera house were at the centre of some of the most heated contro- versies in the musical life of Belgrade. Divergent opinions as to what kind of art the National Theatre was supposed to promote – literature or music, drama or opera – were elicited by the original conception of national theatres in the Balkans as drama theatres, “za čiju su se estetiku borile generacije intelektua- laca, uglavnom književnika, imajući prvenstveno u vidu vaspitnu ulogu dram- skog teatra” [“whose aesthetics was fought for by generations of intellectuals, mostly writers, who saw the edification of the nation as the primary goal of drama theatre”].2 During the first decade of the 20th century, members of sev- eral National Theatre administrations incorporated into their political struggles polemics about whether the Theatre’s repertoire should focus on drama only, or both on drama and music as well. These polemics permeated attempts at an institutional reform of South Slavic theatres by way a systemic legislative regulating of the goals and domains of their activities. Concerning the status of the Belgrade National Theatre, this institutional reform was seen as a possible solution to the ongoing crisis, with which almost all Theatre administrations had to cope around the turn of the century. The credit for being the most im- portant individual contributor to such endeavours goes to the writer, politician, and dramaturge Milan Grol (1876–1952). As a result of Grol’s intensive efforts as a theatre reformer, legislator, organizer of international cooperation, drama- turge (1903–1906) and general manager of the National Theatre (1909–1924),3

2 Nadežda Mosusova, “Srpska muzička scena (125 godina Narodnog pozorišta)” [“The Ser- bian Musical Stage (The 125th Anniversary of the National Theatre”], in: Nadežda Mosus- ova (ed.), Srpska muzička scena [The Serbian Music Stage], Belgrade, Muzikološki institut – Srpska akademija nauka i umetnosti, 1995, 9. 3 In March 1910, due to a fundamental disagreement with the Minister of Education, Grol submitted his resignation. Milan Predić and members of the Literary and Artistic Board (Dragomir Janković, Jovan Skerlić, and Stevan Mokranjac) did the same. The management of the Theatre was entrusted to Milorad Gavrilović, who was to remain in office for less than a year, because on 1 January 1911 Grol was reinstated and remained in that post until 28 February 1924, with a break during the First World War when the National Theatre and all other cultural institutions were closed. See Zoran T. Jovanović, “Milan Grol – pozorišni re- formator” [“Milan Grol – A Theatre Reformer”], Zbornik Matice srpske za scenske umet- nosti i muziku, 28/29, 2002, 117.

108 Nikolić, S.: The Opera Question In Belgrade As ‘Staged’ By Milan Grol (107–122) the Theatres Act was passed in 1911; the School of Acting was established at the Theatre in 1909; the School of Acting and Ballet became an independent educational institution in 1921; many actors and directors, as well as singers and choirmasters after the First World War4 were sent abroad for education. The founding of the Alliance of Slavic Theatres and the organization of its first congress in 1923 in Belgrade was also his work and so was the publishing of the Slavic Theatre Review with the aim of presenting the art of Slavic theatres in Europe.5 The present paper argues that owing to such diverse activities, Milan Grol was a key figure in defining the ‘opera question’ in Serbia. Commendable as his multifarious activities were in terms of the institutional organization and advancement of South Slavic theatres, it must also be noted that owing to his unfavourable attitude towards the performance of opera at the National Theatre, the development of its opera ensemble and the process of establishing an artisti- cally worthy operatic repertoire at this theatre came to a halt in the first decade of the 20th century. His stance on the question of opera at the National Theatre was a symptom of his political views, which also shaped his position regarding institutional re- form at the Theatre. As a matter of fact, the opera question was part and parcel of the political turmoil of the first half of the 20th century and a reflection of the clashes between the politics of the ‘old’ radicals and a new generation of the so-called Independent Radicals. The latter group mainly comprised intellectuals educated in France and Germany, such as Grol himself. The Independent Radi- cals’ agenda placed considerable emphasis on raising the cultural level of the population. This new generation of radicals entered the political scene around 1905, claiming that education received far too little attention in this country, while civil virtues, vital for a democratic society, were neglected. “Jedan od glavnih ideologa samostalaca Jovan Skerlić naglašavao je da ‘demokratije ne može biti bez elite, jer ne može biti bez genija, nauke i vrline’” [“One of the Independents’ chief ideologues, Jovan Skerlić argued that ‘there can be no de- mocracy without an elite, for we cannot do without genius, without science and virtue’”].6 A bourgeois culture fashioned after Western European models and conceived as an elitist form of culture was expected to establish a lasting rap-

4 Milan Grol, “Glumačka škola. Pristupno predavanje i program” [“The School of Acting. Inaugural Lecture and Curriculum”], Srpski književni glasnik, 1909, 23/12, 944–951. 5 Cf. Dragana Čolić Biljanovski, “Saradnja u oblasti pozorišne umetnosti početkom XX veka” [“Cooperation in the Domain of Theatre Art at the Beginning of the 20th Century”], Zbornik Matice srpske za scenske umetnosti i muziku, 2008, 39, 65. 6 Dušan T. Bataković, “Francuski uticaji u Srbiji 1835–1914. Četiri generacije ‘Parizlija’” [“French Influences in Serbia, 1835–1914. Four Generations of ‘Parisians’”], Zbornik Mat- ice srpske za istoriju, 1997, 56, 91–92.

109 New Sound 43, I/2014 port with the masses; along with democratization, this was meant to achieve the edification of the people. Accordingly, the repertoire of the National Theatre was conceived as a presentation of the highest aesthetic achievements of Euro- pean and especially national culture, with educational goals in mind. This meant that no concessions to a lower taste should be made by performing ‘light’, en- tertaining plays, easily accessible to wider audiences. In June 1902, upon Grol’s return after two years of studies in Paris, the Minister of Education appointed him as member and coordinator of the committee tasked with drafting a law on theatres. After his second stay in France in 1905, Grol spoke about theatre as a fact of education that could indirectly influence the process of democratization and the popularization of theatre in general.7 Adhering to the political stance of the Independent Radicals that national cultural development and democratiza- tion ought to proceed in accordance with the model of culture as enlightenment, Grol strove to implement the best European – French and German – cultural practices in the South Slavic theatre system, by way of improvements in leg- islation, repertoire reforms, professionalizing stage direction, cooperating with foreign artists and educating theatre personnel. Despite all of these positive efforts, Grol’s position regarding opera reflects an utterly negative, radically critical attitude, a practical consequence of which was its tendency to bring the opera life at the National Theatre to a complete stop. The reasons for such moves on Grol’s part should be sought in two ten- dencies that were current at that time. One was based on the need to oppose the repertoire policy of the opposing political factions that had dominated the pre- ceding Theatre administration. It was imperative to criticize that policy if the In- dependent Radicals were to prevail. The second aspect of the problem was of a professional and artistic nature: as a writer and dramaturge, Grol had reached the conclusion that the drama branch of the National Theatre was in a serious crisis and that opera, with its ever increasing audience, would only exacerbate that cri- sis. This was a latent but persistent concern in Grol’s texts on operetta and opera published in Srpski književni glasnik between 1904 and 1908.8 It is as if Grol had refused to acknowledge the popularity of opera in Belgrade and the willingness of the audience to accept the latest achievements in operatic performance. The

7 On his journey back from France, Grol spent time in Munich and Vienna in order to study the organization and legal regulations of German and Austrian state theatres. See Zoran T. Jovanović, op. cit., 108–109. 8 The texts in question are “Pitanje o opereti u Narodnom pozorištu” [“The Question of Operetta at the National Theatre”], “Opera u Narodnom pozorištu” [“Opera at the National Theatre”], “Narodno pozorište” [“National Theatre”] (three instalments), published in Srpski književni glasnik, the leading professional literary journal of the time, in 1904, 1906, and 1908, respectively.

110 Nikolić, S.: The Opera Question In Belgrade As ‘Staged’ By Milan Grol (107–122) immaturity of the audience, inadequacy of the performers employed at the Na- tional Theatre, and the entertaining character of opera were his chief arguments against accepting an operatic repertoire and advancing the genre of opera, which had been initiated by previous administrations and fully implemented between 1906 and 1909.9 It is precisely owing to Grol’s activities that ...deo istorijata Narodnog pozorišta u Beogradu u deceniji pred Prvi svetski rat upućuje na diskontinuirane procese profesionalizacije i modernizacije muzičke grane i njenog repertoara. Reč je o naglim promenama koje su se ogledale u kratkotrajnom unapređenju muzičkog ansambla i izvođenju operskih dela (1906–1909), potom u poništavanju tih napora i rezultata i povratku u stare repertoarske okvire, a zatim o radu ispočetka i novom pokušaju uspostavljanja opere (1913–1914). [...part of the history of the National Theatre in Belgrade in the decade preceding sug- gests a discontinuity in the process of the professionalization and modernization of the Theatre’s musical branch and its repertoire. It was the result of abrupt changes occurring at that time, reflected in short-lived improvements to the music ensemble and performance of operatic works (1906–1909), followed by an undoing of all of those efforts and results, returning to old repertoire frameworks, and then a new be- ginning and a new attempt to establish opera (1913–1914)].10

9 “Podaci i statistike vezani za deceniju pre Prvog svetskog rata mogu jasno da upute na međusobnu koliziju programskih ciljeva pozorišnih Uprava. Naime, u periodu od 1906. do 1909, kada je Uprava Nikole Petrovića inicirala, a Uprava Mihaila Markovića i Riste Odavića sprovela ideju muzičkog programa Pozorišta, izvođena su dela standardnog operskog repertoara Kavalerija rustikana, Pajaci i Prodana nevesta, na čelu sa dirigen- tom Dragutinom Pokornim. Zbog realizacije tih projekata i težnje da se uspostavi kon- tinuitet u negovanju opere, pristupilo se unapređenju hora i angažovanju određenog broja profesionalnih solista. Pojačan je i orkestar, postavši najveće instrumentalno telo u prestonici, pa je Uprava smatrala da bi on trebalo da ostane čak i u slučaju odustajanja od opere …” [“The data and statistics related to the decade before World War I clearly indicate a collision between programming ideas of different Theatre administrations. Namely, between 1906 and 1909, under the administration of Nikola Petrović, the musi- cal programme was initiated, and under Risto Odavić, put into effect, thus works from standard operatic repertoire, such as Cavalleria rusticana, Pagliacci, and The Bartered Bride were performed, conducted by Dragutin Pokorni. To enable the realization of these projects and establish continuity in the performance of opera, the choir was en- hanced with a number of professional singers. The orchestra was also reinforced to be- come the largest performing body in the capital, so the management believed it should remain in place even if the opera project were abandoned …”]; Biljana Milanović, “Politika u kontekstu ‘operskog pitanja’ u Narodnom pozorištu pred Prvi svetski rat” [“Politics in the Context of the ‘Opera Question’ at the National Theatre before the First World War”], Muzikologija, 2012, 12, 40. 10 Ibid., 37.

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With Grol’s appointment as the general manager, all previous efforts were abandoned, the music ensemble significantly reduced, and the performance of opera stopped.11 Given that the National Theatre functioned as a spoken-drama theatre from the very beginning, Grol’s activities only resulted in a more clearly profiled dra- matic sphere, which guided Grol’s decisions to allow certain musical works as a concession serving to entertain the audience. As a man of letters, he gave pref- erence to drama and, accordingly, strove for a continual improvement and mod- ernization of the Theatre’s drama branch, at the expense of its musical branch. Osnovni problemi koje je Grol od početka nastojao da reši nalazili su se na samom polju negovanja dramskog repertoara, u poznatoj, višegodišnjoj pozorišnoj krizi, koja je od kraja 19. veka pa nadalje bila obeležena slabim interesovanjem publike za dramu i tragediju, a posebno za nacionalno-istorijska scenska ostvarenja domaćih pisaca. [The principal problems that Grol was trying to solve from the beginning resided in the field of the drama repertoire and related to the well-known and long- standing crisis dating back to the end of the 19th century. The crisis concerned a lack of public interest for drama and tragedy, particularly for national-historic stage works by domestic authors].12 In his text “Pitanje o opereti u Narodnom pozorištu” [“The Question of Operetta at the National Theatre”], published in 1904 in Službeni glasnik, Grol gave a description of the public’s prevailing attitude of indifference towards lit- erary achievements, precisely blaming the operatic repertoire for that. The mid- dle-class audience was much more attracted to that entertaining musical stage genre, which diminished the number of those interested in aesthetically relevant dramatic works. A repertoire featuring operatic works could only exacerbate this division in favour of musical as opposed to literary genres.

11 The première and four subsequent performances of Smetana’s The Bartered Bride took place at the beginning of 1909. Already in February, following Grol’s reinstatement as gen- eral manager, the opera was taken off the repertoire. The next operatic première at the Na- tional Theatre was not held until 1911 (six months after the great success of the Croatian Opera in Belgrade). It was an unsuccessful performance of Mozart’s Bastien und Bastienne. Opera was revived at the National Theatre with great success and a large number of premières during the season of 1913–1914, when Stanislav Binički became the conductor. See Slobo- dan Turlakov, Istorija opere i baleta Narodnog pozorišta u Beogradu [The History of the Opera and Ballet of the National Theatre in Belgrade], Vol. 1, Belgrade, Čigoja štampa, 2005, 58–59; Roksanda Pejović, “Repertoar Opere i Baleta Narodnog pozorišta (1882– 1941)” [“The Opera and Ballet Repertoire of the National Theatre (1882–1941)”], in: Opera i Balet Narodnog pozorišta u Beogradu [Opera and Ballet in the National Theatre in Bel- grade], Belgrade, publisher unknown, 1996, 306. 12 Biljana Milanović, op. cit., 49.

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In his text from 1904, Grol emphasized that the National Theatre’s para- mount function was to participate in the construction of a national identity. Nesumnjivo je – i prema zakonu, i prema namerama njegovog prvog dobrotvora, i po ulozi koju ova državna i nacionalna ustanova ima u literaturi, u umetnosti, u narodnom obrazovanju, u opštoj nacionalnoj kulturi – da u Narodnom pozorištu nije mesto ni austrijskim valcerima, ni kaplarskim galanterijama ’Jedne japanske čajdžinice’. Taj razlog narodnog obraza u ovom pitanju toliko je očigledan i neospo- ran da – hvala Bogu – pored sveg današnjeg darmara u javnom životu, nijedan čovek od imena, nijedan list, nema smelosti da ga porekne [There is no doubt – according to the law, according to the intention of its first benefactor, and indeed according to the role that this national and state institution plays in literature, art, national enlight- enment, in national culture in general – that the National Theatre has no place for Austrian waltzes, or for such petty gallantries such as ‘A Japanese Tearoom’. In this matter, this motive of national honour is so evident and beyond any doubt that – thank God – for all the mess in public life, no decent man and no newspaper could deny it].13 Grol found justification for the presence of operettas alongside “serious” dra- matic repertoire in the practical side of repertoire policy, that is, in striving to bind the audience to the house. He even concluded that, by the onset of the 20th century, operetta had virtually ‘killed’ national song plays. Dok još ne bude stvorena stalna publika, dok još bude ovakve heterogenosti u njoj, dok drama ne bude toliko jaka da sama bude dovoljna privlačnost – misli se – potrebno je truditi se da se publika veže za kuću... [“Until there is a permanent audi- ence, for as long as there is this much heterogeneity in it, and until drama has become strong enough to constitute an attraction in itself – so it is believed – it is necessary to strive to tie the audience to the house…].14 Grol, however, proceeds to argue that a repertoire featuring both high dramatic achievements and worthless foreign operettas could not create a permanent the- atre audience, precisely the kind of audience that ought to form the core of a theatre and could appreciate every theatrical achievement. Sa ovim u vezi može se govoriti o zamerkama koje se čine drami. Ako se nalazi da drama danas ni po glumačkoj veštini ni po inscenaciji, po kostimu i dekoraciji ne može da zadovolji beogradsku publiku – a o njenom prefinjenom ukusu moglo bi se dosta govoriti – onda je još apsurdnije stvarati stalnu publiku šarenim repertoarom – podizati dramu davanjem opereta. Jer mora se priznati, teško je naći neobičnijeg načina za negovanje ukusa za dramu i školovanje dramskih glumaca – od mazurki u

13 Milan Grol, “Pitanje o opereti u Narodnom pozorištu” [“The Question of Operetta at the National Theatre”], Srpski književni glasnik, 1904, 11/75, 302. 14 Ibid., 302.

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’Đaku prosjaku’ i baleta u ’Gejši’. [In this context one might speak of objections raised concerning spoken drama. If one maintains that spoken drama today cannot satisfy the Belgrade audience either in terms of its acting skills and staging, costumes and stage sets – and its refined taste could be discussed at length – it is yet more absurd to try to create a permanent audience by a motley repertoire – to elevate drama by performing operettas. For one must admit, there could hardly be a more unusual way of cultivating a taste for drama and for educating dramatic actors than by playing the mazurkas from ‘The Beggar Student’ and the ballet from ‘The Geisha’.]15 Grol believed that acquiring a mass audience and meeting the budget with sold- out operetta performances could not justify so many operettas on the stage of the National Theatre, given that drama itself had generated substantial revenue even many years before, when operetta had not even existed at this institution. Istina je da opereta dolazi u red najposećenijih komada: to nije nimalo čudnovato kad se zna da je to žanr lak i dopadljiv, svojom melodičnom muzikom, svojim sceničnim šarenilom, svojom panoramom žena i kostima, i kad se zna kako se ona danas daje a kako drama, ali ta dobro posećena opereta (kojoj bi to bio jedini – za nuždu – razlog da se trpi u subvencionisanom Narodnom pozorištu ) – nema ni izbliza moć koja joj se pripisuje. Njeni najvatreniji branioci išli su čak dotle da kažu: da opereta izdržava dramu. Drama je međutim u Narodnom pozorištu živela trideset godina bez ’Ptičara’ i ’Gejše’ i – sme se reći – nije joj bilo nimalo gore no danas. Treba samo pogledati prihode poslednjih deset godina, srednje prihode drame za se i srednje prihode sa operetom pa da se vidi kako je cela ta graja naduvana i koliko se sva ta muka, šteta i sramota isplaćuje. [It is true that operetta ranks among the best attended perfor- mances: this is by no means strange if one takes into account that it is a light and likeable genre, with its melodious music, variegated stage setting, panorama of women and costumes, as well as the difference in performance between operetta and spoken drama; and yet, this well-attended operetta (which would be – out of necessity – the only excuse for tolerating it at the state-funded National Theatre) – is far from possessing the powers ascribed to it. Its most ardent champions went as far as to say that operetta was financially providing for spoken drama. Spoken drama, however, thrived at the National Theatre for almost thirty years without ‘The Bird-Catcher’ and ‘The Geisha’ and – we have every right to claim – it fared none the worse for that. Just look at the revenues of the last ten years, average revenues of drama alone and those with operetta included: it is plain that all of this hullabaloo is much inflated and that all this trouble, harm, and disgrace is hardly worth it at all].16 In conclusion, Grol points out: Još jednom: Nije opereti mesto u Narodnom pozorištu, ni po imenu koje ono nosi, ni po ulozi koje ono treba da igra u narodnom životu, kao što je u njega ne dovodi

15 Ibid., 304–305. 16 Ibid., 308–309.

114 Nikolić, S.: The Opera Question In Belgrade As ‘Staged’ By Milan Grol (107–122)

nikakva nužda: nije to put ni da se stvori stalna publika, ni da se podigne drama, ni da se ova ustanova obezbedi finansijski. Opereta se u Narodnom pozorištu još – najviše – može trepeti privremeno, onoliko koliko je se do danas zateklo, i dok je publika bude trpela ovakvu kakva je, sa domaćim pevačkim snagama, sa istim horom i orkestrom što se u našim skromnim prilikama daje ’Đidi’, ’Koštani’ i ’Suđajama’. Obraćati joj pažnju koja se do danas u ovoj kući još nikad nije ni upola obraćala Šekspiru ni Molijeru ni narodnim komadima, traćiti vreme i energiju najboljih glu- maca na učenje kupleta i baleta, usiljavati se da se ’Ptičar’ i ’Đak prosjak’ održe u nekom neobjašnjivom sjaju pored ’Hamleta’ i ’Pere Segedinca’ u dronjcima – be- smisleno je, sramota je, i zločin prema ovoj ustanovi. [Once again: operetta has no place at the National Theatre: neither the Theatre’s name, nor the role it ought to play in the life of the nation justify its existence; nor is it a proper way to create a regular audience, nor to elevate drama, nor to provide for this institution financially. Operetta at the National Theatre can be but tolerated; temporarily at that, and to an extent not greater than it is at present, only for so long as the public puts up with it, with its domestic singers, with the same choir and orchestra that our modest circumstances allow for ‘Đido’, ‘Koštana’, and ‘Suđaje’. To lavish on it half the attention that has ever been lavished on Shakespeare or Molière, to waste the time and energy of our best actors on learning couplets and ballets, to invest so much effort in sustaining ‘The Bird-Catcher’ and ‘The Beggar Student’ in some inexplicable glory alongside ‘Hamlet’ and ‘Pera Segedinac’, which are in tatters – is meaningless, shameful, and a crime against this institution.]17 It is evident that such explicit, radically critical attitudes resulted from Grol’s political orientation as an Independent Radical, which meant, on the one hand, the promotion of cultural elitism with an educational function, and on the other, the realization that the original conception of the National Theatre as a national drama theatre was a failure. Two years later, in 1906, provoked by the introduction of opera into the permanent repertoire of the National Theatre, Grol wrote an article for Srpski književni glasnik in which he expressed, almost panicking, his view that its opera repertoire would be the last straw in the de- struction of the National Theatre as an institution whose aim was to cultivate literary creativity of a high aesthetic value. Iz jednog ili drugih uzroka ili oba zajedno, zbog slabosti u predstavljačkom osoblju ili u režiji, zbog podvojenosti u ovako jednoj maloj publici, i zbog toliko opsežnog i mnogostrukog programa što ima da podmiri jedno jedino prestoničko, državno i nacionalno pozorište, repertoar Narodnog Pozorišta predstavlja danas jednu nesređenu, haotičnu masu komada koji se vrlo neobuzdano naslanjaju na publiku, koji se iznose na pozornicu bez ikakvog reda i veze, i kojima je danas teže no ikad postaviti jedan dosledan program i jedan pouzdan kompromis. … Koliko uviđa sve ove potrebe i nevolje koliko ozbiljno oseća sav zamašaj ovih teških i neodložnih

17 Ibid., 310.

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pitanja jedna pozorišna uprava koja u svem tom pozorišnom haosu – osniva operu! Operu, u današnjem beogradskom Narodnom Pozorištu! Iz kakvih potreba, s kakvim razlozima, na kojoj osnovi, s kakvim izgledima, s koliko ozbiljnosti? Operu bez pub- like, operu bez materijalnih sredstava, operu bez i jednog pevača za operu! … Prelazeći preko svih tih obzira i skrupula, zanemarujući najglavnija i najneodložnija pitanja programa, napretka i opstanka, u svem današnjem pozorišnom dar-maru, današnja pozorišna uprava povratila je i operetu, dovela je strane pevače i zavodi i – operu. Sad je haos potpun. [For one of two reasons, or both; because of the weak- ness either of the performing cast or the staging, because of divisions in the audience itself, small as it is, and because of so extensive and diverse a programme required from the only national theatre in the capital, the repertoire of the National Theatre today represents a chaotic, disorderly mass of plays unleashed on the audience in a completely unrestrained manner; plays brought to the stage without any order or relevance, with which today, more than ever, it is difficult to establish a consistent programme or a reliable compromise. … How aware is the theatre administration of all those needs and afflictions, how seriously does it take the full extent of these dif- ficult and pressing questions, when amidst all this chaos it establishes an opera! An opera in today’s National Theatre! For what need, for what reason, on what basis, with what kind of prospects, how seriously? An opera without an audience, an opera without the financial means, an opera without a single opera singer! … Ignoring all considerations and scruples, disregarding the paramount and urgent questions of pro- gramming, progress, and indeed survival, amidst all this turmoil, the present admin- istration has even revived operetta, brought foreign singers, and now it introduces – opera! The chaos is now complete.]18 Two years later, in 1908, Grol published an article in which he again, only in a more sanguine tone, addressed the poor material conditions prevailing at the National Theatre, which in the meantime had further deteriorated.19 It is par- ticularly interesting that this time Grol blamed operetta entirely for the degrada- tion of all segments of the Theatre’s activities, without mentioning opera. Najzad, na najgrešniju slabost oba režima za poslednje dve godine, na raspikućno negovanje operete, čak i posle osvedočenog iskustva da ona – pored toga što rasipa snagu i pažnju, što skreće u stranu ceo rad, što demoralizuje ukus, što sramoti nacion- alno pozorište – jede i ono malo s mukom stečene i isprošene pomoći srpskoj pozorišnoj umetnosti. Za rasipanje na ovoj strani ne može biti nikakvih opravdanja, i mi se nikada nećemo ustručavati da podvučemo sav greh za ovaj moralni i materi- jalni zločin. [Finally, the most sinful weakness of both regimes of the past two years, namely, the extravagance of cultivating operetta despite the confirmed experience

18 Milan Grol, “Opera u Narodnom pozorištu” [“Opera at the National Theatre”], Srpski književni glasnik, 1906, 17/141, 859, 860–861. 19 Milan Grol, „Narodno pozorište” [“The National Theatre”], Srpski književni glasnik, 1908, 21/188, 753–756.

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that it not only dissipates energy and attention, diverts all our efforts, demoralizes taste, brings disgrace to our national theatre, but also literally consumes whatever little financial support the Serbian theatrical art has struggled to procure. On no ac- count may this extravagance be justified and we will never hesitate to point out the iniquity of this moral and material crime.]20 In 1908 Grol could no longer search for arguments against previous adminis- trations in the failure of the operatic repertoire, which by that time had well established itself due to the need for opera that was widely felt in Belgrade and attracted large audiences. This is why this time he ...poslužio oprobanom strategijom svoje partije, koja se u periodu ’skupštinske op- strukcije’ do aprila 1908. najčešće bavila budžetskim pitanjima vladajućih radikala, preteći im i ustavnom krizom. Tekst objavljuje krajem iste godine, kada je njegova stranka činila deo privremene koalicione vlade upravo s radikalskim oponentima, što navodi na pomisao da je već tada računao na pregrupisavanje moći i u samom Pozorištu. [...resorted to the tried and tested strategy of his party, which was at this time, during its ‘parliamentary obstruction’ until April 1908, chiefly preoccupied with the budgetary issues of the ruling Radicals, threatening them with a constitutional crisis. The text was published towards the end of that year, when his party was part of a provisional coalition government with their Radical opponents, which suggests that he was already counting on a redistribution of power at the Theatre itself.]21 Grol and his associates’ persistent efforts to prevent the National Theatre from becoming an institution devoted both to literary creativity and the genre of opera are also in a peculiar way confirmed by their reactions to the endeavours of Žarko Savić to establish a separate opera house in Belgrade. Savić’s original idea was that opera as a separate institution be launched as part of the National Theatre. In 1906, the Štampa daily carried an interview with Savić, in which he described his intention to found an opera at the National Theatre. “Najpre, zgradu već imamo, to je Narodno pozorište koje nad mnogim pozorištima sveta ima tu dobru stranu što je akustično. Opera bi bila gajena u istoj zgradi, u kojoj se danas gaji drama” [“First of all, the building we already have, the National Theatre, which has the advantage over many other theatres in the world in that its acoustics is very good. Opera would live in the same building where drama lives today”].22 Without directly naming Savić, but referring to potential wishes

20 Milan Grol, „Narodno pozorište” [“The National Theatre”], Srpski književni glasnik, 1908, 21/190, 919–920. 21 Biljana Milanović, op. cit., 46. 22 Anonymous, “Opera u Beogradu” [“Opera in Belgrade”], Štampa, 8 June 1906, 1, quoted in: Slobodan Turlakov, “Opera na Bulevaru Žarka Savića” [“Žarko Savić’s Opera in the Boulevard”], in: Iz muzičke prošlosti Beograda [From Belgrade’s Musical Past], Belgrade, published by the author, 2002, 131.

117 New Sound 43, I/2014 to establish other forms of theatre in our milieu, Dragomir Janković, a close as- sociate of Grol,23 pronounced the following judgement in a 1907 issue of Srpski književni glasnik: Osim domaće muzike, za koje će snaga biti dovoljno, druga muzika teško da će moći u okvir NP. Uzimam tu koncerte koji se ne isplaćuju. Ako se vremenom nađe dosta njih koji zažele neku drugu vrstu – pozorišnu ili muzičku – stvaraju se novi teatri te vrste. Ali, to je stvar privatne inicijative, konkurencije i publike, koja hoće ta zado- voljstva. [Besides domestic music, for which we do have sufficient resources, other music is not very likely to exist at the National Theatre. Here I mean concerts that do not make money. If over time there should appear a large number of those interested in other types of performance, either theatre or music, new theatres of an appropriate type should be created. But that would be a matter of private initiative, competition, and the audience demanding such pleasures.]24 Savić realized his idea only in December 1909, when the King’s secretary was precisely Dragomir Janković. It is therefore not surprising that Savić’s Opera on the Boulevard functioned for a full 13 months without any government sub- sidies.25 The constellation of relationships between the musical and drama segments of the National Theatre that Grol supported and publicly promoted in Srpski književni glasnik from 1904, and then practically realized by abolishing opera in 1909 when he took over as general manager, was formally confirmed by the National Theatre Act of May 1911, the first piece of legislation regulating that institution, and the decree that accompanied it the same month. In order to ac- celerate the passing of the Act, Grol petitioned the Minster of Education with a feasibility study of a comprehensive reform of the National Theatre. By arguing that it was necessary “utvrđivanje izvesnih principa za kretanje repertoara, i u tome duhu, pročišćenje repertoara (književno i jezičko)” [“to define certain prin- ciples in the creation of the repertoire and in that spirit to cleanse the repertoire (literarily and linguistically)”]26 Grol once again confirmed that he viewed the National Theatre as an institution exclusively dedicated to spoken drama. Ac- cordingly, the Act was shaped in such a way as to ignore the fact that for a long time there had been a musical stage at the National Theatre, requiring a special

23 Likewise a former manager of the National Theatre, whose term coincided with Grol’s engagement as dramaturge (1903–1906). 24 Dragomir Janković, “Povećane subvencije – repertoar – igra. I” [Increased Subsidies – The Repertoire – Performance. I], Srpski književni glasnik, 1907, 19/156, 148. 25 Cf. Slobodan Turlakov, op. cit., 140. 26 Dr Gavrilo Kovijanić, “Građa Arhiva Srbije o Narodnom pozorištu u Beogradu 1835– 1914” [“Sources on the National Theatre at the Archives of Serbia, 1835–1914”], Belgrade, 1971, 753, quoted in: Zoran T. Jovanović, op. cit., 111.

118 Nikolić, S.: The Opera Question In Belgrade As ‘Staged’ By Milan Grol (107–122) ensemble for its activities. The foremost intention of the Act was to regulate the division of administrative power, the evaluation of actors for the purpose of calculating their salaries, and to emphasize the role of stage management as an independent activity, after the model of European theatres. The Literary- artistic Board was abolished and full authority and responsibility transferred to the manager; contracts between the management and actors and a system of fees per performance were introduced as a safeguard against excessive bureaucracy. The dramaturge’s role was taken over by the secretary who was the chief aide to the manager in administrative relations and in charge of all artistic affairs.27 The status of music at the Theatre, however, was only roughly outlined and at that, not even in the main text of the Act but in an accompanying decree issued by then Minister of Education Jaša Prodanović with the intention to emphasize the aims and tasks of the Theatre. Thus, the principal task of this cultural institution was, according to the decree, “neguje pozorišnu umetnost uopšte” [“to cultivate theatre art in general”] and to “neguje nacionalnu kulturu i ideju” [“cultivate national culture and the national idea”], as well as to “neguje sve grane nacion- alne umetnosti, u vezi sa svojim glavnim zadatkom naročito umetnost muzičku i dekorativnu” [“cultivate all branches of national art in connection with its principal task, especially music and decorative art”].28 Regarding its musical programme, Prodanović underlined that the National Theatre should primarily focus on “srpsku i hrvatsku muziku i srpske i hrvatske muzičare, zatim na slov- ensku i stranu muziku, u granicama sredstava, pravilne srazmere s glavnim za- datkom Narodnog pozorišta, i na dobar uticaj na nacionalnu muziku” [“Serbian and Croatian music and Serbian and Croatian musicians, then also on Slavic and foreign music, within its resources and in accordance with the overall mis- sion of the National Theatre; it should also exercise a beneficial influence on national music”].29 Finally, the Theatre was to “usavršavajući muzički reper- toar s postepenim prirodnim razvijanjem domaćih snaga” [“improve its musical repertoire by a gradual natural development of domestic forces”] in order to prepare “prve osnove za buduću samostalnu srpsku operu” [“the initial founda- tions for the future separate Serbian opera”].30 Although this decree underlined a nationally oriented profile of musical performance, the programming policy of the National Theatre with respect to opera was not defined in the Act. At an unspecified point in the future, an opera performing practice, as yet undefined,

27 Cf. Milan Grol, Iz pozorišta predratne Srbije [From Pre-war Serbian Theatres], Belgrade, Srpska književna zadruga, 1939, 48. 28 Dr Gavrilo Kovijanić, op. cit., 111. 29 Ibid. 30 Ibid.

119 New Sound 43, I/2014 was meant to find its place at a separate opera institution outside of the National Theatre. Finally, in 1911, Grol’s long-standing policy of obstructing the stage-music life of the National Theatre was finally forced into reverse. The reversal took place owing to the public pressure that followed a performance of the Croatian Royal National Theatre from Zagreb, whose coming to Belgrade was actually Grol’s own achievement. As an advocate of international theatre cooperation, which was meant to bring about a modernization of Belgrade’s theatre life, Grol spared no effort in promoting the Yugoslav idea through cooperation between South Slavic theatres. It was the practical realization of this idea that induced Grol to make this reversal in his programming policy and finally accept opera as part of the National Theatre’s repertoire. Having resumed his position at the helm of the National Theatre in Janu- ary 1911, Grol continued his previously arranged theatre cooperation. As a re- sult of this cooperation, the Belgrade tour of the Croatian opera during May and June 1911 brought fifteen performances of ten different works.31 Their per- formances, which were more than successful, raised the question of why Bel- grade was musically lagging behind Zagreb and, more broadly, the issue of the quality of opera in Belgrade. “Beograd je bio impresioniran kako repertoarom, tako i izvođačima” [“Belgrade was impressed by the repertoire and performers alike”].32 Miloje Milojević, the leading music critic at the time, wrote a highly affirmative review of that performance, published in Srpski književni glasnik.33 Public pressure was gradually mounting, demanding from the National Theatre management the establishment of a permanent opera ensemble that could match the theatre from Zagreb. Istorijsko gostovanje zagrebačke Opere, koje je planirano još za vreme upravniko- vanja Milorada Gavrilovića, a ostvareno za vlade Milana Grola, koje će uzbuditi sve duhove, biće prilika i za čitav niz jetkih uvodnika na račun Grola (Novo vreme, Pravda, Večernje novosti....). … Opersko pitanje postalo je pitanje od prvorazrednog

31 Cf. Konstantin Vinaver, “Repertoarska politika opere Narodnog pozorišta od njenog os- nivanja do danas” [“The Operatic Repertoire Policy of the National Theatre from Its Foun- dation to the Present”], in: Nadežda Mosusova (ed.), Srpska muzička scena [Serbian Musical Stage], Beograd, Muzikološki institut–Srpska akademija nauka i umetnosti, 1995, 248. 32 Roksanda Pejović, op. cit., 24–25. During the season of 1911–1912 two French theatres and an Italian opera toured in Belgrade. These performances also stimulated debates about the quality of Belgrade’s opera life. 33 Miloje Milojević, “Gostovanje operske trupe Kraljevskog Zemaljskog Hrvatskog Kazališta u Zagrebu” [“The Guest Performance of the Opera Company of the Croatian Royal National Theatre from Zagreb”], Srpski književni glasnik, 1911, 27/1, 62–68 and 1911, 27/2, 134–142.

120 Nikolić, S.: The Opera Question In Belgrade As ‘Staged’ By Milan Grol (107–122)

značaja, izašlo je čak iz okvira muzike i umetnosti... Postalo je pitanje – nacionalnog prestiža i časti! [The historic visit of the Zagreb Opera, planned while Milorad Gavrilović was still running the Theatre but realized under Milan Grol’s administra- tion, a visit that would agitate all spirits, would also serve as an opportunity for a series of caustic editorials at Grol’s expense (Novo vreme, Pravda, Večernje no- vosti....). … The opera question became an issue of paramount importance, even beyond the limits of music and art… It became a question of national prestige and honour.]34 Critics felt that “ako se uprava svojim ... nemodernim i jogunastim radom ... ne potrudi da Operu apsorbuje u svoj repertoar, onda bi g. Grol ostao pred Nar- odnim pozorištem večiti krivac i ništa ga od odgovornosti ne bi spasiti moglo” [“if the management with its … non-modern and stubborn work … does not make an effort to absorb opera into its repertoire, then Mr Grol would forever remain a culprit in the eyes of the National Theatre and nothing could save him from that responsibility”].35 After such a public outcry, Grol had no choice but to espouse the cause of opera at the National Theatre. In 1912 he wrote a feasibility study on the mo- dalities of collaboration between South Slavic theatres, in which a prominent place was allotted to the establishing of an art school for the instruction of our actors and singers.36 During 1913 and 1914, the opera ensemble of the National Theatre was revived once more and gave a series of performances, with varying success. Nevertheless, Grol’s subsequent thoughts reveal that he never became a true supporter of opera at the National Theatre. Ako se u toj navali velike opere, s velikim horom, baletom, orkestrom, i opremom ima u vidu i veliki dolazak stranih umetnika, taj iznenadni prepad muzike stvorio je takav huk da je drama u pozorištu bila pritešnjena tim nesrazmernim interesom pub- like za pozorište bez drame. Za Beograđane je velika opera bila veliko zadovoljstvo ali za pozorište velika briga: materijalno, velika briga za organizaciju glomaznog aparata muzike pod istim krovom, velika briga umetnička za uspostavljanje drame iza ratnog poremećaja. [If one bears in mind that this assault of grand opera, with its large choir, ballet, orchestra, and stage design also meant the advent of foreign artists, this surprise attack of music created such an uproar that drama at the theatre was put in a tight spot by such a disproportionate interest of the public for a theatre without

34 Slobodan Turlakov, “Tako se ne piše istorija” [“You Don’t Write History like That”], in: Iz muzičke prošlosti Beograda, op. cit., 15. 35 Anonymous, “Pravac rada Uprave Narodnog pozorišta” [“The Operative Guidelines of the National Theatre Management”], Pravda, 28 March 1910, 1. Quoted. in: Ibid. Slobodan Turlakov points to the fact that “Opera” (with a capital O) refers to Žarko Savić’s Opera on the Boulevard. 36 Cf. Dragana Čolić Biljanovski, op. cit., 65.

121 New Sound 43, I/2014

drama. For the citizens of Belgrade, grand opera was a grand pleasure, but for the theatre, it was a great concern: materially, a concern in terms of organizing the un- wieldy apparatus of music under the same roof; artistically, a concern for reviving drama after the disturbances of war.]37 Grol’s opinions on the presence of opera at the National Theatre reflected a striking ambivalence in his professional personality, split between that of a politician and a writer. As an Independent Radical, he was in favour of a pro- European orientation and cultural elitism, with the aim of democratic enlight- enment. Advocating an operatic repertoire would not have been inconsistent with such a cultural policy. However, when it came to the life of opera at the National Theatre, Grol abandoned his political guiding principle of following modern European standards. Grol thus reinterpreted his firm political basis in the field of partisan struggles and appropriated the power to regulate the rep- ertoire of the National Theatre; yet, for all that, he never gave up his primary vocation of a writer and dramaturge, who saw the presentation of the highest aesthetic achievements of national and European literature as the sole purpose of the National Theatre in Belgrade. Translated by Miloš Zatkalik

37 Milan Grol, Iz pozorišta predratne Srbije, op. cit., 259.

122 Vasiljević, M.: A ‘Quiet African Episode’ for the Serbian Army ... (123–156)

Article received on 14th Jun 2014 Article accepted on 30th Jun 2014 UDC: 316.7:94(100)"1916/1918" 355.343:785.3-051(=163.41)(61)"1916/1918" 78.071.2:929 929 Покорни Д.

Maja Vasiljević* Faculty of Philosophy, Department of History

A ‘QUIET AFRICAN EPISODE’ FOR THE SERBIAN ARMY IN THE GREAT WAR: THE BAND OF THE CAVALRY DIVISION AND DRAGUTIN F. POKORNI IN NORTH AFRICA (1916−1918)

Abstract: In the context of this year’s centenary of World War I, the focus of this text is the music activities of the Serbian army in North Africa (1916−1918), where they recuper- ated from their retreat across the mountains of Albania. This paper is a result of an exten- sive archival research of the National Library of Serbia’s collections and periodicals published during the Great War in North Africa. The daily news bulletin Napred/En avant published during the war in Africa deserves special attention, along with the personal archives of conductor and Serbian army captain Dragutin F. Pokorni (1868−1956). The paper sheds light on the work of a Serbian military orchestra, officially called the Band of the Cavalry Division (BCD, in Serbian: Muzika Konjičke divizije) and their leader Poko- rni, hitherto little known in Serbian musicology. More importantly, the paper critiques official Serbian historiography and its primary concern with glorifying the ‘heroism’ and sacrifice of Serbian soldiers, whilst keeping silent on the ‘quiet African episodes’ in the activities of the Serbian army from January 1916 to December 1918. This paper also highlights key points in the fruitful encounter between Serbian military musicians and the multi-layered cultures of the Maghreb and examines the importance of the BCD’s promo- tion of Serbian culture overseas as a type of cultural diplomacy. By placing the activities of this Serbian military orchestra in the broader context of Serbian cultural diplomacy in the Great War, this paper offers an answer to the current debates in the humanities regard- ing new approaches to, and interpretations of, this year’s global anniversary, mentioned above. Key words: The Great War, military music, Serbian army, Bizerte, Africa, Franco-Ser bian friendship, cultural diplomacy

* Author contact information: [email protected]

123 New Sound 43, I/2014

Music in Discourses about the Serbian Army in the Great War To mark the centennial of the beginning of World War I, a major Euro- pean project has been launched, Europeana Collections 1914−1918, meant to result, among other things, in the creation of a digital database entitled “The Great War”, hosted by the National Library of Serbia (NLS). Apart from hold- ing an impressive quantity of digitized material, this database will be highly functional, user-friendly, and organized so as to meet the needs of diverse target groups.1 Researchers keen on archival work will find the project useful in many ways, as it will open up new possibilities and extend the range of currently existing discourses on World War I. Nevertheless, accessibility does not neces- sarily lead to novel topics or interpretations. A survey of major written sources, media analyses, and events organized to commemorate the Great War suggests that the anniversary has been primarily used as an opportunity for polemics and discussions on the political background of the Sarajevo Assassination and the context of the beginning of the war, both of which are in fact revisions of ‘old topics’.2 Topics such as ‘musical activities during the Great War’ aroused occa- sional scholarly interest in the 1990s, but only with the intention of enhancing biographic and poetic discourses on prominent composers of high-art music.3

1 The “Great War Database” (www.velikirat.nb.rs) of the National Library of Serbia stems from the Europeana collections 1914-1918 project with partner projects European Film Gateway 1914, http://project.efg1914.eu/ and Europeana 1914–1918, http://www.europea- na1914-1918.eu/en. The purpose of these projects is to allow every user to make individual contributions with documents from their own personal archives. 2 Regarding the historical discourse around the participation of Serbia in the Great War, two articles from the Belgrade daily Politika, “Causes of World War One” and “New Disputes over the July Crisis”, are especially interesting. See also the endeavours of historian Du- bravka Stojanović in refuting erroneous interpretations of those events, which originated much before this centenary year. These could be heard in the B92 radio show Peščanik from 2006. Cf. also her recent text “Gavrilo Princip nije bio terorista” [“Gavrilo Princip Was Not a Terrorist”], Blic, 10 June 2013 and her interview published in the Montenegrin daily Pob- jeda on 13 January 2014. My opinion is that new historical insights into this matter can be drawn only from newly discovered or newly interpreted documents. For example, one such document that demands our attention is the letter from Oskar Potiorek, then governor of Bosnia and Herzegovina, to the Austro-Hungarian Minister Leon Bilinski, which clearly shows that the Great War was planned even before the Sarajevo Assassination (cf. Politika, 18 January 2014). In that re- gard, from a plethora of recent literature, I should highlight The Origins of the First World War: Controversies and Consensus by Annika Mombauer, lecturer at the Department of Modern European History at the Open University (, Routledge, 2013). 3 Excellent examples of addressing the activities of composers in World War I in musico- logical studies are found in Daniel Albright, Untwisting the Serpent: Modernism in Music,

124 Vasiljević, M.: A ‘Quiet African Episode’ for the Serbian Army ... (123–156)

These and numerous other scholars have referred to the activities of composers during the war, always limiting their interest to those who excelled in high-art music, neglecting popular-music practices, which, after all, play a key role at times of conflict. More importantly, these authors as a rule ignore the method- ology of researching wartime music. Military music does not even figure in current musicological discourse. Rather, it is an exception among both military historians and musicologists who address topics of this kind.4 There is no doubt, however, that ‘military music’ has always been consid- ered marginal within the wider musicological discourse, so that discussing the role of Serbian military bands in the context of World War I confronts one with having to devise strategies for justifying this subject matter. Considering the abundance of periodicals and other material consulted for the purpose of this paper, I have decided to write about music from a historical vantage point5 and seek arguments for including this topic into Serbian musicology in a novel ap- proach to documents. The first step in initiating the reader into the subject matter of this paper is to indicate the key points of the present historical discourse on the Great War.6 The question is why ‘the quiet African episode’ in the activities of the Serbian army during WWI has not (logically?) become a popular issue in Serbian his- toriography. The reason may lie in the fact that for decades, official Serbian historiography has glorified the heroic cult of the suffering and sacrifice of Ser- bian soldiers. This is a common place in the war narratives of the nations that participated in the war and their views of their national history. As far as Serbia is concerned, this seems justified, considering the incredible human loss Serbia sustained during the Great War. However, one should not neglect the fact that Andrej Mitrović, a prominent Serbian historian, has thoroughly examined Serbian wartime cultural activities,

Literature, and Other Arts, , Chicago University Press, 2000 and Glenn Watkins, Proof through the Night: Music and the Great War, Berkeley, Los Angeles, and London, University of California Press, 2003. 4 Cf. the contribution of musicologist and music critic Gordana Krajačić: Vojna muzika i muzičari [Military Music and Musicians] 1831–1945, Beograd, Vojska Srbije, 2003. Her study is based on archival materials and on the whole, it is of good quality. 5 At this point, one must refer to this great text by historian Celia Applegate on how histori- ans approach music: “Introduction: Music Among the Historians”, German History, 30/3, 329–349. 6 Regarding the subject matter of the Great War, the following publications are certainly worth consulting: Andrej Mitrović, Srbija u Prvom svetskom ratu [Serbia in World War One], Belgrade, Stubovi kulture, 2004; Branko Petranović, Istorija Jugoslavije [The History of Yugoslavia], 1918−1988, Vol. 1, Belgrade, Nolit, 1988.

125 New Sound 43, I/2014 discussing, for instance, the work of the Ministry of Education after the retreat to the island of Corfu, and the process of enrolling Serbian students and profes- sors in schools in France, Great Britain, Russia, Italy, and neutral Switzerland.7 Although he does not mention numerous musicians scattered across Europe, such as Vladimir Đorđević (1869–1938)8 known to have been in France, Kosta Manojlović (1890−1949), who was in Oxford, and many others, he provides a glimpse of the importance that Serbia attached to culture and education during the war. Historians have found themselves facing a complicated geographical and geopolitical map of the world established already during the first months of the war, and their task was to examine the activities of the Serbian side as well as other pro-Yugoslav groups in a large number of newly formed hubs. The wartime capital became the city of Niš after the onslaught of Austro-Hungarian troops and the Serbian Army’s retreat to the south. Afterwards, in 1916, the cen- tre of Serbian political life became the island of Corfu, where the government (including the Ministry of Education) set up its temporary seat; another impor- tant centre was in the area of the Salonika front, where the Supreme Command and Prince Regent were headquartered.9 The wartime geographical distribution of the Serbs was very complex and one should note that “the political life, at its most relevant and diversified, took place in the countries that hosted most of the civilian refugees, namely, Western European countries, and most of all France and Switzerland”.10 London was important because it was the seat of the Yu- goslav Committee, but “neutral Switzerland was more interesting” as Mitrović remarks, since it was the “meeting place of immigrants of most diverse convic- tions”. The famous song “” [“There, Far Away”] emerged during the Serbian retreat to Corfu, whereas the song “Kreće se lađa francuska” [“The French Boat is Sailing”], also popular today, was allegedly sung for the first time in the port of Thessaloniki.11 Yet, the presence of musicians in these cen-

7 Cf. Andrej Mitrović, “Đaci, studenti i profesori” [“The Pupils, Students, and Teachers”], op. cit., 241−255. 8 Cf. Milica Gajić, “Dokumentacija o delatnosti Vladimira Đorđevića (1916−1918) u Fran- cuskoj za vreme Prvog svetskog rata, sačuvana u njegovom Legatu u biblioteci Fakultetu muzičke umetnosti u Beogradu [“Documents Concerning the Activities of Vladimir Đorđević (1916−1918) in France during World War One, Preserved in his Bequest to the Faculty of Music in Belgrade”], Zbornik Matice srpske za scenske umetnosti i muziku, 24/25, 1999, 107−115. 9 Cf. Andrej Mitrović, “Sukobi i obračuni” [“Conflicts and Showdowns”], op. cit., 256. 10 Ibid., 256. 11 The authorship of these songs is still debated, but addressing this issue would exceed the scope of this paper.

126 Vasiljević, M.: A ‘Quiet African Episode’ for the Serbian Army ... (123–156) tres and details of the emergence of these popular (and many other, now forgot- ten) songs still await musicological research. So far, only Stanislav Binički (1872−1942) has secured a place in Serbian musicological discourse about the Great War. He was the conductor of the Or- chestra of the Royal Guard and composer of the famous March on the Drina, which became a kind of chorus in the (constructed) Serbian memory of the Great War. Presumably, Binički and the Royal Guard Orchestra have been stud- ied primarily on account of their stay in Thessaloniki when the Prince Regent was also there and for the sake of “enhancing the biographies of prominent composers”. Binički composed the first Serbian opera ever performed and not only participated in the war, but also conducted an orchestral body very impor- tant for Serbian music, the Orchestra of the Royal Guard, located at the impor- tant wartime hub of Thessaloniki, close to the front that was decisive for the successful termination of the war.12 Nonetheless, the complexity and achieve- ments of the Orchestra, with Binički at its helm, have yet to receive a proper musicological treatment. The subject of this paper is the quiet two-year period when Serbian troops were recuperating in Tunisia; many of the soldiers remained buried there, but many also recovered and were sent to the Salonika Front, and many of them preserved vivid memories of their African sojourn. The most important source for studying the activities of the Band of the Cavalry Division (BCD) in Africa is the personal archives of Dragutin F. Pokorni, kept as a separate collection at the National Library of Serbia,13 as well as the daily bulletin Napred/En avant published during the entire stay of the Serbian troops in Africa. However, only some of the original concert pro- gramme notes survive to this day, so in order to make a detailed overview of the BCD’s concert activities, it was necessary to make comparisons with a whole range of other sources and conjectures about possible missing elements.14 For

12 It is only on the margins of the scholarship devoted to the biography and poetics of Binički that one can learn anything about his work with the Orchestra of the Royal Guard in Thes- saloniki during the war. Regarding existing scholarship, see Stana Đurić Klajn, “Marš na Drinu” [“The March on the Drina”], in: Akordi prošlosti [Chords of the Past], Belgrade, Nolit, 1981. 13 NLS, Arhiva Dragutina Pokornog [The Dragutin Pokorni Archives], henceforward ADP, R-291. 14 This is further complicated by the discrepancy between the Julian calendar, still used in Serbia at the time and therefore also by the BCD, including their Bizerte concert pro- grammes, which they often produced themselves, and the Gregorian calendar, used by France and other European countries and their colonies. In his notes, Pokorni frequently provides dates according to both calendars, which crucially facilitates a precise dating of

127 New Sound 43, I/2014 the purposes of this work, I have used soldiers’ testimonies published during the 1970s and 1980s.15 Unfortunately, none of these memoir collections contain any explicit recollections of musician-soldiers. In surveying the literature relevant to this paper, one should by no means overlook the important study Srpska vojska u Bizerti (1916–1918) [The Serbian Army at Bizerte (1916–1918)] by Colonel Predrag Pejčić, based on extensive archival materials and literature,16 as well as the monograph Vojna muzika i muzičari 1831–1945 [Military Music and Musicians 1831–1945] by musicolo- gist Gordana Krajačić, which refers to the most important archival materials from the Archives of the Institute of Military History in Belgrade.17

The Band of the Cavalry Division: From Serbia, via Albania, to North Africa The Band of the Cavalry Division included both former members of this unit as well as cadets of the Military Music School, whose headmaster was first- class bandmaster Dragutin F. Pokorni.18 In the context of this paper, it is rele- these concerts. At any rate, the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats, and Slovenes adopted the Grego- rian calendar in 1919, but there are still ongoing debates regarding the matter. 15 Nikola Damjanović, Aleksandar Petrović, and Aleksandar Deroko (eds.), Golgota i vaskrs Srbije, 1916−1918 [The Golgotha and Resurrection of Serbia, 1916–1918], Belgrade, BIGZ and Udruženje nosilaca albanske spomenice 1915–1916, 1971; Silvija Đurić and Vidosav Stevanović (eds.), Golgota i vasrks Srbije, 1915–1918 [The Golgotha and Resurrection of Serbia, 1915–1918], Belgrade, BIGZ and Partizanska knjiga, 1986 (revised edition: Čakovec, Zrinski and Belgrade, Београд, 1989). 16 Predrag Pejčić, Srpska vojska u Bizerti (1916−1918) [The Serbian Army at Bizerte (1916–1918)], Belgrade, Zavod za udžbenike, 2003. 17 Gordana Krajačić, op. cit. 18 Pokorni studied French horn at the Vienna Conservatory; served in the military at the Vi- ennese military band, and before coming to Belgrade worked as an accompanist and horn player at Karlstheater. During two periods, 1897–1904 and 1906–1910, he occupied the po- sition of conductor at the National Theatre and Žarko Savić’s Opera in the Boulevard. He was not only headmaster of the Military Music School in Grejač, but also continued with this activity in Africa, as well as after the war, when he founded the Military Music School in Vršac in 1919 and bandmaster courses in 1929. He also founded the Central Musical Ar- chives of the Serbian Army and Navy. Importantly, for a long time (1920–1937), he was in charge of all military ensembles and at the same time conducted the Orchestra of the Royal Guard (for details on the biography of this artist, see Gordana Krajačić, op. cit., 120, 69−71). In her research of orchestral music-making at this time, Musicologist Roksanda Pejović, a renowned expert on Serbian music from this period, on examining orchestral performances, singles out concerts of the theatric orchestra conducted by Pokorni in 1899, with the Serbian premiere of Beethoven’s Pastoral Symphony. At the end of July 1903, a month after the , with Binički, Mokranjac, Čižek, and the Belgrade Choir Society, Pokorni conducted

128 Vasiljević, M.: A ‘Quiet African Episode’ for the Serbian Army ... (123–156) vant that the Serbian Supreme Command established its Military Music School in February 1915 (or spring 1914),19 somewhere between Niš (the wartime capi- tal) and Žitkovac.20 It was the best-organized music school affiliated with the Serbian military up to that point. There were ten musicians on its teaching staff. Along with Pokorni, who visited the school only occasionally and was involved only with major issues, the headmaster’s duties were mainly discharged by his deputy, violoncellist Vićeslav (Vaclav) Rendla (1868−1933),21 and violin-

the Belgrade Military Orchestra in a concert held at the National Theatre to celebrate the birthday of the new King, Peter I. (Cf. Stana Đurić Klajn, Orkestri u Srbiji do osnivanja Filharmonije [Orchestras in Serbia before the Foundation of the Philharmonic], Belgrade, Beogradska filharmonija, 1977, 25; Srpske novine, 28 June 1903, 145). For details about Pokorni’s achievements as conductor of the theatric orchestra see: Roksanda Pejović, Srpsko muzičko izvođaštvo romantičarskog doba [The Art of Performing Music in Serbia in the Romantic Period], Belgrade, Univerzitet umetnosti, 1991, 316, 320, 322, 325, 333; Stana Đurić Klajn, ibid., 23–27. In addition to orchestral performance, Pokorni also directed the First Belgrade Choral Society, the Stanković Choral Society, and the Serbian-Jewish Choral Society. 19 Cf. Gordana Krajačić, op. cit., 93. Pejčič mentions that the school was established in Feb- ruary 1915 (Predrag Pejčić, op. cit., 86). 20 Although military legislation mentions military schools in the Principality of Serbia, it was only in 1905, at the urging of the leadership of the Serbian military musical service headed by Binički, that a school was established within the 7th Infantry Regiment, in which “cadets would acquire a wider musical knowledge necessary for an orchestra musician (cf. Gordana Krajačić, op. cit., 92−93). The headmaster was Vićeslav Rendla who taught the string instruments and was at the same time on the teaching staff of the Serbian School of Music in Belgrade (today Mokranjac Music School). Unfortunately, the school was closed two years later. 21 Vićeslav Rendla was born in 1869 in Transylvania into a musical family of Czech de- scent. He was a violoncellist, music teacher, and conductor. For a short while, he led an in- strumental ensemble in Paris and toured the United States (cf. Gordana Krajačić, op. cit., 121). He lived in Belgrade as a member of the Belgrade Military Orchestra and from 1903 as bandleader of the Sixth Infantry Regiment, violoncello, flute, and double-bass teacher, and conductor at the Serbian Music School. Roksanda Pejović states that with the orchestra of the Sixth Infantry Regiment he performed at “Smutekovac” (“Vajfertovac”) in 1912, which was at the time advertised as one of the most beautiful and healthiest beer gardens in Belgrade (cf. Roksanda Pejović, op. cit., 321−322). The same author concludes that “the ambitions of Vićeslav Rendla, conductor at the Serbian Music School, to perform a classical repertoire with his students, were unique in the Belgrade of old (ibid., 331). He also worked at Stanković Music School and the Military Music School. During the Great War, he was appointed first-class bandmaster of the Drina Division, but was relocated in Tunisia with the BCD. In 1916, as a violoncellist, he went on a tour of Paris with the Orchestra of the Royal Guard conducted by Binički (cf. Gordana Krajačić, op. cit., 121). For more details on this artist, see: ibid., 73−74.

129 New Sound 43, I/2014 ist Venceslav Nigl (1857).22 All three musicians were prominent members of the BCD and music teachers during the North African episode.23 They were all highly educated musicians of Czech origin, involved in manifold ways with a number of military musical institutions in the and later the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes and the Kingdom of Yugoslavia.24 Pokorni reorganized the BCD, with whom he took part in the Balkan Wars (1912−1913). In the first year of the Great War, he successfully organized char- ity concerts. According to a document from his archives dated 11 August 1914, Pokorni invited Prince Aleksandar Karađorđević to two charity concerts to raise funds for the families of officers killed in combat. The concerts, performed by Pokorni and the BCD, were held in Vrnjačka Banja, featuring works by the fol- lowing composers: the first concert: Otto Nikolai, Isidor Bajić, Giuseppe Verdi, Camille Saint-Saëns, Antonin Dvořák, Georges Bizet, Pyotr Illich Tchaikovsky; the second concert: John Philip Sousa, , Franz Lehár, Giacomo Puccini, Sidney Jones, Charles Gounod, Angelo Mascheroni, and Robert Plan- quette.25 In October of the same year, according to military documents, the BCD was moved to Kragujevac, along with the rest of the Šumadija Division. How- ever, towards the end of 1915, the BCD was forced to retreat to Albania, joined by the cadets of the Military Music School. A total of 95 students attended this school, assembled mostly from mili- tary music units, with only a handful of civilians. We know for a fact that they joined Serbian troops in their retreat across Albania, with many of them dying

22 Vićeslav Nigl was born in the Moravian town of Hodonice. He graduated from the High Schools of Music in Prague and Vienna, although his papers were destroyed during the war. Before becoming bandmaster of the Second Infantry Regiment, he performed the same duty in the Austro-Hungarian armed forces. He took part in the Serbian-Turkish war 1912-1913, the Serbian-Bulgarian war (in Kriva Palanka), and the fighting on the Salonika Front (cf. Gordana Krajačić, op. cit., 118). Krajačić also states that he was a violinist. In the Great War, he was first appointed first-class bandmaster of the Moravian Division in 1916 but was al- ready in Tunisia at that time with the BCD and Pokorni as bandmaster. After the war, from 1920 to 1935, he led the choir “Jedinstvo” in Banja Luka. 23 Since these were Czech musicians, we should not be surprised to find various versions of their names: Vićeslav, Vjenceslav, and Većeslav for Nigl, and Vićeslav, Venceslav, Vjence- slav, and Vencel for Rendla. 24 Roksanda Pejović notes an intensification in orchestra performances in Belgrade follow- ing Pokorni’s and Binički’s respective entries into the city’s musical life, in 1897 and 1899 (cf. Roksanda Pejović, op. cit, 321). Krajačić singles out Pokorni as the most outstanding figure in the development of military music and stresses that “for almost half a century he transmitted his enormous knowledge to military music and musicians” (cf. Gordana Krajačić, op. cit., 70). 25 NLS, ADP, R-291, IV/1.

130 Vasiljević, M.: A ‘Quiet African Episode’ for the Serbian Army ... (123–156) on that punishing journey.26 Presumably, some of these soldier-musicians de- serted during the retreat, or simply remained in Serbia.27 However, Krajačić states that only 18 of these cadets, who were between 15 and 17 years of age, survived the gruelling retreat, joining thereafter the BCD.28 The surviving musi- cians were transferred from Vlorë to Tunisia by an Italian ship, the Re di Velo- rio. They landed in January 1916 and remained there in Africa’s northernmost city, the Tunisian port of Bizerte, until 1918. A year later, in his diary, Dragutin Pokorni left detailed notes about this important moment in the retreat and ar- rival in Bizerte. The first elements of the troops, during the first days, when it still wasn’t clear where the base for the admission, recuperation, and reorganization of our combat units would be set up, landed, at the beginning of January 1916, on the hospitable shores of French North African colonies, in Bizerte. These contingents, blown to the shores of Africa by the wicked storm of fate (who could have imagined that!), consisted of wrecks of men, tortured souls in wasted bodies, closer to corpses than to living be- ings. Many of them carried death in their bodies. Among these first units landed in Bizerte in the first days of January 1916 was also the Band of the Cavalry Division, led by their conductor Dragutin F. Pokorni. Like their brothers, they, too, partook of all the bitterness of retreat. The BCD left Niš towards the end of October 1915, just before the Bulgarians entered the wartime capital of Serbia, and following orders, retreated through Kosovo to Prizren. When Prizren, the last stop of our hopes, also had to be evacuated, the route was charted for the BCD: the crags and ravines of Albania … after two months of starvation across impassable wilderness … where man was erstwhile the rarest of visitors, it reached Vlorë, already seized by Italian forces, who turned it into a base for their operations in the Balkans. ... And then, one day in January, a huge Italian steamer, the “Re di Velorio”, disembarked the Band of the Cavalry Division in Bizerte, along with reserve troops from Niš. We say “Band”, even though the men commanded by bandmaster Pokorni, mostly without their in- struments and scores, in ragged clothes, with exhausted bodies and tortured souls, were, like all the others, unfortunate shipwreck survivors whose wasted bodies, first

26 Cf. Josip Maglić’s story about the tragic retreat of three young musicians across Albania, the Urkić brothers from Golubac, cadets of the Military School of Music, who perished on the way: “Tragičan put braće Urkić” [“The Tragic Journey of the Urkić Brothers”], in: Nikola Damjanović, Aleksandar Petrović, and Aleksandar Deroko (eds.), op. cit., 123−125. 27 The number of soldier-musicians can be deduced by comparing different sources. Predrag Pejčić states that 90% of the musicians were ill and as such sent to Tunisian hospitals (cf. op. cit., 86), whereas Josip Maglić claims that after the liberation, 30 former cadets returned to Serbia (“Dugi put malih vojnika” [“The Little Soldiers’ Long Journey”], in: Golgota i vaskrs Srbije, op. cit., 100−103). For more details on the retreat through Albania and negotiations between the French and Italians about transporting the Serbian soldiers, see Andrej Mitrović, op. cit., 217−230. 28 Cf. Gordana Krajačić, op. cit., 93.

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of all, had to be rekindled with the spirit of life, before the sacred flame of art, which seemed extinguished in them, could light up again...29 The report of the commander of Serbian troops in Bizerte states that all soldiers were sworn in on 24 February 1916 and that on that occasion, the BCD comprised 65 men, of whom three were bandmasters (senior non-commissioned officers) and four instructors (junior non-commissioned officers).30 Since all other bands of the Serbian army had only a half of that number, we may con- clude that the BCD and the Orchestra of the Royal Guard had the largest num- ber of musicians, which distinguished them from those other units. However, the sheer number of musicians was no guarantee of their readi- ness for concert performances. On his arrival in Bizerte, Pokorni was con- fronted not only with the exhaustion of his musicians, but also with a lack of instruments and scores. The complicated process of assigning individual duties to musicians and bandmasters, that is, with forming this type of military forma- tions and dealing with their specific problems of organization was entrusted to Binički, the above-mentioned conductor of the Orchestra of the Royal Guard and person in charge of all military music ensembles. With his deft leadership skills and well-informed about the number of soldier-musicians, their readiness (i.e. health) and access to instruments, Binički managed to persuade the Com- mand to reduce the number of ensembles from the existing 17 to a smaller num- ber of more functional and higher-quality ensembles, in accordance with the realities of war.31 In November 1916, owing to his efforts, certain instruments were procured for military music ensembles.32 With the soldiers recuperated and the scores supplied, the BCD was as- sembled and began giving charity concerts to raise money for the construction of a Serbian cemetery in North Africa. However, this was only the beginning of their dynamic music activities and establishing friendships in the countries of the Maghreb.

29 NLS, ADP, R-291, I/2, 2-5. 30 Predrag Pejčić, op. cit., 26. 31 For more on this correspondence, see Gordana Krajačić, op. cit., 50–53ff. 32 As Binički states in his letter of 8 November 1916, the procurements included “three trunks of instruments for each of the seven ensembles” (ibid., 60). In the same month, the Serbian Minister of War informed the Supreme Command that each military ensemble had already received “eight small flutes (piccolos) – which, together with drummers, should gradually replace the značari (trumpeters) in marches” (ibid.).

132 Vasiljević, M.: A ‘Quiet African Episode’ for the Serbian Army ... (123–156)

The Band of the Cavalry Division: From Bizerte to Concert Tours of the Maghreb There is no doubt that throughout its long history, Bizerte was an important geo-strategic spot and a crossroads of many cultures, which left a deep mark on its population, architecture, and culture.33 During the period relevant for this paper, Bizerte was under French rule. Veselin Čajkanović, later a university pro- fessor but at that time a Serbian soldier and correspondent for the daily Napred, wrote about the position of the city during the period in question: Bizerte is a large military hub and an important station for the fleet. Its great military importance can be felt especially now, at a time of war. Besides, it is a major com- mercial centre for exports from Tunisia and for supplying ships en route from Gibral- tar to Port Said. Before the war, Bizerte had a population of about 30,000, 12–13 thousand Europeans, the same number of Arabs and Jews, and a 5–6 thousand-strong garrison. Now, the population is much larger. One can see all kinds of allied uniforms in Bizerte, hear almost all languages, pay or get change in currencies from all five continents.34 Čajkanović also makes a vivid urban sketch of Bizerte: There is one theatre in Bizerte, three bookshops, six printing shops, and as of this August a seventh one, the Serbian Invalids’ Press… L’Echo de Bizerte and Napred (En avant) are currently published. There is a beautiful and always packed Catholic church, a modest Protestant house of worship, and an ‘evangelical hall’ where one can hear fine Catholic sermons. Catholic nuns run their own school, “The Sion”, in a splendid edifice… Closer to the pier there is the ‘Officers’ Hall.’ Other buildings worth mentioning are a nice French school …, the Grand Hotel offering full Euro- pean comfort; a covered market always well supplied with grains and fish. The most handsome private houses were built by an engineer who also designed and runs the harbour; they are all called ‘Maison Ersan’ after the said engineer. … Overall, Bizerte is a fine and pleasant place, with the best climate in all of Tunisia. The streets are clean, paved with asphalt or gravel, and almost all of them are lined with trees. The entire European quarter is full of squares and gardens, with nice trees, and clusters of lush African flowers. One of the most attractive places is the beach … Along the shore there is a long alley of young palms. In the Arabic quarter there is no greenery, it is all stone and produces a beautiful, almost enchanting impression, particularly during full moon.35

33 Bizerte was founded by the Phoenicians around 1000 BC, then ruled by the Roman Em- pire, the Arabs, Charles V during the Crusades, the , and, following the Berlin Congress, or, more precisely, after 1881, the French. After a period of fighting the Tunisian independence movement, the French left Tunisia for good in 1963. 34 Veselin Čajkanović, “Bizerte”, in: Golgota i vaskrs Srbije: zbornik sećanja (1916−1918), op. cit., 129−131. 35 Ibid.

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Soon after the soldiers had recuperated, already in the first week of May 1916, much before the arrival of the instruments mentioned by Binički,36 Serbian musicians began giving charity concerts in Bizerte. Although written sources mention 19 June 1916 as the date of their first appearance, archival evidence suggests that they probably first played as a 70-strong string orchestra. In this regard, we may assume that they borrowed instruments from the orchestra of the local theatre “Garibaldi”, or used some other resources in Bizerte or nearby cit- ies, such Sousse, Sfax, or Tunis, where they performed in May and June 1916.37 The advertisement section of Napred informs us that the entertainment establishments in Bizerte largely adapted to the needs of the newly arrived Serbian troops. Nevertheless, according to accounts given by the soldiers them- selves, they saw the Tunisian city of Bizerte as an exotic place that enabled them to experience an entirely different life from the one they had led in their own country. Pokorni’s permanent concern for the improvement of the repertoire and the quality of performance becomes obvious if we examine his personal archives at the National Library of Serbia, comprising his valuable correspondence during, as well as after the war, as well as the “Current Affairs” column in the daily Napred. A comparison between these two sources reveals that the BCD often performed new repertoires, with an imposing definitive list of works when com- pared to other orchestras from the Kingdom of Serbia and that period in gener- al.38 Pokorni assembled their programmes masterfully, paying special attention to the occasion and the type of audience. The BCD regularly performed at Serbian religious and secular feasts, as well as those of the allied and Maghreb countries.39 During their two-year stay in North Africa, they performed in the following cities: Bizerte, Sousse, Sfax, and Tunis (Tunisia); Constantine, El Bouni, Algiers, Oran, Amfreville, Bou- farik, and Blida (Algeria); and Oujda (Morocco).40 Before venturing to these

36 Cf. explanations in footnotes 30 and 31, as well as the portion of this paper on Binički. 37 Cf. concerts on 6 and 7 May and 4 June in Table 1. 38 On orchestral performance, see: Stana Đurić-Klajn, Orkestri u Srbiji do osnivanja Filhar- monije, op. cit.; Roksanda Pejović, op. cit., 287−330. 39 For example, they played on St. Sava’s Day, Christmas Eve and Christmas, both Ortho- dox and Catholic, and St. John’s; to mark the victory of Serbian forces on Kajmakčalan; King Peter’s birthday (St. Peter’s Day); Admiral Guépratte’s birthday and retirement, etc. See Table 1. 40 In ADP I have found Pokorni’s detailed descriptions of their journey through Algeria, through Amfreville, Boufarik, and Blida to Oran. Pokorni reports on the state of the popula- tion and culture, as well as economic and architectural characteristics of North African towns. See NLS, ADP, R-291, I.

134 Vasiljević, M.: A ‘Quiet African Episode’ for the Serbian Army ... (123–156) cities, they had established a firm base in Bizerte, with their successful con- certs, which became an indispensable part of the city’s cultural life. The musicians of the Serbian armed forces performed at a number of civil- ian and military venues in Bizerte: the Garibaldi Theatre, the hotels “Grand” and “Europe”, Officers’ Hall etc. Thanks to Bizerte’s warm climate, they often gave open-air concerts, in the morning, before the afternoon heat, or in the eve- ning after eight o’clock, on Europe Square, the terrace of the Officers’ Hall, the theatre garden, or at the harbour, to welcome important diplomatic missions or figures.41 The BCD also participated in many military inspections and parades held in Bizerte, the most important of which were associated with St. Peter’s Day, 12 July (O.S. 29 July), i.e. the King’s birthday. They also played at the celebra- tion of the French national holiday, Bastille Day, on 14 July (O.S. 27 July). For example, for the 1917 Bastille Day, they played the national anthems of France, England, Tunisia (the Bey’s anthem), Italy, the United States, Japan, Greece, and Serbia.42 There was also the practice of celebrating holidays in hospitals with Serbian soldiers, so the BCD played on St. Sava’s Day in Sidi Abdallah and during Christmas holidays in the hospital in Sidi Fathallah.43 In addition, they performed on various occasions in all Tunisian hospitals. Besides sym- phonic concerts and military parades, the BCD also performed with the Serbian military camp theatre.44 From their very first orchestral performance in Africa, these Serbian musi- cians first travelled to the cities and towns of Tunisia: Sfax, Sousse, and Tunis. Judging from the surviving photographs at the National Library of Serbia, the Orchestra of the Royal Guard performed in Bizerte on 26 August 1916. In the second half of September (or the first half of October, N.S.) of that same year, a tour of Algeria was organized. The tour was ordered and funded by Karlo Mihel,45 commander of Reserve Corps and Schools for Non-Commissioned Of- ficers. It was a long journey by train: more than seventeen hours on the 420 ki- lometres (260 miles) long route between Algiers to Oran, with stops at various places of different sizes, with diverse population and architecture: Amfreville,

41 Cf. Table 1 at the end of this paper. 42 Napred, 533, II, 1917, 3. 43 For more details, see: Napred, I 265, 1916; Napred, I, 1916, 267; Napred, “Sveti Sava u Sidi-Abdalahu“ [“St. Sava in Sidi Abdallah”], II, 283, 3; “Hronika: Petrovdanska svečanost“ [“Current Affairs: The Celebration of St. Peter’s Day”], Napred, II, 421, 2. 44 Napred, June 30, 1917, 3. 45 The details of the tour were reported by the daily Napred in 29 instalments until the end of 1916.

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Boufarik, Blida, and finally several days in Oran with a series of concerts at the hall of the Municipal Theatre and the Letan promenade. According to Pokorni’s detailed travel notes, as well as reviews from the Algerian press, the BCD earned a particularly favourable reception in the Alge- rian cities of Oran and Algiers.46 It might be surmised that there was an added personal enchantment on Pokorni’s part with Algerian scenery, with which he not only became familiar during his stay, but also came to know by reading about it extensively. There is also evidence suggesting that he acquired numer- ous friends among the social elites of North African countries.47 This is how Pokorni described the BCD’s arrival and stay in Oran, where they gave four concerts, a town where “the Spanish element prevails”, which, he concluded, “competes with Algiers”48 in economic terms: The Band of the Cavalry Division arrived in Oran around 10 AM; there was a mul- titude of people gathered at the station and we were welcomed by the fanfares of the 6th Territorial Battalion under Major Mr. Delaforge. The Zouaves greeted us with our Serbian Anthem, to which everyone listened with a religious attention, and we re- sponded with La Marseillaise and then proceeded immediately, guided by the Zou- ave music, to the barracks of Chateau-Naf … All along the route, from the windows and on the streets, a huge number of people cheered our military music with delight, as it played Serbian and French marches in alternation with the Zouaves. All of Oran was out in the streets to greet its guests and by noon, the tickets for the concert at the theatre were sold out. It was hardly advertised at all, but Oran was informed by Al- gerian papers … there wasn’t a single chair left for our refugees, who so badly wanted to hear a Serbian orchestra. The programme was the same as on the first night in Algiers and success was greater than anywhere else.49 During their stay in Oran, the BCD and its leader Pokorni received a dele- gation from Sidi bel Abbès headed by president José Vilumbrales, a well-known missionary who pleaded with the Serbian orchestra to perform in his town

46 For instance, Pokorni’s notes contains his translations of reviews from Le petit Oranais and L’Echo d’Oran, which he prepared for publishing in a series of articles about the BCD tour in the daily Napred. Pokorni also compiled a sort of collection of concert reviews: NLS, ADP, R-291, V. 47 I have found in ADP, among other things, letters from Admiral Guépratte from after the war, numerous letters from Charles de Galland, the mayor of Algiers, a postcard from Ca- mille Saint-Saëns, numerous telegrams asking or permitting the BCD to perform in a num- ber of places, letters congratulating the BCD on their successful concerts, and finally, birthday cards sent to Pokorni even after the war, etc. Cf. Admiral Guépratte’s letter to Pokorni dated 18 March 1920: NlS, ADP, R-291, II/31. 48 NLS, ADP, R-291, I/1, 4. 49 Ibid., 5–6.

136 Vasiljević, M.: A ‘Quiet African Episode’ for the Serbian Army ... (123–156) under any conditions, enchanted by their rendering of Le Rouet d’Omphale by C. Saint-Saëns.50 I mention this piece of information as one of a series of events that led to new engagements of the BCD during their two-year stay in North Africa. On their return from Oran, the BCD again performed in Algiers and then set off to Constantine for several concerts and to El Bouni for another three, two at the municipal theatre and one on the promenade.51 There are numerous reviews of BCD concerts and an exhaustive survey and analysis of them would exceed the scope of this paper. These reviews ap- peared in the following papers: La Dépêche Tunisienne in Tunisia, La Dépêche d’Alger, L’Echo d’Alger, Le Petit Oranais, L’Echo de Bizerte; Le Républicain, and La Depeche Constantine in Constantine; La Tribune Bonaise, etc. Here are a few excerpts from the Algerian press referring to the concert tour of 1916: Under the confident baton of Mr. Pokorni and beginning with the overture Mignon, each piece was performed harmoniously and artistically, with a modern conception and high precision of rendering even the most difficult compositions. After each number, the musicians were greeted with loud cheers, and after the Rouet d’Omphale by Saint-Saëns, the rapture came to a head. The orchestra played the whole piece encore and the president Mr. Galland [Charles de Galland, 1851–1923], albeit a musician himself, stated that he had never heard such perfection in performance and that he would convey his impressions to his personal friend, the composer Saint- Saëns, that same evening.52 The most widely circulated Algerian paper La Dépêche d’Alger reported that “the BCD is an orchestra in the true sense of the word, not just a collec- tion of musicians randomly assembled around a score; a true orchestra, uniform and complete, where the individualities of diverse instruments played by superb artists harmonize and fuse into a whole. Flexible and nuanced interpretation, developing the composer’s idea with precision and clarity. This is what we had

50 Ibid., 7. Cf. also a later letter. 51 NLS, ADP, R-291, “U Konstantini i Boni” [“In Constantine and El Bouni”], I/4. 52 Napred, I, 251, 3. Cf. Table 1 programme for the Algiers concert, 1916. Incidentally, the person in question is Charles de Galland, Mayor of Algiers (1910–1919), a prominent figure in the history of the country, present both in the sphere of politics and that of culture, espe- cially music. From the 1880s on he was prominent as a talented amateur violinist and orga- nized “salon” concerts. From 1908 on, Galland cooperated with the newspaper La Dépêche Tunnisiene and the Society of Fine Arts (Société des Beaux arts). He is also important as the founder of the Society for Popular Concerts (Société des concert populaires). In music schol- arship, he is often mentioned on account of his friendship with C. Saint-Saëns, who not only sent him a number of his pieces whilst still composing them, but also dedicated to Galland his Elegy Op. 160 for violin and piano (1920).

137 New Sound 43, I/2014 an opportunity to hear from the BCD of Bizerte last night at the municipal the- atre.53 Algerian reviews also point out the following: We particularly enjoyed Grieg’s Norwegian Dances. In these, as well as Saint-Saëns’s Le Rouet d’Omphale, the strings demonstrated a matchless confidence. … We would especially like to emphasize Massenet’s Scènes pittoresques, where the violoncellos excelled. … As a military band, this Serbian orchestra, skilfully conducted by Mr. Pokorni, commands discipline and precision. Their extraordinary understanding of musical works, the opulence of sound, and finesse of performance put it on a par with the best symphonic ensembles of European capital cities. As a matter of fact, … the first violins and a majority of the soloists hold degrees from major conservatoires.54 Encouraged by the success of this tour, the BCD’s bandmasters decided to undertake another tour in 1917. That year, they expanded their repertoire with a series of new works, while guest appearances extended from Algiers to the Moroccan city of Oujda where they gave a series of concerts intertwined with cinema shows. Besides concert tours, a prominent place in their concert activities belongs to the symphonic concert held on 14 October 1917, featuring demanding pieces by Slavic composers such as Dvořák’s Fifth Symphony, Glinka’s Kamarinskaya, Rachmaninoff’s Prelude, etc. The vocal soloist Pelle Desforges attracted special attention, singing in Serbian “Three Heroes” by Stevan Mokranjac and “At the Window” by Pokorni himself.55 In view of the repertoire, the dynamics of BCD concerts depended on col- laboration with local musicians, some of whom probably also came from the families of numerous French and British diplomats, which thereby facilitated cultural cooperation with the local communities. The original concert pro- gramme notes mention the names of two harpists, Miss Salle, a guest from Al- giers at a concert in Oran, and Mrs. Marini, allegedly a student or graduate of the Milan Conservatoire, who played one of the best-known and extremely de- manding pieces for this instrument, Fantaisie by the famous English composer Elias Parish Alvars (1808–1849), in two concerts with the BCD: on 6 May 1916 at the Municipal Theatre in Sfax and on 7 May at the Municipal Theatre in Tunis. On 12 May, at the Algiers Municipal Theatre, Professor M. Reginald D’Arcy from École des Beaux-Arts, performed Grieg’s Piano Concerto in A minor, accompanied by the BCD, with Pokorni as conductor.56

53 Ibid., 252, 3. Cf. Table 1, ibid. 54 Ibid., 253, 3. 55 Cf. Table 1, detailed programme from this concert. 56 Ibid., IV/13.

138 Vasiljević, M.: A ‘Quiet African Episode’ for the Serbian Army ... (123–156)

Apart from local soloists and those from the families of diplomats sta- tioned in the Maghreb, there were a number of talented musicians within the BCD itself.57 It is certain that Víćeslav Rendla distinguished himself as the composer of “Admiral Guépratte’s March” written on the occasion of Admi- ral Émile Guépratte’s birthday and retirement. He also wrote a series of other pieces performed by the BCD. According to available sources, in addition to Pokorni, Nigl, and Rendla, both first-class bandmasters, also led the BCD, as did Nikola Stefanović in his rank of fourth-class bandmaster.58 It can be conjec- tured that Pokorni made ample use of Rendla’s various skills, as did Binički in the Belgrade Military Orchestra, occasionally vacating the position of conduc- tor for him. The African press testifies that violinist Ladislav Novotni was an outstanding soloist who in 1916 performed Wieniavski’s Second Violin Con- certo in D Minor, but I have not discovered any more data about this artist. The reviews also inform us that Rendla, Emil Dont, and N. Stefanović played the first three violins59 and their performance was lauded by an Oran critic.60 In addition, according to the reviews, the violoncellist J. Jovanović likewise distinguished himself within the BCD.61 Although we cannot give a precise judgement of the quality of the BCD’s performances, there is no doubt that their repertoire was interesting and in- cluded a large number of compositions, mostly from the Romantic period, and that it was well adapted to the occasions of their performances. Since they were touring French colonies, it is no surprise that a great deal of their repertoire con- sisted of French composers: Georges Bizet, Camille Saint-Saëns, Charles Gou- nod, Jules Massenet, Gustave Charpentier, Ambroise Thomas, Léo Delibes, and Adolphe Adam. Next on the list are Italian operatic works by composers who are still the most popular in that genre: Giuseppe Verdi and Giacomo Puccini,

57 Pejčić specifies that in Bizerte, Pokorni closely collaborated with composers Venceslav Rendla and “мајор Пелисије Пол” [Latin script: “major Pelisije Pol”]. Unfortunately, “Пол” does not appear in Gordana Krajačić’s biographies of military musicians, or in military en- cyclopaedias, nor have I found his name in Pokorni’s notes. 58 NLS, ADP, R-291, I/3, 17. 59 Emil Dont was at the beginning of the war appointed fourth-class bandmaster of the Vardar Division, under Jovan Urban as leader, or first-class bandmaster. Nikola Stefanović held the same position in the Šumadija Division. Presumably, they were transferred to the BCD as a result of Binički’s reorganization of military music bands. 60 The review from L’Echo d’Oran was published in Napred, I, 1916, 264, 3. Cf. Table 1, the Oran concert programme. 61 The military documents mention only a sergeant Živan Jovanović, so we may only specu- late that translating his name into French, the Algerian critic transcribed Jovanović’s first initial, “Ž“ to “J”.

139 New Sound 43, I/2014 as well as fantasias or excerpts from veristic operas by Ruggiero Leoncavallo and Pietro Mascagni; then, there were also Slavic, primarily Serbian composers. It is interesting that the BCD performed pieces by contemporary Italian com- poser Francesco Santoliquido (1883–1971), who, having studied in Rome (at the Santa Cecilia Lyceum), found himself in the Tunisian town of Hammamet during the war.62 For us, it is especially relevant that the Band of the Cavalry Division pre- sented to North African audiences for the first time numerous works by compos- ers who were also members of the ensemble: Pokorni’s Serbian Songs; From the East, a Serbian Medley; Potpourri of Serbian and Russian Songs and Dances; and “At the Window/Sous la fenêtre”, a song from his Popular Songs collec- tion; Rendla’s Recollections from Tunisia, a waltz and The Admiral’s March/ March of Admiral Guépratte; and Nigl’s General Moinier’s March.63 From these titles, we can infer that some of the compositions, such as The Admiral’s March and General Moinier’s March were written and premiered in Bizerte to honour the vice-admiral of the French Fleet, Émile Guépratte, a great friend of the Serbian army and regular at concerts of the BCD, as well as general Moinier, commander of the French North African Forces. Most of these works remain unknown, awaiting musicological research, and the same applies to the biographies of many military musicians that my research has unearthed. The BCD performed pieces by a large number of Serbian and “Slavic” composers of both artistic and military music. In that regard, especially popu- lar were pieces by Jovan Urban64 and Jozef Brodil,65 while other Serbian and Slavic composers whose works they performed included Antonin Dvořák, P. I. Tchaikovsky, Davorin Jenko, Isidor Bajić, Stevan Stojanović Mokranjac, Bedřich Smetana, etc. Pejčić also mentions that according to an article in Ratni dnevnik [The War Diary], Binički’s March of the King’s Guard was popular in the repertoire of the BCD and all other ensembles of the Serbian Army.66 The concerts were basically for charity purposes, not only for the construc- tion of a Serbian cemetery in North Africa, but also for a number of foundations supporting the families of those killed in combat or impoverished children, re- vealing a network of friendly connections with representatives of French, Brit- ish, Algerian, and Tunisian diplomacy. The BCD often performed in order to

62 ADP (R-291) also contains Pokorni’s correspondence with this artist. 63 Cf. Table 1, list of concerts and detailed programmes. 64 Who was in Corfu and Thessaloniki during the Great War. 65 Jozef Brodil (1854–1913) was at one point the bandmaster of the military band in Novi Sad, active towards the end of the 19th century. 66 Predrag Pejčić, op. cit., 139.

140 Vasiljević, M.: A ‘Quiet African Episode’ for the Serbian Army ... (123–156) raise funds for the reparation and procurement of instruments and scores, with- out which their African activities could not proceed.

Conclusion: The Achievements of the BCD in Africa and Pursuing Cultural Diplomacy? From their regular concerts given in Bizerte, the activities of the BCD evolved into concert tours across the Maghreb, assuming the form of “cultural diplomacy”. My research of the archives and periodical publications suggests that the evolution of the BCD’s activities from strictly humanitarian purposes to spreading Serbian (Yugoslav?) culture and at the same time establishing ties with the political and military elites of the Maghreb countries was not a result of any endeavours on the part of the Serbian Army Supreme Command. The BCD acted spontaneously, guided by their patriotism and circumstances in North Af- rica, where they were sheltered by the Allies. It is frequently overlooked that in 1916 Prime Minister Nikola Pašić made the decision that all high school and university students be dismissed from mili- tary service and sent abroad for schooling and other “publicity missions”: a decision that the historian Branko Petranović67 characterized as “a far-sighted gesture”. Moreover, right from the outbreak of war, scientists and scholars promptly put themselves at the disposal of the state. Pašić expected scholars such as Jovan Cvijić, Aleksandar Belić, Stanoje Stanojević, Bogdan and Pavle Popović, Niko Županić, Jovan Žujović, etc. to promote the Yugoslav idea, in- cluding the projected borders of the new state. And promote it they did, talking to their colleagues and politicians in various European capitals; their mission led them to Rome, Paris, St. Petersburg, London, Washington, Bucharest.68 Fi- nally, Petranović makes a very good point when he states that of the 70 profes- sors of the University of Belgrade, 60 went into exile with the Serbian Army and government. Therefore, during the Great War, much intellectual energy was expended to promote the Yugoslav idea. The BCD’s charity concerts, connecting with members of completely un- known nations, and highly diverse North African cities: all of this occurred quite spontaneously. The Supreme Command, consumed by fighting on multi- ple fronts, was able only to support the ideas of Pokorni, Dragutin Milutinović, and the BCD in Africa. It seems that the intricate context of the arrival of the Serbian troops for recuperation in this exotic land, a French colony with a pe- culiar, multi-layered culture, as well as the awareness of the tempestuous events

67 Branko Petranović, op. cit., 9−10. 68 Cf. ibid. and the introductory part of this text concerning the centres during the Great War.

141 New Sound 43, I/2014 of a war that had sucked in the entire world, compelled the Serbian troops to use their sojourn in Africa for humanitarian purposes. Perusing the documents and comparing the scant biographical data that there is on the members of this military orchestra suggest that the BCD’s achieve- ments and professional development hinged on the endeavours of a handful of people. Most of the credit for the dynamics of their wartime musical activities in North Africa goes to Dragutin Pokorni, whose life was marked by his con- tinual efforts for the sake of the professionalization of military music in Serbia. In this short two-year period, Pokorni and his colleagues, especially Víćeslav Rendla, managed to transform these exhausted young soldier-musicians into a well-rehearsed ensemble, which performed not only symphonic pieces varying in character, length, and difficulty, but also to appear as soloists and adjust to the needs of their military amateur theatre. We cannot claim with certainty that their performances were top-level, since we do not have recordings but only the misgivings of our musicologists regarding Serbian orchestral music of the time. Nonetheless, the press reviews found in a large number of newspapers and mag- azines from the Maghreb countries were unequivocally positive. Although writ- ten by critics of different professions, their knowledge of music was far above the then level of musical literacy of the emerging middle class in the Kingdom of Serbia. In addition, Pokorni’s diligence, perseverance, and ambition to keep improving the orchestra and widen its activities are noticeable from the very beginning of his work at the Military School and BCD, before, during, and after the war. After the war, on the occasion of a personal jubilee of Pokorni on 23 January 1927, Dragutin Milutinović, a former General of the Reserve Corps and Schools for Non-commissioned Officers, wrote to Pokorni: I don’t think that anyone, save for those of us who were there in Bizerte, realize what you achieved by giving concerts in North Africa in 1916 and 1917. The entire suc- cess, as well as material reward, ought to be ascribed solely to you and your whole- hearted and selfless organizational work. At any rate, our neat Serbian cemetery in Bizerte, which probably even now stands as an adornment to the city of Bizerte, is your deed and that of your musicians, whom you trained and disciplined so artisti- cally and masterfully, thus winning the sympathies of the entire North Africa for the Serbs … Now I say this publicly that you, as bandmaster of these artists … did a great deal for the Serbs among the French and indigenous population; many is a brick of yours built into this edifice that bears the name of the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats, and Slovenes.69

69 NLS, ADP, R-291, II/39.

142 Vasiljević, M.: A ‘Quiet African Episode’ for the Serbian Army ... (123–156)

The BCD and their conductor Pokorni and other bandmasters found them- selves right at the midpoint between culture and politics. On the one hand, as members of the military establishment, they were promoting the military and political goals of their country. In that sense, their mission was political and arguments for this can be found in the concert reviews and correspondence be- tween Pokorni and many important figures, which regularly promoted Pokorni and the BCD as members of a heroic (and allied) nation. On the other hand, their ‘peacetime’ two-year mission in North Africa displaced them from their Serbian setting, where they were but one of many military ensembles, hardly a match for the growing civilian orchestras and lacking their opportunities. In North Africa, the BCD managed not only to make the most of their potentials, but also upgraded them in this encouraging environment. Albeit a military for- mation, the BCD may thus be considered an agent of ‘cultural diplomacy’ in the Great War.

Table 1: BCD concert activities, 1916–191870

Date, title, venue of Repertoire purpose of concert and other concert remarks 6 May 191671 A. Thomas, Mignon Overture; Charity, for French and Ser- Municipal Theatre, R. Leoncavallo, I Paggliaci fantasy; bian Red Cross Sfax H. Wieniawski, D-minor Violin Grand Symphonic Concerto;*72 Serbian Military String Or- Concert J. Urban, La Serbie de l’Orient; L. De- chestra, conducted by libes, Coppélia fantasy; E. P. Alvars, Fan- D. Pokorni taisie for Harp;** G. Bizet, Carmen fantasy *soloist: Ladislav Novotni

** soloist: Mme Marini, Pre- mier Prix du Conservatoire de Milan

70 Sources: programme notes surviving in ADP, reports or announcements of concerts in the section “Hronika” [“Current Affairs”] of the daily Napred. Even though many of the original programme notes are unavailable and data collected from newspaper and magazines were used instead, I decided to include all of them. It seemed more important to have a broader view of the repertoire and concert venues, than reliable dates.

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7 May 191673 R. Leoncavallo, I Paggliaci fantasy; Charity, for French and Ser- City Casino, Sousse Wieniawski, D-minor Violin Concerto;* J. bian Red Cross (Tunisia) Urban, La Serbie de l’Orient. Morceaux choisis; L. Delibes, Coppélia fantasy; E. Serbian String Orchestra P. Alvars, Fantaisie for Harp; C. Saint- Grand Symphonic Saëns, Dance macabre; G. Puccini, Fan- *soloist: Ladislav Novotny Concert tasy from Tosca, Puccini; G. Rossini, Guillaume Tell Overture 4 June 191674 A. Thomas, Raymond Overture; M. I. For French, Italian, and Ser- Rossini Theater Glinka, Kamarinskaya, danse russe; G. bian Red Cross Verdi, Prélude et Fantasie, La Traviatta; *solo violin: Mr. Paulette G. Puccini, Madame Butterfly fantasy; P. Grand Symphonic I. Tchaikovsky, Chant sans parole; A. Sa- Concert froni-Middleton, Down South; V. Rendla, Serbian Songs; P. de Sarasate, Hungarian (Gypsy) Airs;* C. Saint-Saëns, Samson et Dalila Fantasy; M. Moskowski, Spanish Dances and Bolero; A. Gomey, Il Guar- any and Grand Overture 19 June 191675 Charity concert for the con- Hall of Casina The- struction of Serbian cemetery atre and town plaza, same evening July 191676 concerts at Garibaldi Theatre, Officers’ Hall, and Garden of Grand Hotel Bizerte 13 September 1916. B. Smetana, Bartered Bride (excerpts); G. Celebration of Serbian victory Officers’ Hall ter- Verdi, Traviatta (excerpts); V. Rendla, on Kajmakčalan race, Bizerte Recollections from Tunisia, a waltz; D. Pokorni, From the East, A Serbian Pot- pourri marches of Russian soldiers and Italian bersaglieri; G. Verdi, Il Trovattore medley; Parisian Waltz Algerian tour, end of September1916 (beginning of October N.S.)

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(18 September) A. Thomas, ‘Mignon’ Overture; 3 October 191677 E. Grieg, Norwegian Dances Nos. 1 and Municipal Theatre, 2; C. Saint-Saëns, Le Rouet d’Omphale, Algiers symphonic poem, Op. 31; G. Puccini, Tosca fantasy; J. Massenet, Scènes pit- toresques: March, Air from ballet, and Bohemian Feast; A. Ponchielli, “Dance of the Hours” from La Gioconda; M. I. Symphonic Concert Glinka, Kamarinskaya;78 A. C. Gomes, Il Guarany; French and Serbian national anthems (19 September) C. Saint-Saëns, Dance macabre; Second concert 4 October 191679 French and Serbian national anthems; Republic Square, marches Algiers 25 September A. Thomas, Mignon Overture; E. Grieg, First concert 191680 Norwegian Dances Nos. 1 and 2; C. Municipal Theatre, Saint-Saëns, Le Rouet d’Omphale, sym- Oran phonic poem, Op. 31; G. Puccini, Tosca fantasy; J. Massenet, Scènes pittoresques: March, Air from ballet, and Bohemian Feast; A. Ponchielli, “Dance of the Hours” from La Gioconda; M. I. Glinka, Kamarinskaya;81 A. C. Gomes, Il Guar- any; French and Serbian national anthems. 26 September C. Saint-Saëns, English March, The Second concert 191682 Queen of Sheba, Samson et Dalila fan- Letan promenade, tasy; J. Urban, Recollections from Tunisia 83 Oran and Serbian Songs; R. Planquette, Blue Shadow, Trouvère, Marche Loraine, Sam- bre-et-Meuse, etc. 27 September A. Adam, Si j’étais roi Overture; L. De- Third concert 191684 libes, Coppélia Fantasy (excerpts); C. Municipal Theatre, Saint-Saëns, ‘Dance macabre, symphonic Oran poem’; G. Puccini, Grand Fantasy from Madame Butterfly; G. Charpentier, Im- pressions d’Italie; G. Bizet, selections from Carmen; J. Urban, Serbian Songs;85 G. Rossini, Guillaume Tell Overture 28 September 1916 Fourth concert (20 October 1916) 1 October 1916 A reprise concert on return Republic Square, from Oran Algiers

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15 October 1916 A. Adam, Si j’étais roi; L. Delibes, Cop- First concert (N.S.) 86 pélia fantasy (excerpts); C. Saint-Saëns, Municipal Theatre, Dance macabre, symphonic poem; G. Constantine Puccini, Grand Fantasy from Madame Butterfly; G. Charpentier, Impressions d’ Italie; G. Bizet, selections from Carmen; J. Urban, Serbian Songs; G. Rossini, Guil- laume Tell Overture 16 October 1916 Reprise of the previous Second concert – reprise 17 October 191687 P. Mascagni, Cavalleria rusticana Over- Tunisian Red Cross Garibaldi Theatre, ture; P. I. Tchaikovsky, Sleeping Beauty raising funds for patients in Bizerte (excerpts); J. Massenet, Phaedra Overture hospitals in Sidi Abdallah and Feriville88 Dec 1916 Parade March; J. Offenbach, The Tales of Bizerte89 Hoffmann, operetta (excerpts); V. Rendla, Admiral Guépratte’s March (première), with fanfare90 22 February 1917, A. Dvořák, Carneval Overture; Politeama Rosini D. Pokorni, Serbian Songs (Pelle Des- Theatre, Algiers forges, soloist), Jenko and Bajić; G. Char- pentier, Impressions d’ Italie, “Napoli”’; Tchaikovsky, Dumka trio; A. Dvořák, Slavonic Dance No. 4; P. I. Tchaikovsky, Symphony No. 5, Op. 64, in E minor 28 February 191791 A. Dvořák, Carneval Overture; For Serbian Red Cross Garibaldi Theatre, D. Pokorni, Serbian Songs (Pelle Des- Mixed programme (chamber Bizerte forges), Davorin Jenko and Isidor Bajić; and orchestral) G. Charpentier, Impressions d’ Italie, “Na- poli”; P. I. Tchaikovsky, Dumka trio; Soloists: Miss Fouquet, piano; A. Dvořák, Slavonic Dance No. 4; P. I. Ladislav Novotni, violin; and Tchaikovsky, Symphony No. 5, Op. 64 in J. Jovanović, violoncello E minor 3 October 191792 General Terzić’s March;93 A. Adam, Si Republic Square, j’étais roi, Overture; É. Waldteufel, Fleurs Algiers et Baisirs; G. Verdi, Traviatta fantasy; J. Urban, Serbian Songs; P. I. Tchaikovsky, Eugene Onegin fantasy; Wesley, Parisian Waltz; J. P. Sousa, American March

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12 March 191794 J. Massenet, Phaedra Overture; E. Grieg, First symphonic concert Municipal Theatre, Piano Concerto, Op. 16;* G. Charpentier, Algiers Impressions d’ Italie, “Napoli” (No. 5); C. Saint-Saëns, Dance macabre; A. BCD with 70 members Dvořák, Slavonic Dances Nos. 1–3; P. I. *piano solo M. Reginald Grand symphonic Tchaikovsky, Symphony No. 5, Op. 64 in D’Arcy, Professor of Piano concert E minor (aux Beaux Arts) 14 March 1917 Second concert Municipal Opera, Soloists: Susanne Cesbron, Algiers Miss Rocca, Miss Servais, vi- olin (first violin of Municipal Opera) 14 and 15 March Two concerts 1917 Blida, Algeria 31 March 1917 Three concerts Setif Symphonic concert Municipal Theatre Orleans Square

24 March 1917 Mignon Overture; Oujda95 G. Bizet, Carmen fantasy; Coppélia (ex- Gonzales cinema cerpts); A. Dvořák, Slavonic Dances Nos. 4 and 8; Zingarella, a film; J. Massenet, Manon fantasy; J. Brodil, Serbian songs; C. Saint-Saëns, Dance macabre; J. Mass- enet, Phaedra Overture 23 and 24 March Grand symphonic concert96 1917 Oujda (Morocco) Gonzales cinema 28 March 191797 I part: Film; For Serbian Red Cross Oujda A. Dvořák, Carnival Overture; G. Char- Gonzales cinema pentier, Impressions d’Italie No. 5; P. I. Tchaikovsky, Symphony Op. 64 in E minor; A. Dvořák, Slavonic Dances Nos. 1–3; II part: Film; N. Rimsky-Korsakov, Spanish Capriccio; J. Urban, Serbian songs; P. I. Tchaikovsky, The Queen of Spades

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Republic Square D. Pokorni, Slavonic March; C. Gounod, Solemn March and The Queen of Sheba; Wesley, Parisian Waltz; G. Verdi, Il Trov- atore fantasy; II part: C. Saint-Saëns, Samson et Dalila, grand fantasy; J. Brodil, Belgrade and Its Surroundings; C. Gou- nod, Faust (excerpts); V. Rendla, Admiral Guépratte’s March 1 April 191798 P. Mascagni, Cavalleria rusticana Over- Charity concert for Serbian ture; J. Massenet, Manon (selection); A. Red Cross Dvořák, Slavonic Dances; G. Charpentier, Impressions d’ Italie Nos. 1–3; P. I. Tchaikovsky, Fantasy from The Queen of Spades; J. Brodil, Serbian songs; A. Pon- chielli, La Gioconda; A. Dvořák Carnival overture 1 April 191799 Francheschini, Maréchal Joffre; A. Adam, Si j’étais roi Overture; A. Corbin, Valse Santiago; D. Pokorni, Potpourri of Rus- sian songs and dances; C. Saint-Saëns, Samson et Dalila fantasy; J. Urban, Ser- bian Dances; J. Offenbach, The Tales of Hoffman, selections; V. Nigl, General Moinier’s March100 13 May 1917 Garden party 31 May 1917101 Petrović, On the Banks of the Sava, Bizerte march; G. Verdi, Potpourri from Il Trova- tore; Berger, Amours, a waltz; J. Brodil, Potpourri from Gypsy Songs; J. Massenet, Werter, Finale; V. Rendla, Recollections from Tunisia, a waltz; A. Thomas, Pot- pourri from Mingon; T. Powell, American March 4 June 1917102 Italian national anthem and anthems of al- Charity concert for the Society Garibaldi Theater, lied nations, with orchestral accompani- for Aiding Families of Italian Bizerte ment; Italian Spring (drama). II part: G. Soldiers Verdi, Aida (excerpts); gymnastics and choral show; ballet 30 June 1917103 French and Serbian national anthems St. Peter’s Day and King’s Camp Nador104 birthday; first concert of Music School cadets

148 Vasiljević, M.: A ‘Quiet African Episode’ for the Serbian Army ... (123–156)

13 July 1917105 Serbian and anthems of other allied coun- Garden of the tries Garibaldi Theatre, Bizerte

23 August 1917106 J. Offenbach, Orpheus in the Underworld “Proceeds from the concert Garibaldi Theatre, Overture; T. Powell, Gondolier, an Ameri- will be used for the acquisi- Bizerte can Intermezzo‘’; F. Tarrega, Arabian Ser- tion of scores and reparation enade; P. I. Tchaikovsky, Eugene Onegin of instruments” Fantasy; S. Gastaldon, Forbidden Music; L. Delibes, Pais de fleurs sur ballet; A. Ponchielli, “Dance of the Hours”, La Gi- oconda; Jones, San Toy (selection); C. Saint-Saëns, Le Rouet d’Omphale, sym- phonic poem; Gladiators (march) 26 August 1917107 Raising money for scores and Garden of Grand instruments Hotel, Bizerte

Grand symphonic concert 14 October 1917108 Rachmaninoff, Prelude; A. Dvořák, Sla- *Soloist: Pelle Desforges Bizerte vonic Dance No. 2; S. S. Mokranjac, Three Heroes (lyrics by Brzak); D. Poko- rni, “Na pendžeru/Sous le fenêtre”, Popu- Journée de l’Armée lar Songs;* M. Moskowski, Serenade Op. d’Afrique et de 15; M. I. Glinka, Kamarinskaya; Nedral, Troupes Coloniales Slovak Rhapsody; A. Dvořák, Symphony From the New World Grand symphonic concert (Slavic music)

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18 February 1918 G. Verdi, La Traviatta* Italian and Serbian Red Cross Rosini Theatre, Al- giers *Foreign soloists Tenor: Rouland, Opéra Comique Soprano: Elisa Giusti Baritone: Beppino Trenta Maria di Prima Tulio Piemon- tese

? Franceschini, Marche Joffre; A. Corbin, Serbian Red Cross Grand symphonic Valse Santiago; J. Offenbach, The Tales of concert Hoffmann, selections; D. Pokorni, Pot- pourri of Russian Songs and Dances; J. Massenet, Manon fantasy; J. Brodil, Ser- bian Songs; P. I. Tchaikovsky, Eugene Onegin potpourri; V. Nigl, General Moini- er’s March109 April 1918 Parade, military marches, and popular April feast in Bizerte in hon- pieces our of French and Serbian Red Cross 22 June 1918110 J. Offenbach, Orpheus in the Underworld; *Piano and voice, Orlande and Municipal Theatre, F. Santeliquido, Le Parfum des Oasis Sa- Lavergne Bouni, Algeria hariennes; G. Montéhus, La Croix de **Mrs. Cadot accompanied by Guerre; M. Rastell, Les Tamarin;* V. orchestra Rendla, Echo de’ Serbie; M. Heillingé, Grand evening Scènes alsaciennes, Massenet; M. Rique ***Sung by Mrs. Orlando Marbot, Danse Mimei; La Coup Em- with orchestra posonneé;** C. Saint-Saëns, Danse ma- cabre; H. Celli, Farfalla;*** Nebdal, Slovak Rhapsody; national anthems of France and Serbia. 22 August 1918111 P. Mascagni, Cavalleria rusticana, Over- Société Musulmane et de la Garibaldi Theatre, ture... Société l’Hopital Israélite de Bizerte Bizerte

Charity event

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(Footnotes)

71 NLS, ADP, “Grand concert simphonique par Orchestre a Corde Serbe sous la direction de M. le captaine Pokorny” [sic! – spelling errors in the source], R-291, IV/2. 72 The programme erroneously switched the names of Wieniawski and Leoncavallo, which the present table rectifies. 73 NLS, ADP, R-291, IV/3. 74 NlS, ADP, R-291, IV/4. 75 Cf. Pejčić, op. cit., 135. 76 Ibid. 77 Napred, I (1916), 253, 3. Two previous issues of the daily Napred also contain transla- tions of Pokorni’s article about this concert from L’Echo d’Alger. The most important ex- cerpts from reviews of these concerts published in the Algerian press and translated in Napred are quoted in Gordana Krajačić, op. cit., 57−60. 78 But this composition is not mentioned in the programme (NLS, ADP, R-291, IV/5). The article on the tour (cf. Napred, I, 252, 3; 253, 3) quotes reviews from the Algerian press and mentions the composition Kamarinskaya by M. I. Glinka, which I could not find in the printed programme notes. Pokorni also left in his archives a detailed description of the Alge- rian journey and mentioned Glinka’s piece as the penultimate item that evening (NBS, ADP, R-291, I/3). 79 Napred, I, 1916, 253–255, 3. 80 According to Pokorny’s notes, the same programme as that of the concert held in Algiers on 3 October 1916 (NLS, ADP, R-291, “Naša vojna muzika u Oranu” [“Our Military Music in Oran”], I/1, 10). 81 Cf. note 81 about the Glinka piece performed in this concert. 82 NLS, ADP, R-291, I/1, 10. 83 The composer is not mentioned, but it would be reasonable to suppose, following the logic of previous concerts, that they again performed this popular piece by Urban. 84 Pokorni also translated a review by Giles Abekassis from Le ‘Petit Oranais for the daily Napred (NLS, ADP, R-291, I/1, 11−13); cf. Napred, 252, I, 3. 85 Autumn has Come, My Rose Has Blossomed and My Sweetheart. There is evidence that Jovan Urban composed his Serbian St. George Songs for a wind ensemble in Corfu in 1916. 86 NLS, ADP, R-291, IV/6. In his detailed account of the journey to Constantine, Pokorni states that before this evening concert at the theatre, a daytime concert was held on the promenade (cf. NLS, ADP, R-291, I/3, “U Konstantini i Bonu” [“In Constantine and El Bouni”], 11). 87 The programme has “Zaspala devojka” [“The Sleeping Maiden”], a ballet, presumably Tchaikovsky’s The Sleeping Beauty. 88 Now Menzel Bourguiba. 89 Predrag Pejčić, op. cit., 136. 90 Presumably V. Rendla, who is mentioned in subsequent sources as the author of this piece, although in the programme for this concert his name does not appear.

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91 No shelf-mark; decorated by a hand-drawn scene suggesting the concert may have been for the benefit of destitute children. 92 L’Echo d’Alger, 10 March 1917. 93 This piece was dedicated to general Božidar Terzić, Serbia’s then Minister of War. I have not been able to trace the composer of this piece, but presumably he was a member of the BCD. 94 NBS, ADP, R-291, IV/13. 95 Northeast Morocco, near Algerian border. 96 Only the poster survives. It can be conjectured that the next concert, of 28 March, at the same hall might have been a reprise of the concerts of 23 and 24 March. 97 NBS, ADP, R-291, IV/11. 98 NBS, ADP, R-291, IV/9. 99 NBS, ADP, R-291, IV/10. 100 Presumably an error in the programme, so that instead of V. Vigl as the program reads, the composer of General Moinier’s March should be Vićeslav Nigl. 101 “Najava koncerta” [“Concert Announcement”], Napred, II, 394, 2 102 “Hronika: Svečana predstava” [“Current Affairs: Festive Performance”], Napred, II, 397, 3. 103 “Hronika: Petrovdanska svečanost” [“Current Affairs: St. Peter’s Day”], Napred, II, 421, 2. 104 Today Jebel en Nador or Jabal an Nazur near Bizerte. 105 “Sinoćni koncert” [“Last Night’s Concert”], Napred, II, 488 (14 July 1917), 3. 106 “Hronika: “Koncerat Vojne Muzike” [“Concert of Military Music”], Napred, 467, II, 3, 23 July 1917, 3. 107 “Hronika: Koncerat”, Napred, II, 441, 3; “Hronika: Koncerat Vojne Muzike” [“Current Affairs: Concert of Military Music”], Napred, II, 445, 3. 108 NLS, ADP, R-291, IV/7 109 Cf. note 82 and the second concert of April 1917. 110 NLS, ADP, R-291, IV/16. 111 NBS, ADP, R-291, IV/17.

152 Vasiljević, M.: A ‘Quiet African Episode’ for the Serbian Army ... (123–156)

Concert at the Bizerte promenade. The Band of the Cavalry Division, 1917.

The front page of the concert programme, 1 Apr. 1917 – the caricature of Dragutin Pokorni by R. Barbel

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Grand concert symphonique par l'Orchestre à Cordes Serbe sous la direction de M. le Capitaine F. Pokorny : Ville de Sfax, Theatre municipal, Samedi 6. Mai 1916. à 9 heures très précises.

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Serbian Military Orchestra in Bizerte, 1917.

The portrait of Dragutin Pokorni dated 19 Feb. 1901.

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The programme of the Cavalry Regiment Orchestra's concert in Algiers of 3 October 1916

156 Popović, B.: Svetlana Savić: Soneti “La Douce Nuit” ... (157–172) NEW WORKS

Article received on 23rd Jun 2014 Article accepted on 29th Jun 2014 UDC: 784/789 Branka Popović* University of Arts in Belgrade Faculty of Music Department for Composition and Orchestration

SVETLANA SAVIĆ: SONETI “LA DOUCE NUIT”, “LOOKING ON DARKNESS”, “LA VITA FUGGE”

Abstract: Soneti [Sonnets] by Svetlana Savić were composed between 2008 and 2012. The cycle comprises three pieces: “La Douce Nuit” for violoncello, piano, and electronics, as well as “Looking on Darkness” and “La vita fugge” for a female voice, violoncello, piano, and electronics. Here, the work is analysed from the perspective of the author’s modernist orientation towards sound as a specific tool of music as a medium, which de- fined multiple poetic aspects in creating this work and had repercussions on the treatment of the text, the ensemble – both its acoustic and electronic layers – the forming and rela- tionship between individual layers of texture, as well as the choice of music material. Dealing with sound, searching for a specific acoustic quality is revealed already in the title, Soneti, because the term sonnet, which refers to a 13th-century Italian poetic form, comes from the Italian word sonetto, derived from the Latin word sonus, meaning sound. How- ever, although Savić looks for particular acoustic qualities and sound is her main material, the resulting work is full of associations, musical and extramusical alike, and reaches out to other kinds of artistic expression. The composer never loses sight of her extramusical content and thus her composition generates a peculiar sort of interference between the acoustic and the verbal – the music absorbs the verbal, turning words into sounds and sound into words. At certain moments, this is joined by the visual component. Key words: sound; acoustic quality; sonnet; variation; the intertwining of motives; musi- cal and extramusical associations; a peculiar sort of interference of the musical, the verbal, and the visual

* Author contact information: [email protected]

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Soneti [Sonnets] by Svetlana Savić were written between 2008 and 2012, as the final project in her doctoral studies of composition at the Faculty of Music in Belgrade. The cycle consists of three pieces: “La Douce Nuit” for violon- cello, piano, and electronics, as well as “Looking on Darkness” and “La vite fugge” for a female voice, violoncello, piano, and electronics. Soneti, in its integral version, was premiered by Ana Radovanović, mezzo-soprano, Srđan Sretenović, violoncello, and Neda Hofman, piano, at the Matica Srpska Hall in Novi Sad, in May 2013. The ‘libretto’ of this cycle includes five sonnets by Michelangelo Buonarroti, nine sonnets by Petrarch, 17 sonnets by William Shakespeare, 16 sonnets by Charles Baudelaire, as well as one visual-verbal sonnet by Raša Perić. The duration of the entire cycle in performance is around 27 minutes. The term sonnet refers to a 13th-century Italian poetic form. It comes from the Italian word sonetto, derived from the Latin word sonus, meaning sound.1 Therefore, the title of the cycle – Soneti – refers not only to the textual basis of each individual movement – i.e. the sonnets by the authors listed above – but also to several important features of Svetlana Savić’s poetics, due to its connection with the concept of sound. Namely, although this is a vocal-instrumental compo- sition based on the synergy of its verbal and musical components, whereby the extramusical content influences the shaping of her musical ideas, the way Savić builds her works suggests that her creative process is nevertheless dominated primarily by exploring sound and that her primary concern is searching for a par- ticular acoustic result and achieving a particular acoustic quality. In Soneti, this focus on sound had repercussions on the treatment of the text, the ensemble – its acoustic and electronic layers alike – the forming and relationship of different layers of texture, as well as the choice of music material. The first sonnet, “La Douce Nuit” for violoncello, piano, and electronics, is based on Baudelaire’s Les Fleurs du mal. In this piece, the text does not appear in the vocal part (it is not sung); instead, it is presented as an integral part of the electronic layer, containing samples of processed recordings of Eva Le Gal- lienne and Louis Jourdan reciting Baudelaire’s verses. Instead of using the son- nets integrally, the author chose particular sentences, phrases, and words from a large number of poems and thus created the textual basis of the piece. The text used in the first sonnet is as follows:

1 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sonnet

158 Popović, B.: Svetlana Savić: Soneti “La Douce Nuit” ... (157–172)

Entends, ma chère, viens par ici, entends la douce Nuit qui marche.

soleil monotone Une femme passa

Endormeuses saisons! je vous aime et vous loue

Des hommes dont le corps est mince et vigoureux, Et des femmes dont l’œil par sa franchise étonne. Le violon frémit comme un cśur qu’on afflige; Valse mélancolique et langoureux vertige! Le soleil s’est noyé dans son sang qui se fige.

deux à deux Moi, mon âme est fêlée ô toi qui le savais!

balcons Je suis l’Ange bruit des carillons Un éclair... magiques Ailleurs mystiques Je suis belle, ô mortels! Moi Ô toi Le violon frémit Fugitive beauté Dont le regard m’a fait soudainement Le soleil s’est noyé dans son sang qui se fige... Doux comme les hautbois

The form of the first sonnet is essentially ternary, ABA1. The composition begins with introductory chords in the lower register of the piano, which are soon joined by the sound of a ‘train’ (a loop of vinyl record skipping) and a

159 New Sound 43, I/2014 male voice uttering the verses. The development section (A) begins at b. 18, which progresses alongside a striking sonic content in the electronic layer, made of a pulsating continuous sound in a low register and birds chirruping. The vio- loncello and piano parts emerge from the electronics, imitating its content and leaving their imprint in the process: short motives inspired by birds are pro- vided with a chordal dimension in the piano part, while the use of harmonics in the violoncello part produces subtle variations in them, in the manner of an echo. The development progresses in a delicate intertwining of parts, which take cues from one another and create relations of variance, but also retain their own individual identities (Example 1). The result is a minutely wrought musical tissue, brimming with diversified details, whose significance and expressivity are emphasized by the transparent texture of the piece.

Example 1 – La Douce Nuit, bb. 47–51

In b. 61, a new formal section (B), which begins in b. 67, is announced by a subsiding of the tension and returning to the ‘train’ sound and the male voice reciting the verses. This repetitive section is based on a chordal motive in the piano part, which is reminiscent of the chords from the opening of the piece. In this section, working with samples of male and female voices reciting the verses is more pronounced than in the first segment of the composition. The section ends with a solo violoncello cadenza, beginning in b. 84. The closing section, i.e. recapitulation of the first segment (A1), starts in b. 95. With an ostinato background formed by a percussive motive in the electronic layer, bird-inspired motives develop in the violoncello and piano parts, as well as in the electronics (Example 2). The treatment of voice samples grows much more dynamic – they are cropped, mixed, repeated, and thus generate an active textural element.

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Example 2 – “La Douce Nuit”, bb. 95–99

The chords from the beginning of the composition reappear in b. 110 and the section ends with a habanera-like material in the violoncello part (b. 124 – Example 3).

Example 3 – “La Douce Nuit”, bb. 124–127

The very ending of the piece is marked by the entrance of the chordal mo- tive of the piano from the middle section (B), but now in the timbre of elec- tronic bells. This segment functions as the coda. The second sonnet, “Looking on Darkness”, for a female voice, violon- cello, piano, and electronics, also has an overall ternary form, ABA1. The text is rendered by a female voice, although it partly appears in the electronic layer as well, which also serves as the dominant musical agent in the piece. The first section (A) is based on a rhythmically pregnant, percussive mo- tive in the electronics, while the material performed by the voice, violoncello, and piano is a reverberation thereof, echo, or extension. The electronics is per- meated with recordings of Petrarch’s verses, performed by Moro Silo in Italian, and those of Shakespeare’s, performed by Richard Pasco in English. Also, some French can be heard at the beginning of the composition – samples of medieval love poems by Guillaume de Machaut enter in the electronics layer in b. 9 and

161 New Sound 43, I/2014 their text and melody are imitated in the vocal part. The turbulent and develop- mental initial section is replaced by a meditative middle section (B) beginning in b. 48 – electronics composed of a static acoustic mist, which completely sub- merges the inconspicuous figurations and harmonic shadings in the violoncello and piano parts, underneath the vocal part, which for the first time becomes the vehicle of verbal delivery. A new dynamic section (A1) begins in b. 120, based on a variation of the motive from the beginning, rendered by the electronics. The electronic layer now also contains samples of a female voice (Milica Đelić) uttering Petrarch’s verses in Italian. The voice, however, remains the dominant vehicle of verbal delivery until the end of the piece. Its part, as well as those of the violoncello and piano, is modelled after the material in the electronics. Thus, the musical tissue is generated by intertwining and alternating short and variant motives, through sequential entrances and dialogues between the voice, elec- tronics, and acoustic instruments (Example 4).

Example 4 – “Looking on Darkness”, bb. 138–142

At the very end of the piece, in b. 202, the motive which was heard in the electronics at the beginning appears once more, in its original form. The text rendered by the voice in the second and third sections of the com- position, chosen from several sonnets by Shakespeare, is as follows: Time stands still Silent thought Time stands still Tune delighted Sparkling stars Tune delighted Times in hope Blind do see

162 Popović, B.: Svetlana Savić: Soneti “La Douce Nuit” ... (157–172)

Quick objects Crooked eclipses Dancing chips Parallels Interchange of state Sweet fingers that nimble leap Torture me Saucy jacks True image! Thousand errors To be so tickled Transfix Shake! Shape! Do none Triumphant splendour It shapes them to you feature Time exchange Changing course Costly gay! Work’s expired Time Kissing with golden face Nothing stands! Do nothing Nothing

Now all is done All is done!

The third sonnet, “La vita fugge” for a female voice, violoncello, piano, and electronics, has a four-section form, ABCA1. The text in this sonnet is sung throughout, although the electronics includes some vocal samples, whose ver- bal content, nevertheless, remains unintelligible. The sonnet begins with an in- troduction in the piano part, based on a three-bar motive and its variations (A). In b. 29, it leads to an episode resembling a renaissance secular song in which the violoncello assumes the role of a lute, while the voice sings Petrarch’s verses in Italian (Example 5). The verses are as follows:

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Solo et pensoso i piú deserti campi vo mesurando a passi tardi et lenti, et gli occhi porto per fuggire intenti ove vestigio human l’arena stampi.

Example 5 – “La vita fugge”, bb. 29–39

The next major section (B) begins in b. 40, with solo electronics, whose main ingredient is a transformed recording of Petrarch’s verses recited, with the addition of percussive effects recorded on the strings and the body of the piano. A similar material appears in b. 107 as well, but now with added chordal mo- tives in the piano part. These two entrances of the electronics frame the episode in which the voice recites Petrarch’s verses, accompanied by the piano and a toy piano whose sound is modified by various effects, mainly delay. The text of this episode is as follows: Benedetto sia ’l giorno, et ’l mese, et l’anno, et la stagione, e ’l tempo, et l’ora, e ’l punto, e ’l bel paese, e ’l loco ov’io fui giunto da’duo begli occhi che legato m’ànno;

et benedetto il primo dolce affanno ch’i’ ebbi ad esser con Amor congiunto,

164 Popović, B.: Svetlana Savić: Soneti “La Douce Nuit” ... (157–172)

et l’arco, et le saette ond’i’ fui punto, et le piaghe che ’nfin al cor mi vanno.

Benedette le voci tante ch’io chiamando il nome de mia donna ò sparte, e i sospiri, et le lagrime, e ’l desio;

et benedette sian tutte le carte ov’io fama l’acquisto, e ’l pensier mio, ch’è sol di lei, sí ch’altra non v’à parte.

The third section of the composition (C) begins in b. 118, arranged for the voice, violoncello, and electronics. It is based on the visual-verbal sonnet “Sveti tamnjan” [“Holy Incense”] by Raša Perić, in Serbian, taken from the collection Srpski sonet [Serbian Sonnets] edited by Časlav Đorđević. The sonnet was writ- ten as follows: )))))))))))))))))))))) (((((((((((((((((((((( )))))))))))))))))))))) iz tamnjana dim

((((((((((((((((((((( ))))))))))))))))))))) ((((((((((((((((((((( ka tebi penuša

)))))))))))))))))))))) (((((((((((((((((((((( oče budi s njim

((((((((((((((((((((( ))))))))))))))))))))) u njemu je duša. The typography suggests the verbal content which is delivered in the com- position by the voice accompanied by the electronics and violoncello, and then, from b. 133 onwards, by the electronics only.

The fourth and last section (A1) is a varied recapitulation of the opening and begins in b. 140. The voice – accompanied by the violoncello imitating a

165 New Sound 43, I/2014 lute, the unobtrusive piano based on the three-bar motive from the introduction, and the electronics – delivers verses by Petrarch: La vita fugge, et non s’arresta una hora, et la morte vien dietro a gran giornate, et le cose presenti et le passate mi dànno guerra, et le future anchora; The sonnet, and thus the entire cycle, ends with an echo of the three-bar motive sounded by the piano at the beginning of “La vita fugge”. Searching for a specific acoustic quality defined and oriented Savić’s com- positional procedure, resulting in a work of a rich, delicate, and elaborate sonor- ity, where an abundance of details and subtle acoustic nuances are put together into a compact system and shrouded in a perpetual sonic aura. The path to such a result led through working with short variant motives, used for weaving a musical network embracing all parts of the ensemble – the electronics as well as the acoustic instrumental parts. Building a musical tissue from a reduced number of musical cells, repetitiveness, and minimal variability, and a firm integration of the electronics and the acoustic instrumental parts, which are in an imitative relationship (their respective materials stem from one another) – contribute to the creation of a solid structure and a kind of binding interdependence of all elements in this musical system. Therefore, a striking feature of all three Sonnets is their delicate blending of the electronics and the sound of acoustic instruments. In the first and second movements, the music material of the violoncello and piano grows out of the electronic layer and its transformations, careful layering, intertwining, alterna- tion, and interaction with the electronics, in search of an appropriate acoustic result, are used to build an ‘organically’ connected, solid music-dramatic entity. In the last sonnet, unlike the previous two pieces, the electronics is not a pre- recorded audio file. Instead, the composer favoured the concept of live, interac- tive electronics, and working with echoes of instrumental motives. Most of the material is written for the acoustic instruments and the electronics becomes their reflection. In that way, a thorough coherence of all materials employed in the composition is achieved. The treatment of the text is also subordinate to the search for a particular acoustic quality. “La Douce Nuit” is a piece with love themes in which the sam- ples – recordings of a spoken interpretation of Baudelaire’s verses woven into the electronics – deliver the verbal content, although they are simultaneously treated as acoustic material processed into the musical tissue. The actors utter the verses in a way that is essentially full of music, which the composer recognized and

166 Popović, B.: Svetlana Savić: Soneti “La Douce Nuit” ... (157–172) made ‘visible’. The textual basis of the composition consists of a great number of sonnets, that is, parts (sentences, words, phrases) of sonnets, chosen not only on account of their semantic qualities, but also their sonority, which makes them a material suitable for music. In the second and third sonnets – “Looking on Dark- ness” and “La vita fugge” – the text is treated more conventionally. It is rendered mostly by the vocal part, although diverse solutions were found in the process of putting it to music – singing, speaking, forming specific structures due to the in- terference with vocal samples coming from the electronic layer. Beside the text, various ambient sounds, such as that of a ‘train’ or birds chirruping – sometimes close to their original forms, sometimes significantly transformed – are mixed and blended into the musical tissue primarily accord- ing to their musical properties. All of the selected and qualitatively diverse acoustic materials – the text (variously treated – spoken, sung, and electronically processed), ambient sounds (samples that constitute the electronic layer of the composition), and the sound of the acoustic instruments – are turned into music by an ‘alchemic’ process and integrated into a compact music-dramatic entity. In his essay “Modernist Painting”, Clement Greenberg said that “what had to be exhibited [in art] was not only that which was unique and irreducible in art in general, but also that which was unique and irreducible in each particular art. Each art had to determine, through its own operations and works, the effects exclusive to itself. By doing so it would, to be sure, narrow its area of compe- tence, but at the same time it would make its possession of that area all the more certain”.2 Greenberg’s ideas on the individual qualities of various art disciplines allow us to interpret Savić’s intense focus on sonority, on sound as the unique property of music as a medium, which is further refined and intensified in the genre of chamber music. Namely, the author listens and puts to music, inserts sounds of diverse origins into her compositions. By carefully choosing her sound particles, based on their acoustic qualities and particulars, and by means of their studious combining, Savić creates complex segments of musical tissue. Although composing this cycle was governed by the modernist principle of focusing on sound and the self-centredness of music, the result is a work full of associations, both musical and extramusical, which also reaches out to other kinds of artistic expression. In the process of inner listening, Savić did not allow her fascination with sound to make her neglect the extramusical content – her attitude towards the extramusical is very active, because she created her ‘libretto’ by carefully choosing and combining segments from various sonnets.

2 Clement Greenberg, “Modernist Painting”, in: Forum Lectures, Washington D.C., Voice of America, 1960.

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Example 6 – “Looking on Darkness”, bb. 94–97 (6a) and 74–78 (6b)

“Silent Night” (6c)

The poetic form at the foundations of this cycle, the sonnet was originally a type of love poem, but its thematic range was later expanded – to religion, poli- tics, nostalgia, various aspects of life. The intimate chamber world of Soneti rests precisely on a stylized contemplation of these subjects – the first sonnet is about love, the second about life (bliss, optimism, liveliness), and the third about tran-

168 Popović, B.: Svetlana Savić: Soneti “La Douce Nuit” ... (157–172) sience, finitude. Although the samples, made of recordings of spoken verses in the electronic layer, are used mainly as sound material for building the musical tissue, the selected segments of various sonnets, even if only a word or two, hint at the subject and direct the listener. And given that the text of Soneti consists of selected and freely combined segments of a large number of poems, it not only represents the concrete extramusical content of the work, but rather, the entire set of texts wherefrom it originates, as well as their entire range of subjects. This shows that Savić’s Soneti are part of a broader artistic space. The entire cycle is permeated by an unassuming network of musical asso- ciations. In the first sonnet, with its love theme, apart from birds chirruping and the ‘train’, there is also an echo of popular music, in the electronic layer’s (b. 95 – see Example 2) constant beat, similar to the drum section of a rock band, as well as music material resembling the habanera from Bizet’s Carmen, in the violoncello part (b. 124 – see Example 3). The title of the first sonnet is “La Douce Nuit” (after a verse from Baudelaire’s sonnet “Recueillement”), which means “silent night”. This is also the title of a famous Christmas carol, whose melody is quoted in the second sonnet, “Looking on Darkness”. Namely, the selected verses by Shakespeare, “Silent thought” and “Sparkling stars” – which resemble the text of the carol, “Silent night, holy night” – are set to its melody. “Silent thought” corresponds to the motive from the fourth bar of the carol and “Sparkling stars” to the one from the third (Example 6). Another well-known melody, attached to the words “thousand errors” and “works expired” in “Looking on Darkness”, is a motive from Handel’s chorus “Hallelujah” from the oratorio Messiah (Example 7). In the last sonnet of the cycle, “La vita fugge”, one hears material written in the spirit of renaissance music (sections “Solo et pensoso” and “La vita fugge”, bb. 29 and 155 – see Example 5) and Serbian Orthodox chant (“Sveti tamnjan”, b. 118 – see Example 8). The appearance of Raša Perić’s visual-verbal sonnet “Sveti tamnjan” intro- duces a visual component to the cycle. Namely, not only are the verses “Iz tam- njana dim / ka tebi penuša, / oče budi s njim, / u njemu je duša” [“Incense smoke / foams up towards you, / father, stay with it, / there is a soul in it”] set to a melody resembling Orthodox chanting, but also, at the same time, the elec- tronics brings material that could be described as an acoustic haze, thus activat- ing visual associations of smoke as well. This is a moment of an intense synergy between the verbal, musical, and visual components of the work, one stacked onto another. The blending of verbal and musical layers occurs already in the first son- net, where the text contains hints of music, provoking acoustic associations:

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Example 7 – “Looking on Darkness”, bb. 181–182 (7a)

Le violon frémit comme un cœur qu’on afflige; Valse mélancolique et langoureux vertige! bruit des carillons Le violon frémit Doux comme les hautbois The entire cycle is coloured by the nostalgic sounds of glockenspiel, music boxes, and toys. Though searching for a certain acoustic quality and treating sound as her primary material, Savić never loses sight of the extramusical content. A peculiar sort of interference between the acoustic and the verbal occurs in her work – the music absorbs the verbal, turning words into sound and sound into words. At times, this ‘alchemic’ process is joined by the visual component as well. Soneti introduces the listener to a mystic, poetic, intimate acoustic world woven together using carefully integrated sound particles. There are no explo- sive dynamic moments in this piece. In fact, even the sections featuring intense development retain intimacy and peace. The culmination of the whole cycle is the moment when the voice sings “u njemu je duša” (“La vita fugge”, b. 133).

170 Popović, B.: Svetlana Savić: Soneti “La Douce Nuit” ... (157–172)

G. F. Handel, “Hallelujah” (7b)

This is not a commonplace climax, where the most prominent point of the musi- cal and dramatic development of the piece is supported by the highest density of musical events combined with the strongest dynamics, in a sort of explosion. This is the strongest point, but solved in its own way. Instead of an explosion, an implosion takes place – a moment of a massive compression with the great- est possible tension. The text “Sveti tamnjan” in b. 118 is rendered by the voice, whose part is modelled after Orthodox chant, with participation of the violon- cello and electronics. This segment already brings a significant dramatic charge, which from b. 133 intensifies even further by leaving the violoncello out and focusing on the solo voice, pure and very discretely shaded by the electronics

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Example 8 – “La vita fugge”, bb. 118–139

(Example 8). The text sung at that moment is “u njemu je duša” [“there is a soul in it”] and, symbolically, this moment is the ‘soul’ of this composition. On the one hand, Soneti is marked by a quest for sound, a modernist fo- cusing of music on its own devices. On the other hand, evoking and remem- bering most diverse musics, reaching out to the verbal and the visual, activate strong associations and show that this work is part of a broader artistic space. It establishes a fine balance between sound, as the material of composition, and meaning, both musical and extramusical, which sound can produce. The verbal, the ambient, the acoustic, even the visual – is turned into music. Svet- lana Savić took her reflections on most diverse subjects, her own thoughts, and transformed them into music: thoughts given a musical form. Therefore, this music – whose treatment of text reminds one of Heiner Goebbels’s Songs of War I Have Seen and the atmosphere of Salvatore Sciarrino’s Vanitas – is dis- tinctly intimate, introspective and delicate, and at the same time quite effective and expressive. It engrosses the audience and requires of them to be fully en- gaged whilst listening. Translated by Goran Kapetanović

172 Man-Ching Yu: Pitch-class Analysis: Some Aspects of IC5 and IC1 Design ... (173–190) ANALYSES

Article received on 11th Jun 2014 Article accepted on 14th Jun 2014 UDC: 786.2.087.5

Man-Ching Yu* The Hong Kong Institute of Education Cultural and Creative Arts Department Musical Arts Division

PITCH-CLASS ANALYSIS: SOME ASPECTS OF IC5 AND IC1 DESIGN IN GYÖRGY LIGETI’S PIANO ÉTUDES

Abstract: This paper investigates pitch-class organization in György Ligeti’s piano Études, focusing on the organizational design of particular interval classes. In the etudes, IC5 and IC1 are generative in constructing materials in different dimensions and at differ- ent surface levels. Additionally, the unfolding of pitch classes initiates ascending and descending circles of fifths, at small-scale and large-scale structural levels alike, illumi- nating the prominence of the fifth in Ligeti’s work, which harks back to the common- practice period. Key words: Ligeti, interval class, pitch class

Ligeti’s diverse musical style underwent various transformations during different periods; each period demonstrates substantive stylistic differentiation, along with his diverse compositional techniques. In particular, it is the textures and harmonic materials in association with particular intervallic structures1 that

* Author contact information: [email protected] 1 For instance, in his early and mature works, he used chromatic elements almost to exhaus- tion. See Miguel A. Roig-Francoli, “Harmonic and Formal Processes in Ligeti’s Net-struc- ture Compositions”, Music Theory Spectrum, 1995, 17, 242–267.

173 New Sound 43, I/2014 affect the resulting sound. The musical style of his earlier period generally re- flects the influence of Bartók and Hungarian folklore.2 His post-1956 music is characterized by dense micropolyphonic webs.3 Besides micropolyphonic tech- niques, Ligeti used chromatic intervallic cells to generate a distinctive harmonic language, dubbed “harmonic net-structure”.4 However, his late, post-1980 works generally feature experimenting with diatonic domains, as he noted that [i]n the late ’50s and early ’60s my music moved within harmonic fields filled out with chromaticism, whereas ten years later I composed diatonic music. I felt that chromaticism had been exhausted: the choice was between going “back” to diatonic music and going “forward” outside the sphere of tempered Music.5 Among his late-period works, his Horn Trio of 1982 is the first piece where Ligeti experimented with his new style.6 In this piece, there is conspicuous use of major and minor harmonies (set class 3-11), reflecting Ligeti’s exploration of triadic sonorities without any reference to the syntax of common-practice tonal- ity. Along with set class 3-11, various diatonic set classes – 3-2 [013], 3-6 [024], 3-7 [025], and 3-11 [037], drawn from the diatonic collection 7-35 [013568A] – may be found in his later works.7 Moreover, Ligeti’s particular applications

2 Among his works, Musica ricercata (1953) and String Quartet No. 1, Métamorphoses noc- turnes (1953–1954) clearly manifest his earlier styles; see Michael D. Searby, Ligeti’s Stylistic Crisis: Transformation in His Music Style, 1974–1985, Lanham, MD, Scarecrow Press, 2010. 3 Micropolyphonic web is a technique adopted by Ligeti whereby numerous independent chromatic lines are intertwined with each other to create chromatic-filled complex sound clusters. It is evident in his large-scale orchestral works, such as Apparitions (1958–59) and Atmosphères (1961); see David Cope, Techniques of the Contemporary Composer, New York, Schirmer Books, 1997. Same here. Ligeti himself mentions tis important innovative concept in György Ligeti in Conversation with Péter Várnai, Josef Häusler, Claude Samuel, and Himself, London, Eulenburg, 1983, 13-82. 4 Harmonic net structure is a continuous web of fine-woven lines in a constant interactive process of transformation of one or more parameters; his Ramification (1968–69) and String Quartet No. 2 (1968) exemplify this technique. Generally speaking, all types of pitch-class transformations exclusively exhibit chromatic properties in Ligeti’s “net-structure” compo- sition, and these include chromatic fluctuation as well as chromatic transformation of har- monic cells and triadic units; see Miguel A. Roig-Francoli, op. cit. 5 György Ligeti, Péter Várnai, Josef Häusler, and Claude Samuel, György Ligeti in Conver- sation with Péter Várnai, Josef Häusler, Claude Samuel and Himself, op. cit., 30–31. 6 Ligeti himself confirmed that this horn trio was the first piece in his new style, belonging to the last period; see István Szigeti, “A Budapest Interview with György Ligeti”, The New Hungarian Quarterly, 1984, 25, 210. 7 See John D. Cuciurean, “Aspects of Harmonic Structure, Voice Leading, and Aesthetic Function in György Ligeti’s in Zart Fliessender Bewegung, Contemporary Music Review, 2012, 31, 225.

174 Man-Ching Yu: Pitch-class Analysis: Some Aspects of IC5 and IC1 Design ... (173–190) of trichordal set classes 3-7 [025]8 and 3-11 [037]9 were regarded as a sort of typical signals10 in his late works, and serve as generative harmonic devices for generating diatonic sound.11 There is emphasis on IC5 already in some of Ligeti’s earlier works. For in- stance, in Hora lunga, the first free transformational ostinati start on C and end on G,12 forming an IC5 framework. Moreover, in his earlier Sonata for solo cello, IC5 likewise plays an equally prominent role, exclusively framing the melodic pitch-class structure of the piece.13 Besides the fact that IC5 plays a structural role in synthesizing various pitch classes, its interaction with IC1 as the bench- marked chromatic element in his earlier works is quite evident: Amy Bauer has observed that in Ligeti’s Musica ricercata No. 11, the subjects are characterized by chromatic scales and their entrances relate to one another according to the cir- cle of fifths.14 Moreover, in Bauer’s own analysis of Ligeti’s Lontano, in Canon I, the perfect fourth and fifth, as ICs5 framing two diatonic segments, become an important signal in the second diatonic section, while chromaticism exclusively dominates the first section. In the second diatonic section, an IC1 spanning a major seventh between E4 and D#5, serves as registral boundary, encompassing all pitches within. Along with Ligeti’s earlier works featuring IC5 and IC1, some of his late works, including the Études, also imply this phenomenon. Clifton Cal-

8 In fact, this particular diatonic set class [025] is pentatonic in nature, but there is no direct evidence that Ligeti was ever influenced by Chinese music. Nonetheless, in an interview he gave to Eckhard Roelcke in 2001, Ligeti spoke of pentatonicism as a feature of Chinese music; see Eckhard Roelcke, Träumen Sie in Farbe? György Ligeti im Gespräch mit Eck- hard Roelcke, Vienna, Paul Zsolnay Verlag, 2003, 89. 9 Structurally speaking, set classes [025] and [037] are both framed by IC5 and this in- terval becomes a generative element for constructing various passages. 10 See György Ligeti et al., op. cit., 29; the original interview was conducted in 1978. Cuciu- rean likewise confirms that sonorities generated from either conjoined 3-7 or 3-11 trichords are subsets or supersets of the diatonic collection 7-35, all of which assume an increasingly prominent role in Ligeti’s so-called final period; see John. D. Cuciurean, op. cit., 226. 11 In Ligeti’s later works, set class 3-11 surfaces as a new Ligeti signal that begins to assume a more prominent role from the mid-1980s onward; see John. D. Cuciurean, op. cit., 225–226. 12 The underpinning of the melodic material with two pitches, C and G, rivalled by F, starts at the beginning of each ostinato figure, forming three tonal centres; see Benjamin Dwyer, “Transformational Ostinati in György Ligeti’s Sonatas for Solo Cello and Solo Viola”, in: Louise Duchesnau and Wolfgang Marx (eds.), György Ligeti: Of Foreign Lands and Strange Sounds, Woodbridge, Boydell Press, 2011, 19–52. 13 The tonality of the transformational ostinati throughout the piece is analogous to the ton- ic-dominant relationship; see Benjamin Dwyer, op. cit. 14 See Amy Bauer, op. cit., 78. The entrances of the subject and countersubject are charac- terized by the following cycle: E#–B#–G–D–A.

175 New Sound 43, I/2014 lender makes an important observation regarding Étude No. 5, Arc-en-ciel: the initial harmonic progression at the beginning of the piece, C+7 → C-7, involves the operation of sliding the upper fifth from {E, B} to {Eb, Bb}.15 Obviously, this results from the interaction between the two IC5 dyads and moving by a half-step (IC1). The next progression, from C-7 to Eb+7 likewise involves an IC5 operation: transposing the lower fifth up by a perfect fifth or moving the lower fifth one step up along the circle of fifths, {C, G} to {G, D}, whilst holding the shared notes {Eb, Bb}. Another Étude, Vertige, is characterized by endlessly descending chromatic lines, but due to their canonic treatment, there are chords involving fluctuation between seven and five semitones. Thus, it is evident that IC516 plays a structural role there as well, even though there is much chromati- cism.17 Moreover, in his Étude Désordre, Ligeti juxtaposes a pentatonic F# col- lection with a diatonic C collection, resulting in a totally chromatic effect.18 As we can see, the work of perfect fifths and semitones is palpable in the Études. Furthermore, no one has investigated in depth the pitch-class organization of IC5 and IC119 in Ligeti’s late works, and it would be worthwhile to examine the organizational design of IC5 in the Études, in particular its interaction with IC1. My current investigation focuses only on the Études, as they constitute an im- portant set of piano works in Ligeti’s late oeuvre;20 they show the wider stylistic changes of the 1980s as well as a more determined independence from the avant-

15 Clifton Callender, “Interaction of the Lamento Motif and Jazz Harmonies in György Ligeti’s Arc-en-ciel”, Intégral, 2007, 21, 1–23. 16 In my earlier paper on Ligeti’s White on White, the results of my analysis suggest that the harmonic materials are exclusively characterized by the consonant interval IC5, contributing to the transformational properties of the piece; see Man-Ching Donald Yu, “Transformations of Diatonic Materials and Tonal Procedures in Ligeti’s Etude No. 15, White on White”, New Sound, 2013, 41, 117–138. 17 See Manfred Stahnke, “The Hamburg Composition Class”, in: Louise Duchesnau and Wolfgang Marx (eds.), op. cit., 223–244. 18 Amy Bauer, op. cit. 19 Recently, interaction between IC5 and IC1 as well as the roles of fifths and semitones have been addressed in the music of Shostakovich and Copland; see Stephen C. Brown, “Ic1/Ic5 Interaction in the Music of Shostakovich”, Music Analysis, 2011, 28/1, 185–220; David Heetderks, “A Tonal Revolution in Fifths and Semitones: Aaron Copland’s Quiet City”, Music Theory Online, 20111, 17/2; and Stanley V. Kleppinger, “Copland’s Fifths and Their Structural Role in the Sonata for Violin and Piano”, Music Theory Online, 2011, 17/2. Focusing on investigating the pitch-class organization of a particular composer’s works seems an interesting topic for theorists. Thus, my research here might provide another way of looking at Ligeti’s music, especially given that no one has thoroughly investigated the organizational use of these particular interval classes in his music. 20 The Études reflect Ligeti’s 40 years of compositional experience; see Richard Steinitz, György Ligeti: Music of the Imagination, Boston, Northeastern University Press, 2003.

176 Man-Ching Yu: Pitch-class Analysis: Some Aspects of IC5 and IC1 Design ... (173–190) garde, whilst retaining a more personal connection with tradition.21 Second, I will also explore the formational role of the diatonic collection in association with tonal procedures predicated on the circle of fifths,22 to show the manner oof organization in which successive pitch-classes unfold. These two issues will be investigated at various levels, ranging from foreground to background levels, as well as vertical and horizontal dimensions, throughout a number of the Études. Additionally, horizontal and diagonal lines (indicating IC5 and IC1) connecting note heads without beams will serve as schematic representation23 of pitch-class organization, delineating the interrelationship between different pitch classes that highlights the importance of IC5 and IC1.

The Interrelationship between IC5 and IC1 in Ligeti’s Earlier Works To begin, Ligeti’s emphasis on IC5 has already been highlighted in his Sketch,24 as shown in Example 1. Ligeti uses four perfect fifths and these par- ticular intervals serve as central arrival points, wherefrom various chromatic dyads unfold. In fact, this simulated unfolding process from IC5 to IC1 and vice versa is easy to discern in one of his earlier works, the Invention for solo piano (1948).

Example 1: Page I of the Sketch for Bewegung, emphasizing perfect fifths

21 Richard Steinitz, op. cit., 2003. 22 Inessa Bazayev has addressed the circle of fifths in Russian non-tonal music, in particular in works by Roslavets and Stravinsky; see Inessa Bazayev, “The Circle of Fifths in Russian Non-tonal Music: A Case Study of Selected Works by Roslavets and Stravinsky”, Dutch Journal of Music Theory, 2013, 18/2, 52–68. 23 Although I use schematic representation, it implies no Schenkerian concepts from the analytical point of view. 24 See John D. Cuciurean, op. cit.

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Example 2: The unfolding and organization of fifths and semitones in Invention (1948)

Example 2 illustrates the unfolding of pitch classes in bb. 1–325 of the In- vention, showing the main subject. The dotted lines indicate semitonal paths, while the solid ones indicate perfect-fifth relationships. In the right hand, the IC1 chromatic dyad with PCs 5/4 {F4, E4} at the beginning unfolds in con- trary motion; the upper-layer F4 ascends chromatically, by four semitones, until it reaches A4; the lower-layer E4 descends chromatically, by three semitones, until it reaches PC1. Subsequently, the initial chromatic dyad transforms into two IC5 dyads with PCs0/7 {C4, G4}, followed by PCs1/8 {C#4, G#4}. The stability of IC5 is continually preserved by PC 4, E4 – the first pitch in the left hand, and PC9, A4 – the final pitch in the right hand in b. 1. On the first beat of b. 2, PC6, F#3 (the left hand) maintains an IC5 link with PC11, B4 (the second beat in the right hand), while two ICs5 continue to maintain PCs 2/7 {D4, G3} and PCs 1/8 {C#4, G#3} in the left hand, each PC unfolds in its own layer, in contrary motion. Consequently, before reaching the final pitch, PC11, B4, two ICs5 conclude the sentence: PC5, F4 in the right hand is juxtaposed with PCs0/10 {C4, A#3} in the left hand. Furthermore, the middle section of the piece reveals an interesting phenomenon: stacked IC5 trichords successively interlinked by IC5 and IC1 across both layers. The first trichord {Eb3, Ab3, Db4} undergoes a T5 transformation into the second trichord {Bb4, Eb5, Ab5}, and then a descending T11 transformation into the third {B3, E4, A5}. The in- terlink between IC5 and IC1 is thus evident and these two intervals later serve as prominent agents in conglomerating the pitch classes in the Études. In one of his other earlier “harmonic net-structure” works, Continuum (1968), IC5 reflects its pitch-class organizational significance during the trans- formational process.26 Materials are transformed either by adding another pitch

25 Again, for the sake legibility, only the note heads are shown and most of the remaining examples here follow the same mode of presentation. 26 “Transformational process” here refers to the concept addressed by Roig-Francoli in

178 Man-Ching Yu: Pitch-class Analysis: Some Aspects of IC5 and IC1 Design ... (173–190)

Example 3: The interlink between IC5 and IC1 in Invention (1948)

class or by means of chromatic inflection. Example 4 illustrates overall transfor- mational processes from Block a through e.27 The music begins with Block a and transforms into a three-note cell (Block b) with the insertion28 of PC5, F4. This cell occurs 41 times, which is more than any of the remaining transformed cells (Blocks c through e). Block b, which constitutes set class [025], is an important diatonic agent that Ligeti emphasizes in his late works. Ligeti preserves this set class in Block c by inserting PC9, A4. This additive procedure is particularly interesting as the chromatic quality of the IC1 between PCs 9 and 10 {A4, Bb4} tends to counterbalance the consonant IC5 between PCs 5 and 10 {F4, Bb4}. In Block d, PC 5, F4 is transformed by chromatic inflection into PC6, F#4, result- ing in two IC1 intervals; however, the chromatic-oriented quality in Block d is further counterbalanced by the addition of PC11 (Cb4) in Block e, forming another IC5 between PCs 6 and 11 {F#4, Cb4}, encompassing three ICs1 inside the five-note cell.

Example 4: IC5 and IC1 serving as intervallic agents

1995: pitch-classes are inserted for displaying intervallic symmetry among different chro- matic cells. 27 Each block represents a repetitive cell throughout the piece and each one is repeated nu- merous times, before transforming into the next block. For the sake of convenience, I have schematically notated each particular repetitive cell for each block, as shown in Example 4. 28 Insertions of additional pitches are marked by arrows, as in Example 4.

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Example 5: The transfor- Example 5 shows a condensed version of the mation of the pentatonic transformation of the trichord [025] (Block b) at a set class [027] larger-scale surface level. The second trichord in Example 5 comprises the pitch classes mutated or added during the course of the transformation from Blocks b to e. In the first trichord, PC10, Bb4 trans- forms into PCs 11 and 9 {Cb4, A4} by contrary motion, whereas PCs 7 and 5 {G4, F4} transform downward and upward into PCs 9 and 6 {A4, F#4}; F4 transforms upward into PC 6. Two different members of SC [027] exhibit four IC1 chromatic inflections by means of contrary motion between different voices. Despite the chromatic transformation, the consonant quality is main- tained by framing IC5 between the top and bottom voices of the two mem- bers. As is evident, Ligeti maintains the consonant stability of IC5 during the “net-structure” transformational process. In some of his late works, IC5 plays substantive generative roles and in the remainder of this paper, I shall focus on some passages from the Études. More often than not, materials at the beginning and end reveal some interesting phenomena.

Interaction between IC5 and IC1 in Ligeti’s Piano Études Having established the interrelationship between IC5 and IC1 in Ligeti’s earlier works, I will turn now to the Études. I will begin by examining the pitch- class organizational role of IC5 and IC1 at the beginning and end of passages drawn from various Études: a rather microscopic surface level will be addressed at first, followed by a discussion of the organizational role of these two inter- vals at a larger-surface level. Example 6a shows the opening thematic material, which is made up of two overlapping SCs, [016] and [015], in the right and left hand, respectively. ICs 5 and 1 form the core of these two set classes as both contain IC1 and IC5. Moreover, four ICs1 dominate the passage: {F4, E4}, {B4, C4}, {E5, F3}, and {F5, E3}. The constant non-linear emergence of ICs 1 is amalgamated with the linear-oriented emergence of ICs 5 across different layers, resulting in the interaction between the linear IC5 motion and the verti- cal IC1 sound, indicated by the diagonal dotted lines in Example 6b. Example 7 shows the opening of Vertige: pitch classes unfold linearly by semitonal shifts, while IC5 serves as registral boundary in both hands in each of the first four bars. In b. 1, PC11, B4 descends by a semitone until it reaches PC4, E4, whereupon the same sequence repeats and most importantly, IC5 between PCs11 and 4 {B4, E4} encompasses all pitch classes within. In b. 2, IC5 con-

180 Man-Ching Yu: Pitch-class Analysis: Some Aspects of IC5 and IC1 Design ... (173–190)

Example 6a: IC1-related SCs Example 6b: IC5 across two [015] and [016] layers

nects different pitch classes linearly: PC3, Eb4 in the lower layer transforms29 into PC10, Bb4 in the upper layer and so forth. In bb. 3 and 4, IC5 continues its overwhelming domination across both layers; however, it takes place vertically. Furthermore, at a larger surface level, in b. 3, the first pitch class, PC10, Bb4 in the right hand is in an IC5 relationship with the final pitch class, PC3, Eb4 in the left hand (all ICs5 are indicated by solid lines). Ligeti’s pervasive use of IC5 and IC1 at the beginning of the passage illustrates the dichotomy between these two intervals – they are both more or less equally represented in each bar. In b. 2, both intervals cross linearly, and thus the interactional process takes place at the same time, but in bb. 3–4, interaction occurs linearly and vertically alike.

Example 7: IC5 network across both chromatic-oriented layers

29 The transformation to which I refer here indicates the linear motion of successive pitch classes.

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In Fem, Ligeti’s use of IC5 and IC1 is highly visible, as shown in Exam- ple 8. The roles of the two intervals highlight their significance by means of saturating both linear and vertical relationships between two layers right at the beginning of the piece. First, both layers are saturated with IC5 dyads and this highlights its intervallic prominence. Second, the importance of IC5 (indicated by the solid lines) is manifested by linear motion and simultaneous juxtaposi- tions between the IC5 dyads both within each individual layer and between them. In b. 1, the perfect-fifth dyads {Bb, F} and {Ab, Eb} in the upper layer form an IC5 link with the IC5 {Eb, Bb} in the lower layer, proceeding by T7 and T5, respectively. Another T5 relationship is juxtaposed simultaneously be- tween IC5 {Ab, Eb} in the upper layer and IC5 {Db, Ab} in the lower layer in the same bar; a successive T5 transformation appears from {Db, Ab} to {Gb, Db}, as well as from {B, F#} and {E, B} in b. 2. In the same bar, {Bb, F} in the upper layer descends by T5 to {F, C}, despite the insertion of {Ab, Eb} in between. Along with IC5, IC1 is also amply represented in the interrelationship (indicated by the dotted lines) between individual dyads: in the lower layer, in b. 1, D5 and C5 form IC1 links with Db5, whilst moving in opposite directions, unfolding symmetrically to Db5. In b. 1, both the last {Eb, Bb} and the first dyad {Bb, F} form linear IC1 links with the second dyad {E, B} in b. 2. Like- wise in the lower layer, {Bb, F} is juxtaposed with {B, F#} in an IC1 relation- ship. Thus, in the first two bars of this Étude, Ligeti establishes the prominence of IC5 and IC1 by means of linear motion within and across layers, as well as by simultaneously juxtaposing them across individual layers.

Example 8: The interrelationship of IC5 and IC1 across both layers

Examples 9a and 9b reflect the large-scale organizational IC5 and IC1 relationship between fifth-oriented dyads in the final section of Étude 16, Molto vi vace. In the example below, all of the dyads are accented points in the passage and each is followed by a series of pitches. In Example 9a, the first, {A, D},

182 Man-Ching Yu: Pitch-class Analysis: Some Aspects of IC5 and IC1 Design ... (173–190)

Example 9a: Large-scale organizational Example 9b: Large-scale organizational IC5 and IC1 linkage between successive IC1 interrelationship between the first dyads three dyads and the last dyad

moves down by T730 to become {G, D}, which is then followed by another T7 to {C, G}. These three dyads exhibit three procedures stemming from the cir- cle of fifths: A5–D5–G4–C4.31 The fifth dyad, {C, G}, is transposed up a per- fect fourth, into {F, C}. Thus, IC5 relationships between these successive dyads are made apparent by descending T7 and ascending T5 transformations. On the other hand, the third dyad, {C, G}, transforms by an ascending T11 into {B, F#}, followed by another fifth-dyad, {C, G}, up a T1. Example 9b reveals another interesting phenomenon articulating the importance of IC1: those ICs1 are inter- linked over a larger span with the final dyad {Db, Ab}; the first, second, third, and fifth dyads are respectively transformed by descending T1, ascending T13, and descending T1,32 ascending T13, and ascending T1. Thus, the prominent ca- dential role of the final dyad {Ab, Db} is interrelated with four different dyads emerging earlier, which illuminates the importance of Ab5, related to the em- phatic PC7 at the beginning of the Allegro vivace section. Here, the importance of IC1 is reflected at a larger-scale level, in which the emphasized pitches are interrelated, highlighting the interrelationship between different pitch centres in different sections (Example 10). A similar instance in Automne à Varsovie likewise features a large-scale organizational event involving IC5 and IC1 operations. Example 11 shows pro- longed pitch classes that arise during the course of the piece.33 Despite the fact that PC3 signals the beginning in b. 9 and marks the end of the piece in b. 98;

30 Here I use ordered pitch-class intervals for addressing transposition in order to highlight the diversity of IC1 transformations. 31 This particular circle-of-fifths issue is even more pronounced in other passages, which are discussed below, in the second section of the paper. 32 Here, the transformation is not induced by equivalent mapping (see Joseph N. Straus, In- troduction to Post-tonal Theory, Upper Saddle River, NJ, Prentice Hall, 2005); G4 is trans- formed by an ascending T13 into Ab5 and D5 is transformed by a descending T1 into Db4. 33 Although in the actual piece the repeated pitch classes more often appear in octave dou- blings, I have reduced them to a single pitch class each. In addition, the duration of the structural notes more or less shows the comparative length of each pitch class.

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Example 10: IC1 linkage with the accented pitch class, Ab6

Example 11: A large-scale organizational event involving IC5 and IC1 operations as prolonged pitch centres

however, the two PCs3 are in an octave relationship. In b. 9, it transforms into PC2 by an IC1, adding a PC7 a fifth below, thus emphasizing two pitch classes in an IC5 relationship. In b. 15, PC8 is reinforced, forming an IC1 and IC5 re- lationship with PC7 and PC3, respectively. In bb. 1–15, those octave-oriented prolonged pitch classes are interrelated by the same two contrasting intervals, reflecting their significance in governing the background structural level of the piece. In bb. 21–25, the pitch classes are no longer octave-oriented until arriving at PC1 in b. 26. Although IC1 semitonal motion is prominent in governing the pitch centre, the first pitch class in this passage, PC10, is interlinked by IC5 with the opening pitch class of the piece, PC3 in b. 1; the fourth pitch class of the piece, PC1 is interlinked by IC5 with the fourth pitch class in b. 15, PC8. The mapping of the prolonged pitch classes in each section manifests the significance of IC5 and IC1 in each section. In bb. 34 and 45, a pair of IC5-oriented pitch classes, PC9 and PC4, emerges, and the pair is inflected by a semitone, generating PC8 in b. 87 and PC3 in b. 98, again forming a pair of IC5-oriented pitch classes. The prominence of IC5 and IC1 also reflects their organizational significance with regards to chordal material. In the second movement of White on White, the final chord clearly manifests the superimposition of two IC5-oriented chords in an IC1 relationship (Example 12). The right hand contains a trichord consisting of two stacked perfect fifths, PCs1/6 {C#6, F#5} and PCs1/8 {C#6, G#6}, generat- ing substantial dissonance with the trichord in the left hand, likewise comprising

184 Man-Ching Yu: Pitch-class Analysis: Some Aspects of IC5 and IC1 Design ... (173–190)

Example 12: Example 13: Example 14: An IC1 superimposition An IC1 transformation Simultaneous interaction of a chordal IC5 involving two chords of IC1 and IC5

two stacked perfect fifths, with PCs7/2 {G2, D3} and PCs2/9 {D3 ,A3}. Another IC1, between PC7 (G2, the lowest pitch class) and PC8 (G#5, the highest pitch class) reinforces interaction between the two contrasting intervals. At the end of Étude 12, Entrelacs, in b. 90, IC1 transformations cross be- tween two IC5-oriented chords, as illustrated in Example 13. There are six in- stances of IC1 motion between different voices in different layers (indicated by arrows). In particular, B3, in the first chord, transforms doubly and symmetri- cally into PC0, C4 and PC11, Bb2; likewise, PC4, E3 undergoes a similar sym- metrical transformation into PC5, F3 and PC3, Eb2. These massive instances of linear IC1 motion occur between two IC5-oriented chords, revealing the em- phatic roles of these two intervals, albeit in different dimensions. Example 14 shows the last bar of Étude 11, En Suspens, illustrating another instance of in- teraction between IC5 and IC1 involving two stacked fifth chords. In this case, two different intervals move simultaneously: three instances of IC1 motion (dotted lines) in the upper layer and two instances of IC5 motion (solid arrows) in the lower layer. Judging from the examples above, Ligeti’s use of IC5 along with IC1 appears to serve as an important benchmarking signal at the beginning and end of each piece.

IC1 and the Circle of Fifths In addition to the prominence of IC5 and IC1 at various levels in the ex- amples above, a number of the Études also feature the unfolding of the circle of fifths, at various structural levels. Often, a pitch class successively trans- forms into the next one by an IC5 in an organizational pattern and sometimes

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Example 15: The insertion of semitone-inflected pitch classes outlining a descending circle of fifths in Capriccio No. 1

a chromatic-inflected pitch class governs the procedure. As a matter of fact, Ligeti used this procedure as early as the 1947 Capriccio No. 1, but in terms of compositional strategy, it becomes more interesting in the Études. Example 15 shows bb. 1–8 from the Capriccio. The solid arrows indicate a descending circle of fifths: F4, right at the beginning, initiates a descending circle of fifths, connecting to Bb4 in b. 1, proceeding to Eb4 in b. 2, and then on to Ab5 (b. 4), Db4 (b. 4), Gb4 (m. 4), Cb5 (b. 5), Fb4 (b. 5), A4 (b. 6), D5 (b. 8), G4 (b. 8), and finally C5 (b. 8), completing the cycle. It is noteworthy that all pitch classes in the passage emerge there for the first time, emphasizing the significance of their roles. Furthermore, their occurrences are triggered by semi- tonal inflections (Bb4 to B4 in bb. 1–2, Cb5 to C5 in b. 6, Gb4 to G4 in bb. 7–8), an ascending T11 (A4 to Ab5 in bb. 6–7), descending T13 transpositions (D5 to Db4 in bb. 4–5, G5 to Gb4 in b. 5, F5 to Fb4 in bb. 5–6), and an ascending T13 (Db4 to D5 in bb. 7–8), all of which contributes to the operation of IC1. Thus, in this early instance, Ligeti’s use of the circle of fifths is evident, contributing to the operation of IC5, while the initial occurrences of those particular pitch classes are in turn initiated by the operation of IC1. Thus, in this instance, Ligeti’s music features an intriguing network of intertwined operations of IC5 and IC1, which distinctly marks the pitch-class formation at the beginning of the piece. Example 16 illustrates the large-scale transformational processes of Ligeti’s Canon Étude, showing only the upper layer.34 The music begins with stacked diatonic fifths and pitch classes that gradually keep going “flat” are inserted in patterns drawn from the circle of fifths – F, Bb, Eb, Ab, Db, and Gb – exhaust- ing the entire pentatonic collection on PC6. On the other hand, other pitches are transformed by “sharps” and likewise placed into patterns drawn from the circle

34 In the absence of bar lines, the rhythm is not indicated and in each layer, as shown in Example 6, pitch classes are presented as they occur in chronological order at a large-scale surface level. The emergence of the “flat-dominated” pitch classes is independent from the “sharp-dominated’ pitch classes during the course of the piece.

186 Man-Ching Yu: Pitch-class Analysis: Some Aspects of IC5 and IC1 Design ... (173–190)

Example 16: Large-scale transfor- of fifths – B, F#, C#, G#, D#, A# – gradually mational processes in Canon along exhausting the entire pentatonic collection. the circle of fifths, with semitonal Both collections contain the same pitch- networks spanning across both lay- classes, but their transformational processes ers in various dimensions are mutually inverted, as the “sharpening” circle of fifths starting on F# progresses up- ward while the “flattening” circle of fifths starting on Bb progresses downward. The dyads that trigger the transformational proc- esses are in a semitonal relationship with each other and this initial IC1 relationship provides substantial contrast to the IC5-ori- ented large-scale transformational processes that occur during the course of the piece. More importantly, a large number of chro- matic inflectional IC1 relationships occur between pitch classes belonging to dif- ferent layers; even more importantly, both they and those pertaining to the circle of fifths occur the same number of times – nine. Viewed from a large-scale sur- face perspective, this strongly contributes to the unity of pitch-class organization in this piece. The IC5-IC1 network below suggests a large-scale link between the two contrasting intervals. This large-scale relationship between IC5 and IC1 may be viewed at the foreground level at the beginning of Étude 2, Cordes à vide, which is addressed below. Another instance of interaction between IC5 and IC1 that also includes the circle of fifths is shown in Example 17 below. Right at the beginning of Cordes à vide,35 Ligeti focuses solely on the circle of fifths; PC9, A5 initiates the procedure in the upper layer, while subsequent pitch classes outline a de- scending circle of fifths at the lower layer through the lowest pitch class, PC11, Cb1 in b. 2, completing the cycle with PC4, E5 back in the upper layer, i.e. A→D→G→C→F→Bb→Eb→Ab→Db→Gb→Cb→E36 (indicated by arrows). Saturated with the IC5 procedure, upper voices feature semitonal shifts in the upper layer: A5→Bb5→B5 and D5→Eb5→E5 (indicated with dotted lines), re- sulting in a horizontalized linear interaction between the two domains. Moreo-

35 The piece is constructed on a succession of perfect fifths, but they sometimes occur si- multaneously, sounding like open strings on a violin; see Richard Steinitz, op. cit., 286. 36 Note that between F and Bb and Cb and E, the pattern of descending perfect fifths breaks due to registral transfer; however, the circle of fifths is still there in the domain of pitch classes, disregarding the register of each pitch class, as different pitches are still connected by IC5.

187 New Sound 43, I/2014

Example 17: Interactions between the circle of fifths and IC1 across layers

Example 18: ver, IC1 emerges between the fifth and sixth pitch Pitch-class planning along class, A5 and D5 in the upper layer, and between the circle of fifths the third and fourth pitch class, Bb2 and Eb2 in the lower layer, generated by verticality rather than linearity. The dominance of IC5 verticality emerges between the seventh and eighth pitch class, Bb5 and Eb5 in the upper layer as well as between the fourth and fifth pitch class, Eb2 and Bb4 in the lower layer. Both intervals occur the same number of times, reflecting a balanced utili- zation and interaction of IC5 and IC1. These two intervals serve as prominent intervallic agents for synthesizing the pitch-class formation right at the beginning. Ligeti’s use of the circle of fifths may be found in different diatonic ter- ritories. Example 18 shows the opening of En Suspens. The pitch-class organi- zation between two layers is characterized by two different diatonic territories: the upper layer exhibits a black-note pentatonic scale on Gb, whereas the lower layer exhibits a white-note pentatonic scale on C. Ligeti juxtaposes two differ- ent sets of pentatonic materials, placing them in a semitonal IC1 relationship, as shown in Example 18. This chromatic relationship between the two pentatonic sets highlights the interaction between IC5 and IC1. The pentatonic set class [0257] in the lower layer stems from a descending circle-of-fifths sequence, B→E→A→D, while the upper layer stems from an ascending circle of fifths sequence, Db→Ab→Eb→Bb, and their formational processes are headed in op- posite directions. Ligeti establishes the pitch material of the piece right at the beginning by means of two different members of the pentatonic set class [0257], reflecting his strategic planning and emphasis on the perfect fifth in each layer. Moreover, there is interaction between the perfect fifth and IC1, as shown in

188 Man-Ching Yu: Pitch-class Analysis: Some Aspects of IC5 and IC1 Design ... (173–190)

Example 19a: A network of IC1 inter- Example 19b: Interaction of ICs5 and actions between two pentatonic set 1 in vertical configuration classes

Example 19a. In the example, the dotted lines indicate that IC1 is generated by means of juxtaposing each individual pitch in each layer, whereas the solid lines indicate that the IC1 emerging from the succession of pitches is not reinforced simultaneously but rather cross linearly. The massive IC1 network counterbal- ances the perfect fifth, as shown in Example 19b. Example 20 shows the opening of the central section, Allegro vivace, in Pour Irina. An ascending circle of fifths originates from Eb4 in an IC5 dyad {Eb, Bb}, proceeding both vertically and linearly (indicated by arrows) through the final B4. Thus, this circle of fifths procedure strongly links the four IC5 dyads, reflecting the double prominence of IC5. Moreover, aggregating all the pitch classes that stem from the circle of fifths generates a chromatic segment with set class [01235678T]; with the absence of G4, two chromatic groups (SC [0123]) may be formed by splitting the initial set class in two identical SCs. Subsequently, PC7 plays a central role in delineating the structure of the piece: in Allegro vivace, it emerges as the first pitch class and then again, after the first and fifth dyads. Furthermore, it forms an IC1 link with the accented PC Ab6, emphasized at the end of the piece, as I mentioned previously (Example 11). The passage features both linear and vertical interactions between IC5 and IC1. Linear ICs5 occur between Bb4 and F4, C5 and G4, D4 and A4, and E4 and B4, while linear ICs1 occur between Eb4 and D4, Eb4 and E4, and F4 and E4 at the lower pitch class of the IC5 dyad and another IC1 occurs between Bb4/A4 and C5/B4 at the upper pitch class of the IC5 dyad. Thus, interaction between the two intervals takes place at different rates: the ICs5 along the circle of fifths occur faster than do the ICs1 between the pitch classes mentioned above. Judging from the analysis and observations above, Ligeti’s Études feature a systematic IC5 and IC1 design; more often than not, IC5 pervades the open-

189 New Sound 43, I/2014

Example 20: Circle-of-fifths interlinks between IC5 dyads with chromatic motions

ing of a piece, blending with IC1 semitonal shifts and chromatic inflections for highlighting the contrasting quality of these two intervals. Moreover, these two intervals dominate a number of passages in various dimensions and surface levels, ranging from linear to vertical dimensions and small-scale to large-scale surface levels. Furthermore, IC5 is deployed along ascending and descending circles of fifths and this blends with IC1 and chromatic segments, to manifest the distinctive pitch-class organization of those passages – the link between IC5 and IC1. Although these phenomena are confined to the passages discussed above, one might infer that Ligeti’s use of IC5 reflects his preference for conso- nant intervallic structures for the sake of departing from the sound of his earlier works; however, he preserves the most dissonant interval, IC1, from his earlier styles, serving as an agent for compromising the purity of the consonant IC5 in order to forge his multifaceted musical language. But one might ask, why did Ligeti tend to emphasize IC5 in his music? Perhaps because he wanted to dissociate himself from the chromatic sound of his earlier chromatic-oriented works. Moreover, it is the most consonant interval in the diatonic collection; the diatonic collection 7-35 [013569A] has the interval class vector [254361], in which IC5 occurs the maximum number of times and thus it is hardly sur- prising that IC5 plays such a central and generative role in some of his diatonic works that deserve our attention. Third, IC5 is the third consonant interval37 in the harmonic series; Ligeti’s use of harmonic overtones is quite apparent in some of his works. It is possible that Ligeti takes advantage of this consonant interval for organizing the pitch material of his late diatonic works. Last, but not least, the appearance of the circle of fifths in Ligeti’s music reflects his reference to the fifth relationship from the common-practice period, serving as a distinct way to organize pitch classes and refine his personal style by interacting and intermix- ing with chromatic elements.

37 Here I specifically regard IC5 as the perfect 4th , but not the perfect 5th in the harmonic series due to the ascending order of the series.

190 FESTIVALS AND SYMPOSIA

Article received on 9th Jun 2014 ‘steps’ into the unusual and ‘dives’ into the Article accepted on 18th Jun 2014 bizarre is another question and both choices UDC: 78.091.4(497.11)"2013"(049.32) confronted the festival audience with a de- lightful intellectual game. Where is the in- Zorica Premate* dividual aesthetic-empiric threshold situ- ated when something becomes unusual or bizarre? The 22nd International Review of At any rate, the six festival concerts, Composers organized by performing apparatuses i.e. (Belgrade, 7–11 November 2013) ensembles, provided ample opportunities for such measuring and relating of the eclectic and the traditional, the ordinary For several years now, the Compos- and the uncommon, the strange and the bi- ers’ Association of Serbia and Ivan zarre. Apart from the 4Saxess, an excellent Brkljačić, the programme selector of the Slovenian saxophone quartet, the stage was International Review of Composers, have occupied by exquisite Serbian ensembles organized the festival around particular dedicated to contemporary music: the LP topics. Thus, recent editions of the festival Piano Duo, the Construction Site Ensem- have been inspired by music miniatures, ble, the Taurus Guitar Duo, the Accordion the ‘spatiality’ of music, music theatre, Ensemble, and the Studio 6 Contemporary vocal pieces, the promotion of new ensem- Music Collective. bles for contemporary music, and, in 2013, Over the past ten years or so, the In- by a “Step into the Unusual”, which was ternational Review of Composers has the motto of the 22nd International Review gained and expanded its audience, who of Composers held in Belgrade between 7 and 11 November 2013. once again filled the Hall of the National Lately (and after all that the 20th and Bank of Serbia, the festival’s home venue early 21st century brought on), the issue of secured by courtesy of the host, as well as the ‘unusual’ has in fact intensified into the the newly acquired spaces of the Studio 6 ‘bizarre’, and this ‘bizarreness’ has been at Radio Belgrade and the Americana Hall measured against the experiences and tra- at the Belgrade Youth Centre. Obviously, dition of our local setting. Whether one the concert-going audience follow the Re- view in ever increasing numbers and are ∗ Author contact information: premate@gmail. interested both in contemporary domestic com achievements and global stylistic and per-

191 New Sound 43, I/2014 forming trends. At the 22nd International (at Radio Belgrade’s Studio 6), who on this Review of Composers, a total of 50 works occasion included not only strings, a flute were performed: 28 by domestic authors and clarinet, but also a recorder, performed and 22 by authors from Hungary, the Neth- by Karolina Bäter as a guest. The pro- erlands, the United States, Colombia, Den- gramme included works for a standard mark, the United Kingdom, Japan, Slove- string quartet (Face 12 & 18 by Ionel Petroi nia, FYR Macedonia, Spain, Italy, Turkey, from Serbia/France), string trio (String Trio Ukraine, and Greece. by Hikari Kiyama from Japan; Danze rus- The bizarria began right on the open- tiche, Op. 214, by Dejan Despić from Ser- ing night (at the Belgrade Youth Centre), bia), as well as clarinet and violoncello with a concert that was one of the festival (Four Pieces that Could Not Look Any pinnacles: popular keyboard ensemble LP Other Way by Miloš Zatkalik from Serbia), Duo with a programme for analogue syn- flute, clarinet, violin, and viola (Son-Barva thesizers! The pop music of the 1970s and by Ana Korsun from Ukraine), flute and 1980s resonated once more through its double bass (Diva by Stanislava Gajić from original instruments (how did they ever Serbia), recorder solo (Soliloquy V by find and restore them for the concert?!), Thomas Simaku from Albania / United this time in a postmodern, post-minimalist, Kingdom), and Groove 1217 by Bill Doer- and cross-over guise. The interrelating of rfeld from the United States. Surprisingly, these stylistic traits resounded with a pro- it was the classical string trio and string nounced pop-nostalgia in the works by the quartet that eventually sounded the most Dutch authors (Huba de Graaf, Chiel Mei- bizarre: through wanton playing with poly- jering), post-minimalism (Kim Helweg tonality and folk melodic-rhythmic patterns from Denmark and Marc Melits from the in Ionel Petroi’s piece and through otaku, United States), postmodernism (the non- i.e. ‘estranged music’, in composition by descript Colombian Antonio Correa; a bril- Hikari Kiyama, who made the instruments liant authorial couple from Serbia, Vladi- growl, grumble, squeal, and roar in the mir Pejković and Božidar Obradinović), tempi of hysteric urban life. Yet such a set- and eclecticism (Ivan Božičević, educated ting led to another radical twist, whereby in Belgrade, now living in Croatia). The the neoclassical work by the doyen Dejan bizarreness of this concert was completed Despić sounded utterly bizarre next to the by a performance of Hungarian Rock and other works performed that night, as their Continuum – Ligeti’s works from the 1960s traditional poetical ‘negative’. Also, by its and 1970s – but in an arrangement for ana- carefully calibrated timbres and delicate logue synthesizers instead on a harpsi- textures, Ukrainian Ana Korsun’s piece left chord. Thus, in the nostalgic aura of post- a very favourable impression as a lyrical modernist dealing with musical odds and ‘stepping out’. ends, a strange encounter occurred between The third festival evening (at the Hall two historical peers: Ligeti’s music and of the National Bank of Serbia) featured rock analogue keyboards. the 4Saxess quartet from Slovenia with the The second concert featured the agile task of gathering authors from the former Construction Site Ensemble for New Music Yugoslav republics: Igor Lunder and Nenad

192 Festivals and Symposia

Firšt from Slovenia, Jana Andreevska and contemporary view of Bartók’s folk ar- Pande Šahov from FYR Macedonia, and rangements for two violins (Imajući Bar- Vladimir Tošić, Ivan Brkljačić, and Ante toka na umu [With Bartók in Mind]). Also, Grgin from Serbia. The most favourable Anica Sabo (Nasmeh v slovarju [A Smile in impression was made by Jana Andreevska’s the Dictionary]) stepped into instrumental Am I a Falcon, a Storm, a refined and sub- music theatre (having the violist play and tle setting of Rilke’s poetry, and by Ivan recite verses by Slovenian poets), while Brkljačić’s concise and witty Četiri tem- Dragana Jovanović in her gossamer and peramenta [Four Temperaments]. Vladimir semi-ironic way ‘fused’ the artistic and pop Tošić made a new adaptation of his mini- genres in Prelude No. 1, a miniature for malist opus Altus, Nenad Firšt wrote some two guitars. Pulsar, an ambient-program- serious post-avant-garde music under the matic piece for two guitars by Đorđe title of Hip, and Pande Šahov described a Marković, was every bit true to its title – its few personal poetic impressions from the musical tissue pulsated, expanded and de- United Kingdom in a picturesque, exten- flated again, while Danse burlesque by the sive, and academically narcissistic score. Canadian Daniel Mehdizadeh, written for Some of the authors (Igor Lunder, an ex- two guitars, presented a witty, contempo- cerpt from his Pre-Jazz Trilogy, and Ante rary, sarcastic, and satiric view of folklore. Grgin, Sonata for Saxophone and Piano) The remaining authors that night (Mirjana succumbed to the habit of writing the com- Živković and Jelena Dabić) fell in line with monplace kind of music that everyone first their own eclectic poetical procedures with- thinks of when it comes to the saxophone. out apparently ‘stepping out’. Thus, we also heard eclectic para-academic The accordion concert was also one of reminiscences of jazz, which was hardly ‘a this year’s Review’s high points, because it step into the unusual’. most strikingly showed the difference be- Works for small chamber ensembles tween ‘typicality’, ‘stepping out’, and ‘bi- were presented at two concerts (on 10 No- zarreness’. Namely, as composers often vember), the first of which was mostly regard the accordion as a diminished, un- dedicated to the sound of guitar(s) and the derdeveloped relative of the organ, they second to that of accordion(s). Both con- strive, when composing for the accordion certs featured pieces experimenting with (or groups of accordions), to match the or- sound, compositional techniques, and play- gan’s breadth and intensity of sound, its ing, thus pertaining to the festival motto – a timbre and broad range of registers. Natu- ‘step into the unusual’. At the first concert, rally, some domestic authors also resort to Agustin Castilla-Avila from Spain used folk motives, which are also part of this three prepared guitars in his Caged Music eclectic world of the accordion as a ‘lesser II & III, a piece of subtle nuances at the being’ in the world of instruments. This threshold of audibility; Tatjana Milošević would apply to the pieces by Jasna examined the strictness of the chosen com- Veljanović-Ranković (Fantazija [Fan- positional systems and their distribution tasy]), Matija Anđelković (Mrtva priroda between two violas (Vice versa); while Jo- [Still Life]), Ljubomir Nikolić (Balkanski vanka Trbojević (Serbia/Finland) took a motivi [Balkan Motives]), and even Draško

193 New Sound 43, I/2014

Adžić (Die Drehorgel), whose work was original baroque melodies ‘glowing’ or the most original in this group. A com- ‘stepping out’ only at the very end. Branka pletely different attitude was assumed by Popović took interest in linear and circular Sonja Mutić, who explored the accordion schematics, i.e. drones, ostinatos, and pul- as an autochthonous instrument and found sations of musical particles, which repre- inspiration in making the bellows ‘breathe’ sented these shapes in sound (Lines & Cir- and the keys ‘whisper’ by pressing them cles for recorder, trumpet, harp, and tape). lightly, as did the Italian Ada Gentile, with The works by Nickos Harizanos from her subtle and unpretentious correlations Greece (Echo, Op. 34), Božo Banović (Ne with the blues in Blue andante, whereas suviše blistavo more [Not an Overly Glit- similar experiments with the instrument’s tering Sea]), and Svetlana Maksimović sound could be heard in Soluk/suz by Mes- (Seni prethodnika [The Shadows of Prede- ruh Savaş from Turkey. cessors]), each in its own eclectic way, ex- This year’s International Review of plored chosen fragments from the history Composers was closed by a concert of the of musical styles: avant-garde sonority, the Studio 6 Ensemble on 11 November, whose discourse of Ravel and Poulenc, and post- ‘common denominator’ was the recorder in impressionism, respectively. The most suc- the hands of the German virtuoso Karolina cessful was Jasna Veličković’s composition Bäter. Their programme was also suffi- Kiseonik [Oxygen] for recorder, trumpet, ciently diverse, and its unblemished jewel keyboard, harp, and accordion, with plenty of ‘bizarreness’ was Paragraph 6 for a of brilliant instrument preparing, which chamber ensemble by Cornelius Cardew, a yielded bizarre and witty acoustic results. British avant-gardist from the last century. Her excellent treatment of musical time Confronted with such original bizarreness and expert post-minimalist reduction of from the historical avant-garde, one cer- material and compositional-technical pro- tainly must review one’s notions of the or- cedures resulted in a global arc form and an dinary, extraordinary, and bizarre. There exciting, even moving conclusion. was a reason for ending the festival with In a country where performances of this piece: it was a small ironic bow from domestic symphonic works (from whatever the programme selector who, after 50 or so time period) can be counted on the fingers contemporary works, finally presented us of one hand and where not a single official with a work that was both ‘the most con- institution commissions new pieces of ar- temporary’ and oldest. The Review’s clos- tistic music, it is vitally important that our ing evening also featured Trigonometrija only international chamber festival of con- [Trigonometry], Bojan Barić’s ambientally temporary music has had another success- conceived, luminous, and cheerful piece ful edition. This new branding of the Inter- for recorder, oboe, trumpet, and tape, as national Review of Composers as a “Step well as While Ripples Enlace for recorder into the Unusual” was rewarding, in spite and tape by the Japanese Kotoka Suzuki, of almost total negligence by those institu- who, over the gentle course of her piece tions of Serbia and Belgrade that proudly inspired by Telemann’s music, created am- display the word ‘culture’ in their names. bient sounds of water, with quotations of

194 Festivals and Symposia

Article received on 10th Jun 2014 made Clarinets). Accordingly, the main Article accepted on 14th Jun 2014 topics of the Symposium were “Wind In- UDC: 785:005.745(430)"2014"(049.32) struments in Regional Cultures” and “The Social Significance of Instrumental Music Practice”. As usual, the programme com- Danka Lajić-Mihajlović mittee encouraged the presentation of new Institute of Musicology SASA research strategies as well. The thematic orientation of this Study Group (on folk in- struments, unlike the ICTM’s Regional Study Groups) enabled a truly diversified The Player, the Instrument, and international assembly, comprising this Music in Society: time participants from more than 20 coun- The 19th Symposium of the ICTM tries. Unfortunately, there were far fewer Study Group on Folk Musical participants than planned – many of them Instruments1 had to cancel their participation at the last moment, mostly for financial reasons. In that context, we consider the Organizing Committee’s encouragement and support Following its usual, biennial pace, the of the Serbian delegation a gesture of spe- International Council for Traditional Music cial respect and a compliment to Serbian (ICTM) Study Group on Folk Musical In- ethnomusicology. When one considers not struments assembled this year for the 19th only the number of participating countries, time. The Symposium took place in Bam- but also the diversity of instrumental music berg, Germany (20–23 March), on the ini- traditions that formed the focus of the sym- tiative of our colleagues there who wanted posium (by fieldwork location), one real- to help the Study Group by hosting it at a izes the complexity of the network of infor- time of economic hardship and the inability mation presented at the Symposium. of many countries to perform that role. A The Symposium was organized in special symbolic value was added to the seven successive sessions. There were two symposium by their choice of venue, the panels, at the opening and closing of the concert hall of the renowned clarinet mak- symposium, respectively. Our Austrian col- ers, Schwenk & Seggelke Werkstätte für In- leagues (D. Mayrlechner, M. T. Stickler, novativen Klarinettenbau (Schwenk & M. Riedl, and R. Pietsch) used the Edler- Seggelke Workshop for Innovative Hand- Trio, a Styrian musical group that enjoyed much success in the years immediately 1 This study appears as an outcome of a research project Identities of Serbian music from a local after the World War II, as a cultural-histor- to global framework: traditions, transitions, ical example and experience, as well as a challenges, no. 177004, of the Institute of starting point for wider reflections. They Musicology SASA, founded by the Ministry of highlighted the changes that performing on Education, Science, and Technological Devel- the contemporary scene brought to the so- opment of the Republic of Serbia. cial status of these village musicians, spe- Author contact information: cific solutions related to the usual functions [email protected]

195 New Sound 43, I/2014 of their instruments (in concrete terms, the sound sources for marketing purposes opposition between the melodic and ac- (problematized by R. Fujita). Some pre- companying/bass instruments), based on senters also focused on the relations of the each musician’s inventiveness, as well as aesthetics of instrumental sound and its the impact of their repertoire and style, cultural environment (G. Jähnichen, A. F. ranging from folk music to music industry. Aydin) and on the peculiar stylistic features The closing panel was prepared by an in- of extremely individual musicians and their terdisciplinary team of ethnomusicologists innovativeness with respect to tradition (M. and an anthropologist from Serbia (M. Aho, Ş. Sençerman). This time, too, the re- Zakić, D. Lajić Mihajlović and M. Lukić vitalization of folk music, in this case in- Krstanović), focusing on festivals as a typ- strumental music, was once again the topic ical contemporary context for public per- of several papers, directly or indirectly, in formances of folk music. The Dragačevo terms of discussing the changes in the posi- Assembly of Trumpet Players in Guča, Ser- tioning of individual musical instruments bia, was used to problematize the reshaping in given cultures (S. Moreno Fernández, of traditional folk music to fit the demands M. Aho, C. Meinel, L. Surmanidze, V. Po- of the contemporary scene, music industry, lubinska). Some of the speakers also pre- and cultural policy under the auspices of sented the possibilities of reading the iden- official competition and revue events alike, tity of a in light of as well as the relationship of music, the historical data regarding its presence in a musicians, consumers, media, and the mar- specific area (C. P. Meddegoda, T. Teffera) ket in informal, offstage performances on and attention was also drawn to the specific the streets and in makeshift tent restau- role of music in psychological empower- rants. ment and identity preservation in exile (G. Most of the individual presentations Kirdiene). The speakers used various ex- featured the experiences of researchers fo- amples to discuss the social standing of cused on a great number of regional folk musicians and factors impacting their (re) wind instruments, which was a practical positioning, among others, authorities, indication of the breadth of their positions from leading musicians to leading scholars in contemporary society. These range from (N. Zeh, J. Talam). In relation to their spe- endangerment (in some cases registered on cific role in traditional culture, special at- the international level and covered by cur- tention was given to the social status of in- rent UNESCO projects for protecting in- strument-makers and to instrument-making tangible world heritage, but in many cases as a craft that directly refers to music (R. still without any protection and left to the Jakovljević). The papers devoted to the role vicissitudes of time, as R. Ungpho, O. Chu- of women in instrumental music practice luunbaatar, U. Morgenstern, and K. Leng- pointed to the different circumstances of winat explained), via engagement in rituals their positioning, as an exception from gen- of a new(er) kind (for example, combining der regulation in the regional tradition, vocal expression with brass-band sound in which also relates to morphological exclu- burial rituals, discussed by R. Žarskienė), sivity relative to the instrumentarium in to the specific utilitarity and treatment of that area (J. J. Rivera Andia). Vernacular

196 Festivals and Symposia music pedagogy and its specific systems of tural influences are studied on a general “notating” used as its auxiliary tools were level, as well as in terms of regional vari- the topic of I. Popova’s (И. Попова) pre- ants and migrations of structural and/or or- sentation, but this aspect was also included namental elements, as well as those of in other papers dealing with changes in folk playing techniques with the goal of achiev- music practice. The relationship between ing a particular sound effect. The presenta- musical instruments and children was dis- tions heard at the Symposium suggest that cussed in terms of the function, ergology, in terms of methodology, fieldwork still and repertoire of “children’s” instruments predominates in ethno-organology: most of (N. Makharadze), as well as through spe- the papers were based on original fieldwork cific experiences in using instruments in material and experiences. However, every children’s folk-music ensembles (M. particular instance of fieldwork is articu- Matuskova). Ergological features and play- lated in accordance with the concept of re- ing techniques were discussed in terms of search, and moreover, the key differences particular topics, as well as in relation to lie in further elaboration, which is often re- diversification and standardization (e.g. A. alized by the “systematic-ethnophonic” Lommel’s presentation on bagpipes in the method, as a blend of ergology and organo- Carpathian region), as well as relations be- phony, as well as in interdisciplinary ap- tween different ergological variants, play- proaches. Identities are likewise always ing techniques, and sound aesthetics (e.g. J. intriguing, which entails referring to differ- Elsner’s presentation on the mizmar of ent types of historical sources, although Yemen). Inter-cultural contacts were dis- other references, stemming from cultural cussed as a commonplace in many of the studies, sociology, and psychology are also presentations, but inter-culturality was spe- present. As a discipline, contemporary eth- cifically examined in the context of a cer- no-organology thus strives to meet the tain type of tuning of different chordophone challenges of its primary domain – a broad instruments (banjo, bouzouki, setar, and understanding of “folk” musical instru- guitar) and their use in various musical ments and the diversity of individualities genres (M. Bartmann). that constitute the community of players of As it was planned, this year’s Study those instruments. Above all, the sched- Group meeting was dominated by discus- uled, formal discussions, as well as those sions of the current status of folk musical informal ones, occurring during the breaks, instruments and (re)positioning of players confirmed the importance of events such as in relation to their socio-cultural environ- this Symposium, as an occasion for estab- ment. As a standard part of ethno-orga- lishing personal contacts and engaging in nological considerations, the ergologico direct communication. Even if this might -technological level was discussed in the seem commonplace, the Bamberg experi- context of specific subcultural, local cir- ence testifies in the best way about the ad- cumstances, functions, and aesthetics. In- vantage of an immediate opening of many ter-cultural relations are also a permanent important fields, from particular informa- topic, stimulated by migrations of musical tion related to the sources and literature, to instruments as their material traces. Cul- the operating principles of research proj-

197 New Sound 43, I/2014 ects and scientific policies in different the Study Group, and dedication to the or- countries; even the most heated debates are ganization of this year’s Symposium. thereby waged with less risk and overcom- Thanks to excellent organization, the Sym- ing language barriers is much easier. posium unfolded as planned and the par- This study group’s good internal dy- ticipants could also enjoy listening to namics rests on the principles of its found- Upper Franconian folk music performed by ers and first members, and the presentation renowned folk-music ensembles. The orga- of M. Modin initiated an homage to one of nizers of the Symposium intend to publish them, Ernst Emsheimer. Nonetheless, selected papers in the next volume of the ICTM Secretary General, Svanibor Pettan, new series of Studia instrumentorum musi- presented the first special acknowledge- cae popularis (III), edited by Gisa Jäh- ment of the ICTM to Marianne Bröcker for nichen, in an endeavour to make the most her contribution to the study of folk musi- important results presented at this Sympo- cal instruments, committed membership in sium available to a wider readership.

198 Reviews REVIEWS

Article received on 15th Jun 2014 the medieval Balkans that has hitherto been Article accepted on 20th Jun 2014 assembled. While the author modestly calls UDC: 7(497.1)"11/17":681.81](049.32) this corpus “a selection”, in my impression, at least regarding Serbian monuments, it is comprehensive; as for the rest, it is as least Tilman Seebass representative and sufficient to draw solid Chairman, Institut für Musikwissenschaft, conclusions. Although the bibliography has Universität Innsbruck been updated only up to the 1990s,2 the book comes close to a proper iconographic Roksanda Pejović, Musical history of music of the Orthodox, Byzan- Instruments in Medieval Serbia. tine-Slavic world of the Central, Southern, Belgrade: University of the Arts – and Eastern Balkans. When Pejović speaks of the “Medi- Faculty of Music, 2013. 325 pp. with eval era”, she uses the term as the experts numerous illustrations in colour and do, meaning the period starting with the black and white. 1 CD. Slavic migrations into the Balkans, includ- ISBN 978-86-88619-25-7 ing middle-Byzantine times, the period of the greatest expansion of the Serbian king- th The present book is a translated and dom in the 14 century (which at the time much enlarged version of a monograph by comprised what is now Serbia, including Roksanda Pejović written in Serbian in Kosovo but excluding Vojvodina, as well 1984.1 The monograph dealt with the musi- as Montenegro, the Former Yugoslav Re- cal iconography of about 110 images (min- public of Macedonia, Albania, and much iatures, frescoes, and a few icons, ivories, and reliefs). While the original text has re- 2 Regarding publications of the last decade, at mained more or less the same, the new ver- least two authors should be mentioned here: sion has been enlarged by an analysis of Nikos Maliaras (for instance, see his Βυζαντινά around 240 items from Greece, Bulgaria, Μουσικά Όργανα. Αθήνα: Παπαγρηγορίου- Νάκας, 2007) and Gabriela Ilnitchi Currie (for and Romania, which makes it the largest instance, see her “The Emergence of a Paradigm: corpus of iconographic material covering Representations of Musical Instruments in the Palaiologan Depictions of The Mocking of 1 Роксанда Пејовић (Roksanda Pejović), Пред- Christ”, Imago Musicae, 2006–2010, 23, 47–77 ставе музичких инструмената у сред њо- and “A Corpus of Pictorial Representations of вековној Србији (Images of Musical Instruments Musical Instruments and Dances in the Church in Medieval Serbia), Belgrade, Српска акаде- Frescoes of Present-day Romania: Wallachia мија наука и уметности, Музиколошки ин- and Moldavia”, Imago Musicae, 2006–2010, сти тут, 1984. 23, 101–152.

199 New Sound 43, I/2014 of northern Greece), and the times under offers a survey of the prevailing themes Turkish rule until the 18th century. In the and motives in medieval Balkan music ico- beginning, the artistic centres of Constan- nography and elaborates on the artistic tinople and Mount Athos provided the styles as they developed over the centuries. themes, before emerging local schools of In Eastern-European art, great emphasis is painters started modifying the iconogra- placed on the reference to music in two phy; in the final period, elements of the themes: the first is The Mocking of Christ Ottoman and Western culture began to as part of the story of the Passion. It gives seep in. the painter a chance to combine the repre- From the outset, Pejović emphasizes sentation of ceremonial public music with two problems with using pictorial evidence the “negative” music of the crowd – a kind for organological purposes: first, the East- of ironic, allegorical mirror to the Old Tes- ern Church was much more conservative tament scene of the people venerating the than its Western counterpart in its choice of heathen statue in the Book of Daniel. The iconographic themes and painting styles; other, equally frequent theme is the “Praise the artists and commissioners alike were of the Lord”. While in The Mocking of hesitant to reflect the outside world in their Christ the painter operates with an autono- images. Therefore it is difficult for the mous pictorial topos (the New Testament modern interpreter to decide whether the text does not mention music), in the case of painter in any given case was relying on the cosmic praise, the painter must illus- models or actualizing the theme by refer- trate the canonical texts of Exodus 15.20ff ring to contemporary musical practice. and Psalm 150. Other scenes with musical Second, reconstructing the music itself is references, including those from the Pas- by no means simple, because one has to sion and parables and the stories of the rely on combining ethnological projections saints, as well as Old Testament stories, with whatever little evidence may be ex- mostly about King David, are also de- tracted from the historical texts. Pejović scribed and discussed. does not push for simple answers regarding Next come a group of chapters on or- what is imagined and what is real. Hence, ganology: 1) a systematic general survey; instead of clear-cut answers, students new 2) musical instruments in the Byzantine, to the topic will soon begin to understand Bulgarian, and Romanian traditions; 3) the the tension between images and reality, and role of folk musical instruments; and 4) learn to handle the interpretation of images musical instruments in Serbia. Three chap- with the necessary flexibility. ters are devoted to the performance of en- The first chapter gives an overview of semble music and dance. the wealth of monuments. The maps of the Finally, in the remaining 50 pages the four major regions, greater Serbia, Greece, author gives a masterful summary of the Bulgaria and Romania, with every major music-iconographic world of the Balkans. church and monastery clearly marked, are a The appendices comprise four most helpful and welcome addition, because informative chronological tables listing the some of those places are isolated and not monuments according to region, one list of found in general maps. The second chapter comparative material of Davidic themes in

200 Reviews medieval Western Europe (31 examples), a poses, her practice of naming instruments bibliography, and indices. The accompany- in miniatures and wall paintings is some- ing CD contains the four maps and the en- times debatable. In her tables of instru- tire corpus of 350 pictures. Neither the ments, the far-right column is a mix of book, nor the CD contains a list of sources Latin, Greek, Serbian, Turkish, Arabic, and of the photos. The CD is an indispensable organological terms; for instance, forked tool, because the book offers only a selec- cymbals are called “rattles”, hand bells are tion of pictures in no particular order. With- called “crotales”, the hour-glass drum goes out the CD, the reader is at a loss, unable to by the name of darabukka, etc. While the find the discussed pictures in the book. In Hebrew terms and their Latin translations this respect, the old, 1984 monograph was would be irrelevant for the purposes of the easier to use, because the illustrations were book, the meanings of the terms in Koine all placed in order at the end and many of Greek and the Byzantine times are indis- the fresco reproductions were supple- pensable.3 It would have been most illumi- mented with drawings clarifying certain nating if the author had given a compara- organological details, wherever they were tive table with five columns, two of those no longer clearly recognizable in the origi- with Greek names, one for the Church nals. On the positive side, however, some Slavonic in its Serbian variant, one for the of the paintings are now reproduced in Serbian translation of 1896, and finally a colour, whereas the old version was en- list of organological terms according to the tirely black-and-white. Hornbostel-Sachs system. For the non-spe- Since Pejović has kept the organiza- cialist, her use of King James Bible for tion of chapters from the old monograph, English can sometimes be a source of con- the accommodation of such a wealth of fusion, because it is a 16th-century transla- new material led to structural problems – tion and not always correct regarding the the same objects, or themes, or instruments musical practice in Old Testament times. are discussed in various places. Only in the Such a table would greatly facilitate nego- final chapter does the reader come to a full tiating between the text and the illustra- understanding which monuments are key tions. In this respect, the manuscript illus- and which ones are only marginal. The trations in the text are essentially different reader must use the Index to find each from frescoes, icons, and ivories, where we monument, which is not easy either, be- cause they are sometimes listed under their names and sometimes under “Church of…” 3 For instance, the αυλός, the ancient double- and the like; the manuscripts are not listed reed instrument, has become “a transverse flute” in Pejović’s book, while the λύρα has become a by the holding institutions (library or mu- small bowed instrument played in the lap; the seum and the like) and there is no master τύμπανον, originally a frame drum, is a term list of the monuments either. absent in her book. As to the ancient ψαλτήριον, Although Pejović is aware of the need in the West, the fact that it was a harp was to differentiate between the terms and the forgotten. In Byzantium, however, due to its things they denote, when it comes to the contacts with the Near East, the name was transferred to the box-zither, the psaltery in its analysis of images for organological pur- various forms.

201 New Sound 43, I/2014 can only presume the story behind the pic- century, local painters grew more assertive torial theme and must be even more cau- regarding the tradition; one also finds traces tious when labelling an instrument. There of contact with 15th-century Western cul- existed a great wealth of instruments under ture. Finally, in iconography dating from various names in the popular and court cul- the Ottoman rule, the popular culture of the tures of the Balkans (for instance, see the lower classes is strongly felt; the popularity survey on pp. 246ff). There is no simple of Turkish instruments becomes evident. It rule for applying them in the interpretation is fascinating to follow Pejović’s descrip- of iconographic sources. tion of the impact of socio-political changes Obviously, the imperial ceremonial on the depiction of music. Her book is a culture of Byzantium, together with the an- product of an untiring and lifelong effort. cient pictorial tradition, is the iconographic We are deeply grateful to her for offering basis for the middle-Byzantine period, i.e. us a thorough understanding of the rich and until 1200. During the era of the Macedo- variegated history of instruments in the vi- nian school of painting and into the 15th sual arts in the Balkans.

Article received on 15th Jun 2014 ploring (the sound of) contemporary music, Article accepted on 21st Jun 2014 include organizational efforts in carrying UDC: 78.081.1/.4(086.76)(049.32) out programme concepts and ideas, this young ensemble ‘radiates’ great energy, en- thusiasm, and an astute sensibility. Ivana Miladinović Prica Specializing for contemporary music performance, in terms of its artistic profile, The Construction Site Ensemble for the Construction Site are a unique presence New Music: CD “4” on our scene. Since the very beginning, the (Recording Studio of the Faculty of group have rejected the idea of the stan- Music in Belgrade, 2013, dardization and schematism of the perform- ISBN 978-86-89621-00-6) ing body, as well as sticking to the canoni- cal repertoire, features that for a long time The Construction Site Ensemble for have been considered essential for any New Music is one of those protagonists of chamber ensemble. On the contrary, the cultural life in these parts that manage to Construction Site in its permanent line-up keep the Serbian contemporary music scene gathers 20 chamber musicians/soloists who ‘alive’ by various aspects of their work, in perform in most diverse instrumental com- spite of the unstable transition milieu and binations. One of its main goals is perform- institutional crises. Opening new fields of ing domestic and foreign pieces written in work that, apart from performing and ex- the 20th and the 21st century, which are un-

202 Reviews derrepresented on the concert stage. Since which also fills a significant gap in the do- its inception, the ensemble has pursued a main of presenting chamber music.2 vigorous concert activity, with well-re- This release was realized by, one may ceived appearances at festivals of contem- safely say, the ‘core’ of the ensemble – the porary music, many ‘dedications’ and pre- pianist Neda Hofman, on whose initiative mieres of chamber and stage-music works, the ensemble was first established, violon- which demonstrates their genuine devotion cellist Srđan Sretenović, mezzo-soprano to the affirmation of contemporary music Ana Radovanović, and baritone Vladimir expression on the Serbian scene, as well as Dinić. However, the number four in the the ensemble’s status of a representative title refers not only to the performing agent in the domestic cultural and artistic line-up, but also to the contents of the re- environment.1 lease: four compositions by four domestic In order to preserve, promote, and ex- authors with whom these artists have been pand the repertoire of contemporary cham- in close collaboration for many years. ber music, in its second year, the Construc- Therefore, the programme was con- tion Site Ensemble in the second year of its ceived as a sort of ‘dispersed’ cross-section existence initiated the endeavour of releas- of contemporary chamber music. Lacking a ing compact discs. Although at this time ‘macromusical’ signifier or grand ‘meta- we will not delve into an analysis of the narrative’, the composers came up with cultural policy, music industry, and media four ‘small’ stories, presenting their per- situation in Serbia, we must note that the sonal views of various social phenomena ensemble’s CD featuring chamber works – from problematizing musical identities by domestic authors, independently re- stemming from the society of the spectacle, leased in June 2013, is a rare example of a in the work Le beau est toujours bizarre by sound carrier made in Serbia containing Nataša Bogojević (1966), to searching for works of contemporary Serbian music, the lost joie de vivre in the age of globaliza- tion, in the cycle Soneti [Sonnets] by Svet- lana Savić (1971), to conflicting and dra- 1 The ensemble gave premiere performances of matic scenes, or, rather, comical stories chamber works by Ivan Brkljačić, Svetlana Savić, Vuk Kulenović, Srđan Hofman, operas emanating from interpersonal interaction by Branka Popović (Petrograd / Petersburg), and relationships, in Lorem ipsum by Tatjana Milošević (Ko je ubio princezu Mond Branka Popović (1977) and Proleće [Who Murdered Princess Mond]), etc. [Springtime] by Ivan Brkljačić (1977).3 Incidentally, it was this ensemble who at the 21st Review of Composers, in November 2012, took the brunt of the festival programme, whose 2 The recording was made at the Recording motto that year – Construction Site: The Newest Studio of the Faculty of Music in Belgrade; Expanses of Sonic Architecture – was inspired sound engineer and producer: Srđan Hofman; by the ensemble’s name. The repertoire of the editor: Neda Hofman; design: Đorđe Vasić; total Construction Site includes seminal works of duration: 47’37”. The project was carried out modern music, such as Arnold Schönberg’s with the support of Sokoj – Serbian Music melodrama Pierrot lunaire, which they perform Authors’ Organization. in a staged version at the Madlenianum theatre. 3 The ensemble premiered this programme in http://www.baustelle.rs their concerts held at the halls of Matica srpska

203 New Sound 43, I/2014

Although this is but a small sample, The opening work on the CD – Le comprising only four works, the release of- beau est toujours bizarre by Nataša Bogo- fers an insight into various branches of the jević – may be described as a postmodern, chamber genre. In the early 20th century, a-historical pastiche, featuring a ‘schizo- for instance, chamber music was where Ar- phrenic decomposition’ of language and nold Schönberg’s emancipation of the dis- temporality. With their suggestive render- sonance took place and today, in much the ing of a dialogue4 between Klaus Nomi, a same way, composers turn to this genre in German singer known for his extraordinary their quests and endeavours to find new di- vocal abilities, which he sought to employ mensions of sound, new possibilities for on the underground pop-rock scene of New vocal and instrumental expression, , and a neo-postmodern pastiche, representational aspects of music, as well the performers succeeded in their intention the influence of technology and media. All to provoke the listener’s sense of hearing, of this has therefore contributed to a kind constantly motivating it to active participa- of ‘hybridization’ and ‘augmentation’ of tion. This poly-stylistic musical tissue thus the chamber genre, as well as confirmed its includes samples of heterogeneous origins, vitality. stemming from the worlds of both high and Hence, four completely different poet- popular music – from numerous transfor- ics have come together on this release and mations of Nomi’s sonorities, melodic frag- a close listening reveals that the composers ments of his pop songs, to simulacra and found the specific timbre of this quartet pseudo-quotations of Henry Purcell, No- (two voices, piano, and violoncello), in- mi’s favourite composer. clined to a lower register, rather inspiring. While this work relates to the com- Quite familiar with the performers’ inter- poser’s own artistic experience and living pretative capabilities and individual fea- abroad,5 the pieces by Branka Popović and tures, they highlighted the traits of this spe- Ivan Brkljačić are preoccupied with repre- cific medium in various ways, at the same senting interpersonal relations. Thus, for time striving to impose on it their own mu- instance, Popović emphasizes the musical sical expression. and acoustic potentials of the meaningless, de-semantized text Lorem ipsum, which has in Novi Sad and Composers’ Association of been used in printing since the 16th century Serbia in Belgrade on 16 and 17 May 2013, for presenting the appearance of a book. By respectively, and then made a recording of it in putting the vocal and instrumental parts in June 2013 in the Recording Studio of the Faculty various relationships – expositions of mate- of Music in Belgrade. The pieces by Svetlana rials in reduction, the repetition of melodic Savić, Branka Popović, and Ivan Brkljačić were completed in 2013, whereas the work by Nataša and rhythmic patterns, which at certain Bogojević was written in 2008, and the ensemble times makes keeping precise beat and into- premiered it in 2010, at the 19th International nation difficult – the author presents, i.e. Review of Composers in Belgrade. Apart from Soneti, written for a female voice, violoncello, piano, and (live) electronics, the remaining 4 Referring to a text by Milan Pribišić. works are written for a mezzo-soprano, baritone, 5 Nataša Bogojević has lived in the United violoncello, and piano. States since the mid-1990s.

204 Reviews builds a latent drama between two people lana Savić is the most extensive and chal- who have trouble communicating. The en- lenging work on this release.6 Transposing tire ensemble very convincingly demon- the sonnet form into a musical context as- strates various expressive states of the sumes not only the meaning of an encoun- characters, caused by mutual incomprehen- ter of different styles and codes, Renais- sion, which was certainly facilitated by the sance, Baroque, Western, and Byzantine author’s good command of the features of music, but also opens a space for dialectic this ensemble and most of all, the vocal ca- movement between what is one’s own and pabilities of the singers (for example, the what is someone else’s, the individual and mezzo-soprano part is very animated and the collective, variance and repetition, in- expressive in the high register). vention and convention, the electronic and Likewise in Proleće [Springtime] by the acoustic, interpretation and creation. Ivan Brkljačić, listeners will easily recog- This new ‘mode’ of music-making, which nize the emotion that inspired the composer relies of synchronizing the metre and tem- in the creation of this piece. Attempting to poral structures of the electronic and acous- reinterpret Duško Radović’s humorous tic parts, certainly presents a great interpre- nursery rhymes (“Hoće – neće” [“Will – tative challenge. While in the first two Won’t”] from his cycle Sve što raste [Eve- compositions the performers coordinate rything that Grows] and “Da li ili ne” [“To with the constant, fixed background of the Do It or Not”] from the cycle Sedi da electronics, a kind of acoustic archive that razgovaramo [Sit Down and Let’s Talk]) includes poetic declamation, the concrete through music as persuasively as possible sounds of birds chirruping, the human and match them with the repertoire of a voice, a toy piano, lute, glockenspiel etc., contemporary music ensemble, the author the synergy of these layers is much more built a unique musical tissue by stringing complex in the third movement, “La vita together pronouncedly rhythmic sections fugge”. There, the performers, namely, and considerably calmer segments of a have much more freedom; in fact, they ini- more rarefied texture. Although seemingly tiate a great number of events in the elec- performed ‘in one sitting’, the composition tronic part, since the electronic modifica- is very challenging both interpretatively tions of the sound of the piano and and technically, and special demands are violoncello happen in real time. Two layers placed before the vocal soloists (let us – the acoustic and the electronic – although mention, for example, the many ‘staccato effectively present, are integrated (and per- moments’, glissandi, chanting that sounds like folk singing, ‘legato technique’, etc.). 6 The cycle Soneti is made of three pieces: La The entire ensemble equally participates in Douce Nuit for violoncello, piano and rendering the overall atmosphere of the electronics; Looking on Darkness for female work – optimism and humour – which pre- voice, violoncello, piano and electronics; and La vita fugge for female voice, violoncello, cisely determined its place in the ‘finale’ of piano and live electronics. The compositions are the programme. written after the sonnets by Michelangelo, In terms of technique and perfor- Petrarch, Shakespeare, Baudelaire and Raša mance, the cycle Soneti [Sonnets] by Svet- Perić.

205 New Sound 43, I/2014 ceived) as a homogenous musical tissue By their high-quality interpretation, and it is their mutual listening, dialogues, purposefully but unobtrusively, in some of multiple (micro)delays, echoes of instru- the pieces confronting what was almost a mental motives and acoustic modulations sort of tour de force (particularly in Son- that create the illusion of an unbounded, eti), the members of the Construction Site extended acoustic space. The electronics Ensemble succeeded in their efforts to was, therefore, a challenge not only for the bring together these diverse compositional composer but also to the performers, who, writings. Therefore, one should approach in her words, were used as ‘permanent so- this carefully directed recording debut with loists’. Thus we may conclude that in these an open mind, as a listener-flâneur, em- circumstances of performance, ‘the limits barking on an acoustic promenade, search- of the possible’ are pushed precisely thanks ing for the internal narrative that these to the psychological sensitivity of the per- compositions construct and the Construc- formers’ ears and their individual engage- tion Site Ensemble brings to life, confirm- ment, and not (only) due to the fact that ing in the best possible way the claim that “only the physiological sensitivity of the performance is (a secondary) creation. listener’s ear, and the artistic sensitivity of Translated by Goran Kapetanović the composer’s, prescribe limits to the possible”,7 as Paul Griffiths has argued re- garding the development of electronic music.

7 Paul Griffiths, A Guide to Electronic Music, London, Thames and Hudson, 1979, 7.

206 Defended Theses DEFENDED THESES

Article received on 16th Jun 2014 logical approach, followed by a compara- Article accepted on 22nd Jun 2014 tive overview of other Serbian church art UDC: 783.8(497.11)"19"(043.3)(049.32) genres during the same period, and finally 271.2-535(497.11)"19"(043.3)(049.32) an analysis of the music. The criterion that defined compositional attitudes was the Bogdan Đaković usage of Serbian chant and the characteris- tics of the music based by the original ap- Functional and Stylistic-aesthetic proach. The other criterion was the domi- Elements in Serbian Sacred Choral nation of one of two opposite principles: a Music of the First Half of the 20th functional, liturgical style as opposed to a Century1 highly artistic and concert style. The text comprises an Introduction, three Chapters divided into a total of nine subchapters, a Conclusion, Supplements, and the Bibliog- This doctoral thesis deals with the raphy. The Introduction contains an expli- generation of composers following Stevan cation of the title and subject of the disser- Stojanović Mokranjac (1856–1914), who tation and a critical survey of existing established the style known as the ‘classi- scholarship on Serbian sacred choral music cal’. The overall analytical approach was of the interwar period. Chapter One, “Tra- equally determined by elements of Ortho- ditional Church Art: Basic Ideas and Inter- dox theology and aesthetics, both part of pretations in the 20th Century” discusses Serbian musical heritage as a whole. The the theological background of genuine as- methodology combines a functional and pects of church art, in which symbolism aesthetic view through a theoretical-theo- may, from a liturgical perspective, express the ‘flavour’ of another reality. The tradi- 1 The doctoral thesis was defended on 17 June tional concept of Orthodox liturgical art 2013 at the Academy of Arts in Novi Sad. The discussed in the dissertation represents the examination board included: Ira Prodanov Krajišnik, PhD, associate professor at the basic point from which Serbian composers Department of Musicology and Ethnomusicology have ‘moved on’, neglecting the functional at the Academy of Arts in Novi Sad; Katarina aspect and instead favouring aesthetic ap- Tomašević, PhD, senior research fellow at the proaches. On the other hand, the values of Institute of Musicology of the Serbian Academy their highly sophisticated modern accom- of Sciences and Arts in Belgrade, who chaired plishments have themselves established the board; Danica Petrović, PhD, principal research fellow at the Institute of Musicology of their own position as an authentic historical the Serbian Academy of Sciences and Arts in part of the evolution of church art. For the Belgrade and supervisor of the dissertation. purposes of this dissertation, the dogmatic

207 New Sound 43, I/2014 and methodological ‘circle of rules’ of tra- as the hierarchy of compositional proce- ditional church art served as a critical dures is concerned, the common tendency framework for examining the music. Spe- was the domination of Eastern Orthodox cial attention was given to the meaning of choral style. Only in some small details artistic symbols and their status in the theo- does this musical language differ from sim- logical realm, as well as the general posi- ilar approaches taken by 19th-century com- tion of music in the complex perspective of posers. Composers who were generally in- the liturgy, representing a synthesis of dif- terested in developing an original approach ferent arts. The next chapter, “Church Art close to the ‘spirit’ of Serbian chant – and Choral Music in Serbian Culture in the Joksimović, Šijački, Milošević, Pašćan- Interwar Period”, offers a contextual com- Kojanov, Preprek – used a great variety of parative overview of sacred choral music Western and traditional Orthodox elements. and church architecture, icon and fresco From the perspective of the hierarchy of painting, which defined the goals accom- compositional procedures, it is easy to no- plished by Serbian composers as part of the tice a lack of ‘order’, or priorities, among general development of Orthodox art. The these different influences. Their stylistic fundamentally similar elements of evolu- approaches brought romantic elements to- tion in these different genres always de- gether with the typical ‘national’ models pended on methods of keeping within tra- (Stanković, Ostojić, Mokranjac), as well as dition and, at the same time, allowing a some important characteristics derived level of freedom for contemporary solu- from Russian music. Authors who pursued tions. It concerns the discovery of poten- original artistic approaches represent the tially common principles in the construc- most complex stylistic orientation of this tion of liturgical symbols, whose final period, determined by both Western and characteristics may define new pieces of Orthodox elements, influences from their art as either primarily liturgical or artistic. own secular works, as well as a specific The central chapter, “The History of the relationship with the Serbian church choral Genre through the Balancing of Liturgical tradition. In terms of the hierarchy of com- and Concert Elements” comprises the fol- positional procedures, that is, in terms of lowing subchapters: “Simple Harmonisa- detecting the dominance of Western or Or- tions and Arrangements of Traditional thodox elements, most of these composers Chant”, “Compositions Close to the ‘Spirit’ achieved a very high level of ‘coexistence’ of Serbian Chant”, “Original Artistic Ap- of these two principles. On the other hand, proaches”, followed by a classification of the typology of the adoption of conventions styles (liturgical-concert style, concert-li- regarding specific technical elements – the turgical style, concert-, and concert-experi- treatment of polyphony and the harmonic- mental style), and “The Works of the Ama- tonal aspect – shows not only a good bal- teurs”. Đorđević, Travanj, Krstić, and Ilić ance, but may also serve to define the val- cultivated styles based on traditional har- ues of each personal approach. Sacred monization and arrangements of Serbian choral compositions by Serbian authors Chant, through a variety of artistic conven- from the interwar period, mainly by em- tions, from classical to neoromantic. As far phasizing aesthetic elements, represent an

208 Defended Theses artistically strong and ambitious creative ritual and the congregation’s ‘live’ commu- effort to find new paths in Orthodox Church nication with God in the communion, lift music. The dominance of the concert type the participants in the ‘divine drama’ above of complete liturgical forms and individual everything else, even above a perfect artis- liturgical “numbers”, in addition to formal tic reality. expression based on canonical hymnogra- The thesis contains 260 pages, two ta- phy, could only indicate the ‘transforma- bles, 27 music examples, three supple- tional’ potential of genuine liturgical art. ments, 263 items in the bibliography, and Functional-liturgical works, on the other 649 footnotes. hand, directly, through the power of the

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210 CONTRIBUTORS TO THIS ISSUE

Ivana Perković, Ph.D, musicologist, associate professor at the Department of Musicol- ogy, Faculty of Music, University of Arts, Belgrade.

Ivan Moody, Ph.D., composer, musicologist and protopriest of the Orthodox Church, is Professor of Church Music in the Department of Orthodox Theology at the University of Eastern Finland, and President of the International Society for Orthodox Church Music.

Romana Ribić, M.A., musicologist, Librarian adviser of the Library of the Faculty of Music, University of Arts, Belgrade.

Euđen Činč, assistant in the Faculty of Music, West University Timisoara, Romania and professor in the Preschool Teacher Training College Mihailo Palov, Vršac.

Biljana Milanović, M.A., musicologist, research-assistant at the Institute of Musicology of the Serbian Academy of Sciences and Arts; Vice-President of the Serbian Musicologi- cal Society.

Milica Gajić, M.A., musicologist, Librarian adviser of the Library of the Faculty of Music, University of Arts, Belgrade.

Jelena Arnautović, a Ph.D., candidate, musicologist, teaching assistant at the Faculty of Arts in Priština (Kosovska Mitrovica, Zvečan).

Sanela Nikolić, Ph.D., theoretician of art, Assistant Professor for Applied Aesthetics in the Department of Musicology at the Faculty of Music in Belgrade; Editor-in-chief of the AM: Journal of Art and Media Studies.

Maja Vasiljević, M.A., musicologist and sociologist, research assistant in Department of History at the Faculty of Philosophy, University in Belgrade; secretary of Serbian scien- tific journal Limes plus; associate and researcher in the New Balkans Institute (NBI), Scientific Society for the History of Health Culture and Center for Popular Music Re- search.

Branka Popovic, DMus, composer and musicologist, a teaching assistant at the Depart- ment of Composition at the Faculty of Music in Belgrade.

Man-Ching Yu, Ph.D., composer and theorist, a full-time lecturer at the Hong Kong In- stitute of Education, Musical Arts Division of the Cultural and Creative Arts Depart- ment.

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Zorica Premate, musicologist, Radio-Television of Serbia, Radio-Belgrade 2, Music Editor.

Danka Lajić Mihajlović, Ethnomusicologist, Ph.D., Research Associate at the Institute of Musicology of the Serbian Academy of Sciences and Arts, member of the Steering Committee of the Serbian Ethnomusicological Society, Chair of the Serbian National Committee of the ICTM.

Tilman Seebass, Chairman, Institut für Musikwissenschaft, Universität Innsbruck.

Ivana Miladinović Prica, M.A., musicologist, PhD. candidate; teaching assistant in the Department of Musicology at the Faculty of Music in Belgrade and Secretary of the same Department.

Bogdan Đaković, Ph.D., musicologist, a full-time professor at the Academy of Arts, Novi Sad; conductor of the St. George’s Cathedral Choir, Novi Sad

212 Language editor: Žarko Cvejić

Proofreader: Agencija Kapetanović Miloš Zatkalik

Prepress: Dušan Ćasić

Printed by: TON plus, Belgrade

Circulation: 400 copies

Publication of this issue was sponsored by: The Ministry of Culture – Republic of Serbia The Ministry of Education and Science – Republic of Serbia Sokoj – Serbian Music Authors' Organization

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214 CIP – Katalogizacija u publikaciji Narodna biblioteka Srbije, Beograd 78 NEW Sound : international Journal of Music / editor-in-chief Mirjana Veselinović-Hofman. – 1993, no. 1– . – Belgrade : Department of Musicology Faculty of Music, 1993– (Belgrade : Ton plus). – 24 cm Dostupno i na: http://www.newsound.org.rs. – Polugodišnje. – Ima izdanje na drugom jeziku: Нови звук = ISSN 0354-4362 ISSN 0354-818X = New Sound COBISS.SR-ID 102800647

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