Nikša Gligo (Zagreb, Croatia): Musical Emblems in Croatian Cell Phones
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Nikša Gligo (Zagreb, Croatia): Musical Emblems in Croatian Cell Phones: A Repertoire for Identity Formation?* "The Latin term emblēma referred to 'inlaid work' – designs formed by setting some material such as wood or ivory, or enamel, into a contrasting surface [...] [F]or the most part English has used the word metaphorically, for a 'design which symbolizes something.' [...]"(Ayto 1990: 199) The "musical emblem" is even more metaphorical, especially if we ignore its usage and meaning in the musical iconography which does not interest us here. Musical emblems can be produced (composed) as emblems, but they are more often a kind of parody or contrafactum technique (s. Finscher-Dadelsen 1989; Hirsch 1984: 248 = Kontrafaktur, 341 = Parodie; Randel 1986: 200 = contrafactum), 608-609 = parody), i. e. a deduction from a non-emblematic piece of music for the emblematic purposes.1 Let us get acquainted with the first case of a composed musical emblem, the Toccata at the beginning of Monteverdi's opera L'Orfeo premiered on 24 February 1607 at the court of the ducal family of Gonzaga in Mantua and in its first printed edition of 1609 dedicated to the Prince Francesco Gonzaga who commissioned it. Let us quote the famous conductor Nikolaus Harnoncourt who is also one of the very few musicologists to have mentioned the Toccata: "This Toccata has no connection with the rest of the work; it has a similar function to a national anthem played today at the beginning of a festive concert – it is a kind of Gonzaga fanfare." (Harnoncourt 1978: 5) Example 2 Monteverdi, Toccata However, this Toccata as cantus prius factus (on cantus prius factus s. Hirsch 1984: p. 82; also Randel 1986: 136) had additional importance for Monteverdi because he used it in 1610 in a kind of parody technique at the beginning of his Vespro della Beata Vergine, a complex document of church music of that time. The references to the Gonzaga family can only be guessed. Here is one given by Geoffrey Chew: "[...] Monteverdi seems to have published the collection [i. e. Vespers] as a compositional portfolio to demonstrate mastery in a variety of contemporary church styles, and the work, or part of it, was very possibly originally used for the solemn Vespers sung at the inauguration by Vincenzo Gonzaga, at Mantua in 1608, of a new order of chivalry in honour of Christ the Redeemer [...]. It is not surprising, then, that the 1610 Vespers has many features, and some specific music, in common with Orfeo, and that it is written for essentially the same forces. Indeed the initial ‘Domine ad adiuvandum [me]’ [...] is a reworking of the instrumental toccata with which Orfeo begins, with the addition of choral falsobordone chanting [...]." (Chew 2001: 40 - bold N. G.) Wolfgang Osthoff, however, does not mention the Gonzagas at all: "The justification for this use [of Toccata] lies in the same opening function performed by the wind fanfares in both works." (Osthoff 1975: 4) But, as pointed out before, the Toccata * The excerpts from the sound and musical examples can be accessed at http://niksa-gligo.from.hr/. 1 Here is an example of a composition, which became a musical emblem: "Performing musicians in Moscow contributed to the war effort by joining front line brigades and performing for troops, while composers wrote stirring patriotic songs, such as Aleksandr Aleksandrov’s Svyashchennaya voyna (‘A Holy War’), which became the musical emblem of World War II." – S. Bartlett 2001: 173. Aleksandrov's composition can be heard as Example 1. is not the real beginning of L'Orfeo. The opera faithfully follows the plan of the Greek tragedy and opens with Prologo, sung by La Musica, in strophic form with instrumental ritornelli. But it is still the convincing and unreplaceable beginning of the 1610 Vespers. Example 3 Monteverdi, Vespers, Intonation = Domine ad adiuvandum me (da concerto, composto sopra canti fermi, sex vocibus et sex instrumentis) The same Toccata-emblem is today the sound announcement for the broadcasts sponsored by the EBU (= European Broadcasting Union) in the series Euroradio. We can only guess why! Example 4 Toccata, Euroradio (EBU) But it is also used in a transformed way as the musical emblem for the series Ars acustica, also sponsored by the EBU. Example 5 Toccata, Ars acustica (EBU) The next example is related to Croatian music. Croatian composer Jakov Gotovac (1895-1982) wrote in 1928 stage music for Ivan Gundulić's (1589-1638) pastoral play Dubravka (cca 1628). Its finale is the well-known "Hymn to Liberty": Example 6 Gotovac, Hymn to Liberty2 In 1991, as Croatia became independent, the Croatian Radio took this theme as cantus prius factus and gave it to Croatian composer Igor Kuljerić (1938-2006) to arrange it as a musical emblem for their broadcasts: Example 7 Gotovac/Kuljerić, Hymn to Liberty (Croatian Radio) This case is rather understandable: Except for the content of Gundulić's verses, Gotovac's Hymn is deeply embedded into the consciousness of Croatian people, in addition to being used every summer as part of the opening ceremony of the Dubrovnik Summer Festival. Anyway, the original melody was successfully transformed into an emblem which could even be considered as a signal if it were not based on Gotovac's composition. It is perhaps important to point out the difference between a musical emblem (in the sense in which we use it here) and a sound signal. This is, for example, the sound signal which we might get together with a Sony Ericsson cellphone: Example 8 Sony Ericsson, signal It is quite clear that it is not based on any recognizable musical pattern, therefore it completely corresponds to – what is called – a ringtone. Of course, it could eventually become a musical emblem if it passes through a certain reception procedure which emancipates it from its primary functionality. 2 The English translation of the verses can be found at: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ivan_Gunduli %C4%87 (accessed on 13/05/2014). Here is an example, this time with the well-known Nokia signal: Example 9 Nokia, signal As it is obviously melodically more differentiated than the Sony Ericsson signal, the people accepted it as a theme for various variations and arrangements which makes it a kind of the Nokia emblem – although nobody can forbid to use this emblem as a ringtone. Here is an example with the piano arrangement: Example 10 Nokia, signal – piano arrangement And here is a fugue composed on the Nokia signal as dux: Example 11 Nokia signal – fugue And finally, here is the same ringtone in a chamber orchestra performance: Example 12 Nokia signal – chamber orchestra You may take it as a joke, but you cannot deny that the Nokia signal has completely lost the character and functionality of the signal and – through becoming more musical – represents the Nokia emblem indeed. *** Let us now examine some further musical emblems which I found on cellphones. (If you consider them more signals than emblems, I should point out that they have emerged from the compositions that never intended to be used as ringtones!) I have examined altogether 60 cellphones which belong to users of different age, ranging from 15 to 65. From all the material found, here I am going to concentrate on the pure audio examples, i. e. I am going to exclude the images and videos. I am also not going to take into consideration the material offered by different providers which can be downloaded into the cellphones from their websites. The only ringtones that matter are those found on the 60 cellphones as my sources. Let us start with the examples which somehow draw on folklore material and could – according to today's terminology – be classified as ethnic music. The first example is the following musical emblem: Example 13 Bijelo dugme, Lipe cvatu as a ringtone This is the ringtone based on the song Lipe cvatu (The Linden Trees in Blossom) by the rock band Bijelo dugme (White Button), "a highly influential rock band stationed in Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina, originally in [the former] Yugoslavia. Active between 1974 and 1989, they are considered to have been the most popular band ever to exist in the former Yugoslavia and one of the most important acts of the Yugoslav Pop and Rock." (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bijelo_dugme; accessed on 13/05/2014) The band drew on folklore sources and skillfully "translated" them into the rock idiom. This song is an extreme example of the folklore influence, especially its beginning, which simulates Macedonian (or Bulgarian) rhythmic patterns: Example 14 Bijelo dugme, Lipe cvatu, the original song It should be pointed out that in this type of folk rock the precise regional identity of the source was not so important: The song was (at that time) considered as pan- Yugoslav or pan-Balkanic. However, since it was found as a ringtone (i. e. a musical emblem) even on three cellphones, the question is what it means to these phone users today. Can it be a recollection, nostalgia?3 The band has experienced a revival in the last years (even at live concerts), but nevertheless this song has never been their trademark. For example, it has not been included in a recollection CD with their greatest hits which was released in 2005 during their concert tour in the former Yugoslavia.4 Let us proceed to the next example: "Fahreta Živojinović ([...] born October 20, 1960), [...] better known as Lepa Brena, [...] is arguably the most well-known and successful singer of the 1980s in the former Yugoslavia [...] She was born as Fahreta Jahić in Brčko, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Yugoslavia. Lepa Brena and her band Slatki greh ('Sweet Sin') were the first to combine traditional Yugoslav folk music (in particular, the traditional Serbian 'Kolo' dance) with modern pop elements, and went on to inspire and influence an entire generation of musicians.