CHAPTER 11 Gospel Versus Profane Music in Slovakia1
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CHAPTER 11 Gospel versus profane music in Slovakia1 Yvetta Kajanová Abstract This study provides a historical perspective on the establishment of church music as a market segment. The political changes after 1989 meant that sacred music became a regular part of Central Europe culture, and the previously homogenous market became divided between secular and sacred segments. 11Due to the communist ideology and strong atheist propaganda in the former communist countries of Central Europe, the separation processes followed a different path than in the western world. The research has shown that, during the communist regime, illegal recording studios and secretive distribution of sacred music were the basis for the later character of music market. Up to the present time, the music industry still maintains the secular‐sacred segmentation even though the two music streams are tending towards convergence. The author uses historical, analytical, and statistical methods to explain the particular case of the winners of the 2009 Eurovision Song Contest in Slovakia, in which both gospel and profane music singers participated and where the gospel music supporters outvoted the profane audience. From numerous historical facts obtained during a 2005–2008 study of oral tradition, those relevant for the formation of the Slovak audience, its self‐confidence, and transformation have been selected to support this paper. 1. Beginnings Contrary to the traditional idea of cultural identity, which spoke of a solid and fixed self, umbilically related to a territory and collective history, nowadays we must take in account the volatility of these identities. Crane’s perspective on this is of course of the utmost importance (2002). The global music culture, spread in the media conglomerates, is mostly centred in English language countries (in that process excluding the remaining ones) (Guerra & Quintela, 2016; Guerra, 2015), with the repertoires of major labels focusing ever more in a small number of international stars. There is then a renovated model of “media imperialism based on global capitalism” (Crane, 2002: 6). In the advent of globalization two tendencies are in a struggle: 1 This research was funded by Vedecká Grantová Agentúra (the VEGA Research Agency), grant no. 1/0086/15. 215 216 Redefining art worlds in the late modernity on the one side, the international media conglomerates are expanding their influence and control over certain types of global culture. On the other, the growing importance of regions as producers and market‐developers of their own media, helps to develop a network system of cultural globalization. Regions exhibit their own sub‐networks, with thicker nodes connected to a global network context, and other, less intense, communication vehicles with other areas. (Crane, 2002: 7). Therefore, we have simultaneously globalization and localization in a complex web of network flows, showing progressive cultural homogeneity while assuring that identity and specific values are ever more crucial in understanding popular music (Huq, 2003, 2006). The case of Gospel versus profane music in Slovakia is paradigmatic. Before discussing the segmentation of the music market, it is necessary to point out that sociologists consider polarization of music to be an important aspect in its development and innovation. We can see polarization not only between the secular and the sacred, but also between monophonic and polyphonic music, between vocal and instrumental music and so on. Polarization between sacred and secular music can also be seen globally, with gospel music in the USA, for example, being divided between Afro‐American (Evans, 1976: 135) and the wider American spectrum, between gospel and rhythm and blues; gospel music and pop music… Finally results of this polarization can be traced also inside of the genre like gospel blues and Christian country music; gospel music and Contemporary Christian Music, and etc. Among them the European sacro‐pop scene has also emerged as a new phenomenon developed from the hybridising Afro‐American gospel and pop rock. The initial development of the Euro‐American music industry relied on the marketing of secular music as its principal product. Popular and salon music at the end of the 19th century, having recording qualities suitable for the sound media of the time, were well‐placed to be successful on the music market (Tschmuck, 2003: 8). Such music mostly included short compositions and songs that, when recorded, could still evoke an emotional impact on their listeners, or otherwise entertain them. During the 20th century, all music genres came to be recorded and marketed. The other components of the music industry progressively developed: publishing houses, agencies, festivals and concerts, music organisations, associations, and media including magazines, books, radio, television and the internet. As the music industry developed, similar institutions also formed in the church sector in response to an increasingly secular world. Gospel versus profane music in Slovakia Yvetta Kajanová 217 The church institutions objected to the secular organisations, particularly because their content preferences meant the selection of exclusively secular topics in the media and of secular repertoires at festivals, concerts and in broadcasting. Also, in the communist countries neither secular nor sacred music concerts were allowed in sacred venues. Sacred music, although permitted in non‐church venues, was performed rarely. Let´s use the sample of Czechoslovak music market as an example for analysing the process of dividing to profane and sacred segment. 2. The homogenous music market in Czechoslovakia Between 1948 and 1989 the Czechoslovak music market was controlled by monopolies. In Slovakia the monopolies were held by the Slovkoncert agency (1969) and the Opus publishing house (1971); in the Czech Republic the Supraphon publishing house (1948) and the Pragokoncert agency had control. Similarly, there was only one television and one radio broadcasting company. In the former Czechoslovakia, Supraphon supplied the whole market until the establishment of the Opus publishing house in Slovakia in 1971. The government’s atheistic propaganda elicited, particularly in Slovakia and Moravia, an illegal underground movement with its own subcultures. Gospel music or sacro‐pop did not exist until 1948, and only sacred classical music was performed. The first underground attempts to create original songs with sacred lyrics were influenced by waltzes, polkas and 1950s’ Slovak folk music. The first illegal gospel bands combined Afro‐American spirituals, hard rock and pop music, and they were the seedbed for the music market’s later division into sacred and secular segments. In 1958, the band Matuzalem and, in 1968 the girls vocal group Polaris were founded by the Baptist church; the Catholic band Crédo formed in 1968. The influences of hard rock and pop music, Beach Boys and the Beatles, together with new rhythmic and melodic structures, could be heard in their music. In 1968, Matuzalem and Crédo even gave public performances, hence becoming known to the secular world. Crédo performed the first big beat mass in a church in Bratislava. In 1969, the band had an LP recording contract signed with the Supraphon publishing house. However, due to the Prague Spring movement, the album was not released until 1989. Songs by Crédo were broadcast over Radio Vaticana and Radio Free Europe. Similarly, Matuzalem and Polaris were invited by JAS, the Czechoslovak Baptist choir, to perform at the 218 Redefining art worlds in the late modernity stadium in Vsetín 1969, Czech Republic. The musicians of the band Matuzalem were included on the American recording Billy Graham: ‘Euro ´70: Where East Meets West’2 as members of a Brotherhood Unity of Baptist choir. All these events were prompted by the emergence of hard rock music around the world. However, the influence of international TV and radio stations was deliberately ‘regulated’ by interference with their transmission signals, so making it impossible to tune into and listen to them freely. In the communist era, the support of domestic and Eastern European productions was another form of ideological intervention in the field of culture. A directive containing exact percentages regulated the amounts of domestic and foreign music that were allowed to be broadcast. However, the quality of the music programs and the trends they followed were related to development patterns in the media during particular periods. In the 1960s, the news of ‘Beatlemania’ was spread by newspapers and television, but mainly through the broadcasts of Radio Luxembourg. Musicians knew the Beach Boys, the Beatles and other hard rock bands via the radio broadcasts of the Voice of America, BBC London and Radio Luxembourg. Religious services and programs on Radio Free Europe, the Voice of America and Radio Vaticana were further ways that gospel and sacro‐pop music spread into Central Europe. Czech and Slovak Radio immediately reacted to the development abroad and broadcast modern music for home audiences with the following limitations: 70% of home music production and 30% foreign production; the latter included western music and also the music of socialist countries. Influences from new rock bands came not only through radio broadcasts, but also directly from the performances of visiting foreign bands. Starting in 1966, many foreign musicians performed at the Bratislavská lýra [Bratislava Lyre] international festival, but bands