Page 255 - Weiss, Jernej, ur. 2017. Glasbene migracije: stičišče evropske glasbene raznolikosti - Musical Migrations: Crossroads of European Musical Diversity. Koper/Ljubljana: Založba Univerze na Primorskem in Festival Ljubljana. Studia musicologica Labacensia, 1
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from “baggage culture” to universally accepted cultural commitment ...
lic life, inch by inch. After Sarajevo had been Germanized to a great extent,
and all significant notices, programs, posters, even newspaper advertise-
ments were published in German, and the city was inhabited by as much as
35% foreign population29, it became clear that the expansion of new trends
could not be stopped. Ultimately, it was also contributed by the annexation
of 1908, when B&H was officially annexed to the Austro-Hungarian territo-
ry.30 The annexation was the final stroke, and possible hopes for independ-
ence, autonomy or the return to the Ottoman Empire were now officially
shattered. The local population was faced with the challenge of “take it or
leave it”, whereby ignoring the views propagated by administration meant
reconciliation with their own marginalization in all political social or cul-
tural contexts. This meant that the occupier could be defeated only with
their own weapons, hence the result was consumption of the patterns and
models of the Western European culture the most suitable for goals color-
ed with the idea of autonomy and national rights. The means of struggle
now had to focus on education, literacy, the creation of local intelligentsia
that was supposed to permeate social, even political trends in order to se-
cure their own rights.
In the area of musical life, the segment of Western European cultural
heritage most accessible for grassroots was the idea of association, or more
accurately the idea of founding national choral societies. Although their
formation was made difficult and strictly controlled by the regime, choral
societies after the model of the international men’s singing society Män-
nergesanverein (1887) began to be established by B&H Serbs (1889) and Cro-
ats (1894) as well, followed by the Jews (1900).31 The local people were skillful
in turning the cultural patterns to their own benefit, and therefore socializ-
ing and parties organized within the circle of members of the Srpsko-pra-
voslavno crkveno-pjevačko društvo “Sloga” [Serbian Church Orthodox
Choral Society “Sloga”] or the Hrvatsko pjevačko društvo “Trebević” [Cro-
atian Choral Society “Trebević”] became centers of awakening of national
consciousness and nourishing folk tradition. Still, their activity faced prob-
lems, since administration soon realized the potential threat, and the fact
29 Okey, Taming Balkan Nationalism, 221.
30 Ian Sethre, “Occupation and Nation-Building in Bosnia-Herzegovina1878–1914” in
Austria-Hungary, Bosnia-Herzegovina, and the Wester Balkans1878–1918, Clemens
Ruthner, Diana Reynolds Cordileone, Ursula Reber and Raymond Detrez, ed. (New
York: Peter Lang, 2015), 58.
31 The full name of the Jewish society was: Španjolsko-jevrejsko pjevačko društvo “La
Lira” [Spanish Jews’ Choral Society “La Lira”].
253
lic life, inch by inch. After Sarajevo had been Germanized to a great extent,
and all significant notices, programs, posters, even newspaper advertise-
ments were published in German, and the city was inhabited by as much as
35% foreign population29, it became clear that the expansion of new trends
could not be stopped. Ultimately, it was also contributed by the annexation
of 1908, when B&H was officially annexed to the Austro-Hungarian territo-
ry.30 The annexation was the final stroke, and possible hopes for independ-
ence, autonomy or the return to the Ottoman Empire were now officially
shattered. The local population was faced with the challenge of “take it or
leave it”, whereby ignoring the views propagated by administration meant
reconciliation with their own marginalization in all political social or cul-
tural contexts. This meant that the occupier could be defeated only with
their own weapons, hence the result was consumption of the patterns and
models of the Western European culture the most suitable for goals color-
ed with the idea of autonomy and national rights. The means of struggle
now had to focus on education, literacy, the creation of local intelligentsia
that was supposed to permeate social, even political trends in order to se-
cure their own rights.
In the area of musical life, the segment of Western European cultural
heritage most accessible for grassroots was the idea of association, or more
accurately the idea of founding national choral societies. Although their
formation was made difficult and strictly controlled by the regime, choral
societies after the model of the international men’s singing society Män-
nergesanverein (1887) began to be established by B&H Serbs (1889) and Cro-
ats (1894) as well, followed by the Jews (1900).31 The local people were skillful
in turning the cultural patterns to their own benefit, and therefore socializ-
ing and parties organized within the circle of members of the Srpsko-pra-
voslavno crkveno-pjevačko društvo “Sloga” [Serbian Church Orthodox
Choral Society “Sloga”] or the Hrvatsko pjevačko društvo “Trebević” [Cro-
atian Choral Society “Trebević”] became centers of awakening of national
consciousness and nourishing folk tradition. Still, their activity faced prob-
lems, since administration soon realized the potential threat, and the fact
29 Okey, Taming Balkan Nationalism, 221.
30 Ian Sethre, “Occupation and Nation-Building in Bosnia-Herzegovina1878–1914” in
Austria-Hungary, Bosnia-Herzegovina, and the Wester Balkans1878–1918, Clemens
Ruthner, Diana Reynolds Cordileone, Ursula Reber and Raymond Detrez, ed. (New
York: Peter Lang, 2015), 58.
31 The full name of the Jewish society was: Španjolsko-jevrejsko pjevačko društvo “La
Lira” [Spanish Jews’ Choral Society “La Lira”].
253
