Page 256 - 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
P. 256
glasbene migracije: stičišče evropske glasbene raznolikosti
that many of them, e.g. “Sloga” maintained strong ties with choral socie-
ties from Serbia.
Another segment of the Western European culture that started to have
better reception was the composing activity. Thus, for instance, B&H Serbs
whole-heartedly accepted František Matejovský’s creations inspired by his
research into Serbian traditional tunes, primarily round dances or urban
tunes. Matejovský comprehensively analyzed folk tunes and incorporat-
ed them into the form of garlands, which in turn resulted in the piece I
Rukovjet – Srpske pjesme iz Bosne (1st Garland – Serbian songs from Bosnia).
As opposed to the failure of Bosanske sevdalinke by Bogomir Kačerovský,
Matejovský’s piece encountered favorable response. Actually, the compos-
ing style itself selected by Matejovský was far closer to the folk spirit: a
capella singing of the mixed choir without the instrumental accompani-
ment of the piano, quotations of folk melodies without attempts to include
them into the context of Western European harmonic thinking where it
obviously was not possible, and the evident model of the famous Serbi-
an composer Stevan Mokranjac were more than a sufficient reason for his
composition to be accepted.32 In Matejovský’s case, there were several more
details: he was a Czech who did not impose his Western European learn-
ing, but who made efforts to become assimilated into the local culture and
customs. Besides, upon his own initiative he opened the School of Music
(1908) where he attracted the first young local generations, he was a years-
long conductor of “Sloga”, and as opposed to most foreigners “carpet-bag-
gers” who left Bosnia and Herzegovina with their baggage after the occu-
pation, Matejovský stayed in Sarajevo until his death in 1938.33 The example
of the Czech musician is extremely inspiring, since it shows that the pop-
ulation ultimately began to accept foreigners, though only and exclusively
those who showed as much respect for B&H cultural achievements as for
their own culture and tradition.
The positive examples such as this one gave hope that the Western Eu-
ropean culture that arrived in the immigrants’ baggage would once still be
implemented into the social and cultural life. This was further contribut-
ed by the end of the First World War, since Austro-Hungary officially with-
drew in 1918, and B&H was freed from the occupier’s shackles and became
part of the South Slav creation known as the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and
32 Lana Paćuka, “Reception of Stevan Stojanović Mokranjac’s Composing Creativi-
ty in the Musical Life of B&H: Austro-Hungarian Period,” Muzikologija, 16 (2014):
227–242.
33 Sarajevo. Historical Archive Sarajevo. O-FM-18, kutija I.
254
that many of them, e.g. “Sloga” maintained strong ties with choral socie-
ties from Serbia.
Another segment of the Western European culture that started to have
better reception was the composing activity. Thus, for instance, B&H Serbs
whole-heartedly accepted František Matejovský’s creations inspired by his
research into Serbian traditional tunes, primarily round dances or urban
tunes. Matejovský comprehensively analyzed folk tunes and incorporat-
ed them into the form of garlands, which in turn resulted in the piece I
Rukovjet – Srpske pjesme iz Bosne (1st Garland – Serbian songs from Bosnia).
As opposed to the failure of Bosanske sevdalinke by Bogomir Kačerovský,
Matejovský’s piece encountered favorable response. Actually, the compos-
ing style itself selected by Matejovský was far closer to the folk spirit: a
capella singing of the mixed choir without the instrumental accompani-
ment of the piano, quotations of folk melodies without attempts to include
them into the context of Western European harmonic thinking where it
obviously was not possible, and the evident model of the famous Serbi-
an composer Stevan Mokranjac were more than a sufficient reason for his
composition to be accepted.32 In Matejovský’s case, there were several more
details: he was a Czech who did not impose his Western European learn-
ing, but who made efforts to become assimilated into the local culture and
customs. Besides, upon his own initiative he opened the School of Music
(1908) where he attracted the first young local generations, he was a years-
long conductor of “Sloga”, and as opposed to most foreigners “carpet-bag-
gers” who left Bosnia and Herzegovina with their baggage after the occu-
pation, Matejovský stayed in Sarajevo until his death in 1938.33 The example
of the Czech musician is extremely inspiring, since it shows that the pop-
ulation ultimately began to accept foreigners, though only and exclusively
those who showed as much respect for B&H cultural achievements as for
their own culture and tradition.
The positive examples such as this one gave hope that the Western Eu-
ropean culture that arrived in the immigrants’ baggage would once still be
implemented into the social and cultural life. This was further contribut-
ed by the end of the First World War, since Austro-Hungary officially with-
drew in 1918, and B&H was freed from the occupier’s shackles and became
part of the South Slav creation known as the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and
32 Lana Paćuka, “Reception of Stevan Stojanović Mokranjac’s Composing Creativi-
ty in the Musical Life of B&H: Austro-Hungarian Period,” Muzikologija, 16 (2014):
227–242.
33 Sarajevo. Historical Archive Sarajevo. O-FM-18, kutija I.
254
