Aleksandar Dimitrijevski

The Founders of Macedonian Ethnopop Music – Blagoja Deskoski (1943 - ) composer and violinist

The general presentation of Macedonian music culture undoubtedly includes Macedonian music folklore in its traditional, but also in its contemporary form. It is precisely this contemporary form of interpretation of Macedonian music folklore and its continuity in the works of contemporary Macedonian ethnopop that calls for individuals that will preserve its identity. One of these individuals is Blagoja Deskoski, violinist, performer and author of many instrumental ethnopop works and instrumental Macedonian folk arrangements.

Blagoja Deskoski was born in the village of Zlesti, in the region of Dolna Debarca, Ohrid, in 1943. He began his elementary education in Zlesti, but completed it in the village Belchishta, Ohrid region. From early childhood he wanted to play the clarinet, an instrument that his father played. However, his father was against this idea and let him go to music school under the condition that he would not play the clarinet. At his father’s suggestion, at the age of 15 he first began to play the violin. From 1958 to 1964 he studied in the Skopje music high school, in the violin department under the guidance of Stojan Krstevski. During his high school days he was member of many culture and art societies (CAS): “Mirche Acev”, “Vlado Tasevski”, “Orce Nikolov”.

Under the recommendation of Dragan Shuplevski who was at the time head of the Radio Skopje music production, teacher in the Skopje music school and conductor of the “Mirche Acev” choir, upon his graduation in 1964 Blagoja Deskoski was employed in the Radio and Television Skopje National Orchestra (later known as Macedonian Radio and Television). He there took the vacant position of Nikola Galevski, founder of the National Orchestra. In the beginning of the following year of 1965, he became leader of the orchestra. His working position was difficult because his status was beyond the authority of his colleagues who had been prominent musicians and members of the orchestra long before his arrival. At that time, the National Orchestra included the following members: Angel Nanchevski – accordion, Tale Ognenovski – clarinet, Ivan Terziev – flute, Mladen Stojanovikj – viola, Aleksandar Piperkov – guitar, Stojan Pandilov – double bass, Metodija Zafirovski Smolski – drums.

Dissatisfied with the conventional character of the orchestra, in the beginning of 1966 he left the National Orchestra and became a free-lance entertainment artist. He performed with many different ensembles in the Republic of Macedonia and abroad. Among other things, he played in the orchestras of the accordion players Kocho Petrovski and Angel Nanchevski and the clarinet players Tale Ognenovski and Mate Grujovski. Apart from the many concerts and performances, Blagoja Deskovski played the violin in many studio recordings, out of which approximately 400-500 were recorded as LP singles. During this period Deskoski did not end his cooperation with his colleagues in the RTS National Orchestra, so in 1973 he rejoined it.

Deskoski noticed that until his second arrival in the National Orchestra, the Orchestra’s recording practice was not implemented through scores, but by heart, through oral and audible means of learning. The final product was the collectively planned out music piece. Deskoski emphasized the work of Angel Nanchevski and Ivan Terziev, who were informally responsible for the instrumental tune creation of the songs, and Aleksandar Piperkov as a good harmonizer. At the time, the National Orchestra had high standards of work: two days of recordings, the remaining days for the preparation of the music material. With this timetable the Orchestra recorded around 30 music pieces per month.

At his personal insisting, towards the end of the 1970s the National Orchestra introduced music scores. In the beginning they were in the form of instrumental part only with the tune and harmony instructions, whereas the sound color of the orchestra and its musical details were perfected during the recordings. From the early 1980s the orchestra began to work with complete score arrangements by different authors, which significantly improved their work. It is important to emphasize that with time the orchestra exclusively consisted of musicians who had received institutional music education.

In 1974 Deskoski again became leader of the National Orchestra, until 1982 when he was substituted by the violinist Ljupcho Pandilovski who remained at that position until his retirement in 1986. From 1986 until 1999 the orchestra was lead by the accordion player Todor Trajchevski, and from 1999 until 2003, until his retirement, Blagoja Deskoski was again named leader of the orchestra.

The close communication and cooperation with his colleagues deeply influenced Blagoja Deskoski’s music performance. He considers the following people responsible for the music expression of ethnopop music as a continuation of Macedonian music folklore in general:

- Nikola Galevski – violinist an founder of the Radio Skopje National Orchestra, creator of the unified sound and characteristic national style of the Orchestra’s performance;

- Kocho Petrovski – accordion player and author of several well-known vocal and instrumental pieces, which, according to Deskoski are the “instructions of use” for younger musicians involved with Macedonian ethnopop music;

- Angel Nanchevski – accordion player and author of instrumental compositions and arrangements of Macedonian folk songs performed by the National orchestra;

- Tale Ognenovski – clarinet player and author of many instrumental compositions;

- Ivan Terziev – flute player and author of many instrumental compositions and arrangements of Macedonian folk songs performed by the National Orchestra, also one of the first arrangers of Macedonian instrumental folk music with a symphonic music expression;

- Dragi Mitrev – clarinet player and author of several instrumental and vocal-instrumental pieces;

- Todor Trajchevski – accordion player and author with a creative potential in orchestration and melodic inventivity.

Apart from the cooperation with his close colleagues, during his many years with the National Orchestra, Blagoja Deskoski contributed to the emergence of many young and educated musicians working within the realms of ethnopop music.

Blagoja Deskoski’s opus is divided into two fields:

- Arrangements of folk songs (vocal and instrumental)

- Instrumental compositions – Macedonian ethnopop dances

The first field notes over 1000 folk songs, which, according to Deskovski, have been arranged by Deskoski himself for the use of the National Orchestra or the other orchestras with which he had been working. These songs were enhanced with new instrumental tunes with harmonic and counterpoint enrichment. It is this enhancement of the folk songs that gives them their particular sound for which they are recognized today.

In fact, the population has created a persisting habit of listening to folk songs in the arranged form that inevitably contains instrumental introduction and harmonizations. Thus, the change of the instrumental introduction and different harmonization result in a new form of the songs. Part of the folk songs which Deskoski arranged are: Ne se beli Mare mori and Snoshti go prativ ej more Mare sung by Nikola Badev; Filizoj mome and More tri godini Stambol go shetav sung by Aleksandar Sarievski and Obloga se fakjat momche i devojche sung by Vaska Ilieva. His work also includes songs for duets such as Abre vodenicharche for Aleksandar Sarievski and Petranka Kostadinovska and Kazhi Vaske Evgova for Aleksandar Sarievski and Vaska Ilieva.

As far as the second field is concerned, Deskoski wished to set the violin as a solo instrument in the West-European tradition from the very beginning of his career at the National Orchestra, as opposed to his predecessor Nikola Galevski who treated the violin in the traditional manner.

For a long time Deskoski was fascinated with the instrumental interpretation of the so-called rubato songs (songs in free rhythm) from Macedonian music folklore. Apart from that, he was intrigued by the instrumental solos – ezgijas performed on the instruments kaval and gajda, making successful attempts in imitating this type of performance on the violin.

Nikola Galevski, whose work created the “spirit” of the instrumental music performed by the National Orchestra, greatly influenced Deskoski’s creative opus. His influence is reflected in the dance music pieces for solo violin and orchestra and in the continuing interest in instrumentally performing rubato songs from Macedonian music folklore.

We will briefly introduce some of Deskoski’s most prominent instrumental pieces:

- Zletosko oro[*] in 11/16 meter, initially created as music for the choreography of the culture and art society “Mirche Acev” in 1965;

- Ovcharka oro – in 4/4 meter, part of the above-mentioned choreography. Both dances are more of an instrumental rather than a solo character. They were initially recorded with the CAS “Mirche Acev” Orchestra, and later with the RTS National Orchestra;

- Deskovo oro- in 4/4 meter for solo violin and orchestra;

- Karaormansko oro – with a kaval ezgija as an introduction, then in 2/4 meter with a fast tempo turns into an imitation of a gajda improvisation with an orchestral ending;

- Ribarsko oro- in 9/8 meter for solo violin and orchestra;

- Pchelarsko oro in 9/16 meter dedicated to his father’s love of beekeeping;

- Samovilsko oro- with a kaval ezgija as an introduction, accompanied by an orchestra. Develops into a 2/4 fast tempo meter and ends with a 9/8 meter. With this composition, in 1987, Deskovski became the laureate of the Bratislava European Radio Festival of Recordings in Slovakia. Competing with 38 European radio stations, he won the Golden Lyre of Interpretation;

- Sofiino oro – in 7/8 meter, dedicated to his wife.

- Kasapsko oro- in 4/4 meter, arrangement of a well-known old Macedonian dance from the Aegean part of Macedonia, brought to Macedonia through the Bitola-Prespa music groups.

In the last ten years of his fruitful music career, Deskoski directed his creative interest towards the creation of a symphonic sound in Macedonian instrumental ethnopop music. He fulfilled his intention by supplementing the National Orchestra with instruments needed for that cause. Although from its beginnings the National Orchestra (then known as the small National Orchestra) had a long-term setting of one flute, one clarinet, one accordion, two violins, one viola, one guitar, one double bass and one set of drums, from the early 1980s it was completed by a whole set of string instruments as in the classical orchestras – four first violins, three second violins, two violas, two violoncellos. In 1998, on the 50^th anniversary of the founding of the National Orchestra, Deskoski created the new (symphonic) Big MRT National Orchestra, whose setting included all the instruments of the classical symphonic orchestra, but in a reduced form. Apart from the already existing orchestral setting, one piccolo (or flute), one oboe, one clarinet, one bassoon, two trumpets, one French horn, one trombone and one set of percussion instruments were added.

With this complete setting Deskoski realized several concert performances, the Macedonian ethnopop song festival “Cvetnici” (in 2000, 2001 and 2002) and several studio recordings, thus managing to fulfill his lasting ambition of creating a symphonic National Orchestra.

His original compositions resulted from this ambition:

- Dance For My Grandchild – begins with 8/8 meter, continues into a 4/4 meter and a conclusion in a 9/8 meter. Created in the late 1980s, dedicated to his first grandchild;

- Male Dance – symphonic arrangement of a famous dance from the Aegean part of Macedonia Mashkoto (The Male Dance);

- Maleshevo Dances – symphonic arrangement of the dances from the Maleshevija region Berovka and Ratevka;

- Ohrid Dances – arrangement of dances from the Aegean part of Macedonia, in the past played in the Ohrid region – interpretation of his father’s group and other Ohrid groups.

In his prolific and long-lasting music career, Deskoski stands as one of the creators of the development of Macedonian ethnopop music. His interest in retaining the identity of Macedonian music expression is manifested through his work in the MRT National Orchestra.

Deskoski’s unique style of performance will remain an example of the link between a traditionalist instrumental performer on one hand and inventivity on the other. His original music pieces remain guidelines for the young generations who wish to create in the spirit of Macedonian music tradition.

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[*] oro is a Macedonian word which signifies a traditional circular dance. (Translator’s note)