Darko Ilievski

The Role of the Skopje Amateur Music Societies in the Preservation of Traditional Music Culture in Macedonia in the 21^st Century

This paper discusses the current situation of the Culture and Art Societies in Skopje (CAS), themselves a unique phenomenon which helps the preservation of the folk tradition.

The establishment of the Culture and Art Societies began during World War II. In fact, these societies are another form of the pre-war gymnasiums for physical education known as Sokols, which were rearranged as places for cultural and artistic activities. The development of such activities was financed and sponsored by the government. With the collapse of the socialist system, the finance and support of folklore amateurism decreased.

Currently in Skopje there are 10 Culture and Art Societies founded during the period of 1945-2003. These societies are members of The Alliance of Folk Ensembles of Macedonia (AFEM) - Skopje region.

	Year of foundation
Orce Nikolov	1945
Vlado Tasevski	1945
Grigor Prlichev	1945
Kocho Racin	1946
Mirche Acev	1949
Kitka	1968
Cvetan Dimov	1972
Skopje	1995
A. Makedonski	1998
Jonche Hristovski	2003

The performance structure is identical in all the CAS, consisting of dancers and an orchestra. The number of members ranges from 120 to 400 members organized in different groups. The division into groups is based on the members’ age. However, this may vary in different ensembles. Generally there are children’s, youth, and the so-called first ensemble. The “first” representative group consists of the oldest members, and thus, by assumption, the most competent ones. Most of the members of the societies belong to the children’s groups.

The female members outnumber the male members in the ensembles. There is a significantly higher number of female members in the smaller adult groups, but this ratio is also present in the “first” ensemble groups. For instance, the ensemble “Skopje” has 12 male and 20 female dancers, whereas the “Mirche Acev” has 16 male and 22 female dancers; the “Kocho Racin” ensemble has 31 male as opposed to 33 female dancers.

	number of members
Orce Nikolov	300
Vlado Tasevski	200
Grigor Prlichev	180
Kocho Racin	400
Mirche Acev	320
Kitka
Cvetan Dimov	100
Skopje	250
A. Makedonski	140
Jonche Hristovski	120

All Culture and Art Societies include a traditional orchestra consisting of:

• accordions (two)
• clarinet
• flute (only in the “Mirche Acev” orchestra)
• violin
• guitar
• bass guitar or double bass
• trumpet (rarely, only in the “Vado Tasevski” orchestra)
• tapan (some choreographies also use the tarabuka - kettledrum for example Tresenica, Zhensko chamche)

A regular orchestra with folk instruments (gajda, kaval, tambura, tapan) is rare and most of the CAS employ such orchestras when necessary, or two or three traditional folk instrumentalists join the traditional orchestra for a specific dance or medley (ex. “Osogovka” – gajda and tambura with a traditional orchestra).

	traditional orchestra	folk orchestra
Orce Nikolov	8 members	if necessary
Vlado Tasevski	15 members	6 members
Grigor Prlichev	12 members	3 members
Kocho Racin	12 members	if necessary
Mirche Acev	11members	if necessary
Kitka
Cvetan Dimov
Skopje	8 members	if necessary
A. Makedonski	7 members	/
Jonche Hristovski	10 members	/

The orchestra members are instrumentalist with a professional music education, with a non-institutional music education (courses, private lessons, etc.), or amateurs.

	traditional orchestra	with music education	with non-institutional music education or without music education
Orce Nikolov	8 members	1 member	7 members
Vlado Tasevski	15 members	4 members	11 members
Grigor Prlichev	12 members	/	12 members
Kocho Racin	12 members	5 members	7 members
Mirche Acev	11 members	8 members	3 members
Kitka
Cvetan Dimov
Skopje	8 members	4 members	4 members
A. Makedonski	7 members	1 members	6 members
Jonche Hristovski	10 members	2 members	8 members

As far as the repertoire of the societies is concerned, it is dominated by stylized dances and medleys. Many of the choreographies have been performed by the national ensemble “Tanec” during the 1960s and 1970s, and are further passed over to the Culture and Art Societies. The predominance of such choreographies, written and arranged for western instruments, directly influences the sustenance of the orchestras as well as the sustenance of the traditional orchestra as opposed to the folk orchestra. Performing new choreographies still persists today, but not as much as in the past.

Ever since the gaining of independence, most of the CAS practice dances and songs only from Macedonia. However, some of them include choreographies from former Yugoslav countries on their repertoire, such as Vranje and Srbija.

	number of choreographies
Orce Nikolov	30
Vlado Tasevski	12
Grigor Prlichev	11
Kocho Racin	20
Mirche Acev	19
Kitka
Cvetan Dimov
Skopje	12
A. Makedonski	19
Jonche Hristovski	8

Some of the choreographies are part of the repertoire of almost all the mentioned CAS. Those are: Kalajdzhisko, Tresenica, Vodarki, Egejski igri, Igri od istochna Makedonija, Osogovka, Teshkoto.

Osogovka

The data regarding the number of performances refers to the ensembles performing anything from a single number during a concert or festival.

	number of performances in 2004
Orce Nikolov	80
Vlado Tasevski	20
Grigor Prlichev	68
Kocho Racin	103
Mirche Acev	118
Kitka
Cvetan Dimov
Skopje	42
A. Makedonski	27
Jonche Hristovski	28

The number of performances in 2004 also includes the performances of all groups working within the CAS. Apart from performances at home, the CAS are also interested in performing abroad. These activities mainly take place at the folk festivals in Europe and in other places around the globe. The busy program of such festivals increases the number of annual performances, thus making the number of performances abroad exceed the number of those at home. However, this ratio of performances in the country and abroad depends on the realized guest performances by the ensemble. For instance, out of the 103 performances of the “Kocho Racin” ensemble, 36 were at home and the remaining 67 were abroad. The number of home performances includes the CAS independent concert performances (usually the annual concerts or concerts for special occasions), performances at events honoring national or religious holidays, Skopje folk festival performances (International Student Folk Festival, the children’s folk festival “Ss. Cyril and Methodius”, etc), folk performances for AFEM – Skopje region, guest performances in other towns in Macedonia, etc.

The Culture and Art Societies were financed by the SIZ (Self-governed Unit for Culture) until 1991. This institution ranked the CAS with points according to a set of criteria, and the CAS received financial help according to these points. The Ministry of Culture financed the CAS from 1991 until 1999. In 1999, the Culture and Art Societies were registered as NGOs, which cut the financial support of the Ministry of Culture. Today it only grants financial support for some projects and performances abroad. The CAS cover the remaining expenses by means of self-finance.

The love of folklore, friendship, enthusiasm, the desire and possibility of performing in other countries is still an attractive appeal for many young people to join the Culture and Art Societies, thus actively contributing to the preservation of Macedonia’s culture tradition. However, the changing economic situation has deeply influenced the persistence of the societies. It is possible that in the future, if their structure does not adapt to the terms of the 21^st century, the interest for membership will decline, which will threaten their further existence.