Trena Jordanoska

 

Macedonian Musicology Between 1945-1990

 

            This paper is a pioneer attempt to present Macedonian musicology in the period between 1945-1990, from the moment the first musicological articles began to be published, to the initiation of the musicology post-graduate studies at UKIM FM in Skopje. Macedonian ethnomusicology, as a specific field of particular interest to Macedonian music culture and scientific experts during the above-mentioned period, is not covered in this paper, not owing to the fact that it has and still is considered a different field from musicology, but because of the scope of the material which exceeds the limits of this text.

            This paper presents the development of Macedonian musicology through three points:

1. Criticism, reviews, essays, articles - which presents the activities of the first groups of Macedonian educated musicologists, as well as the Macedonian composers and interpreters who greatly contributed to the development of music criticism, reviews, essays and articles;

2. Books - which presents the emergence of the first volumes of theoretical research in this field;

3. Education - which presents the development and influence of specialized music education, as well as the appearance of the first doctoral theses.

           

1. Criticism, publishing and papers

            For a more organized survey of the large numbers of criticism, articles and papers written during this period, we grouped them into three fields: published articles, articles read over the Macedonian radio and conferences.

 

a) Newspapers and magazines

            The growing development of music life in Macedonia after liberation, as well as the activities of the professional music institutions are closely followed by many articles in the newly formed newspapers and journals. The authors of these texts are mostly Macedonian composers, among which are Todor Skalovski (1909-2004) who published even before the war, Vlastimir Nikolovski (1925-2001) and Kiril Makedonski (1925-1984). However, this period lacks regular professional music criticism.

            The author of the first music criticism article published in the newspaper Edinstvo (Unity) was Tihomir Karapanchevski (1923-1950) (Pavlovska, 1996:19). He was especially prolific during the period of 1947-48. His most important contributions include the 18 music reviews for the magazine Muzichke novine (Music News), chronicles on music life in Macedonia between 1947-48, lectures for radio shows and articles on music historiography. His life motto was: "If you want to destroy a country, you will destroy it with war, but if you want to destroy a nation, destroy its culture" (Todorchevska, 1977:63).

Tihomir Karapanchevski

 

Among the daily newspapers Nova Makedonija (New Macedonia) was most important, since it was the national daily paper throughout this period. The culture pages of this paper regularly featured various articles regarding the problematics of music and music events.

            Until 1956, music criticism in the paper Nova Makedonija was irregular. From 1956 almost all music events began to be regularly noted and reviewed. In the period between 1956-1960 Branko Karakash (1930) was the regular music critic. He actively cooperated with the magazines Sovremenost (Contemporariness), Kulturen Zhivot (Cultural Life), Zvuk (Sound), etc. He played a significant role in the development of Macedonian music criticism in its initial period. Later, in 1970, he became known as the author of the first complete work on Macedonian composers The Music Creators in Macedonia.

Branko Karakash

 

            With the emergence of the first educated musicians, music criticism was brought to a higher level. The first educated musicologist Dragoslav Ortakov (1928) is the author of many music articles, essays, comments and pieces of criticism in several journals and newspapers. His work in the Yugoslavian music magazine Zvuk is of particular importance. In the period between 1956-86 he was editor of this magazine and he regularly wrote reports on the current events in music culture in Macedonia from 1957 until 1966.

            From 1960 Nova Makedonija's pages began to publish Vlado Chuchkov's (1929-1997) music criticism. He also published in the magazines Razgledi (Views), Kulturen Zhivot and Zvuk, only to later become a regular music critic in the newspaper Vecher. From a stylistic viewpoint, his critical reviews are extremely innovative and creative, filled with unusually unconventional thoughts and conclusions.

 

Vlado Chuchkov

 

            It can be asserted that in the course of his entire life, Vlado Chuchkov became synonymous with Macedonian music criticism. He is the only critic who continually worked in this field from the 1960s until his death. Although he worked as an editor in MRT (Macedonian Radio and Television), the core of his activities was nevertheless music criticism, regularly and rationally reflecting all events in the development of Macedonian music culture. The collection of his reviews is in fact a chronicle of Macedonian music culture which includes all prominent Macedonian composers and performers. His reviews also touch upon other problems in Macedonian music culture and art, which gives them an aesthetic dimension.

            Many composers also contributed to the development of Macedonian musicological and theoretical thought. This did not occur by chance, since much like today, in those years the music education received by composers was most complex. In their every day chores, composers face many creative dilemmas which await a theoretical explanation. We already mentioned several composers involved in music criticism (V.Nikolovski, K.Makedonski, T.Skalovski). In the 1950s this group was joined by Petre Bogdanov-Kochko (1913-1988), who edited the regular music section in the magazine Razgledi between 1954-57, publishing many critical reviews and articles in this magazine, and Tomislav Zografski (1934-2000) who also published articles in this magazine between 1954-56.

            In the following years Macedonian musicology notes the emergence of three Macedonian composers who contributed to musicological and theoretical research by their doctoral theses: Toma Proshev (1931-1996), Sotir Golabovski (1937) and Dimitrije Buzharovski (1952). The youngest of these composers, Buzharovski, published many articles and reviews in the newspapers Studentski zbor (Student's voice), Nova Makedonija and VUS (Newspaper in Wednesday) as early as the 1970s, whereas his first essays in the journal Sovremenost (a cycle of essays regarding schund in music).

            This period notes the publishing of many articles in the journals Zvuk, Makedonski folklor (Macedonian folklore), Kulturen zhivot and Makedonska muzika (Macedonian music) by Sotir Golabovski. Another critic among the composers is also Risto Avramovski (1943), who along with the multitude of criticism in the journal Mlad borec published portraits of the Macedonian composers Prokopiev, Nikolovski, Proshev and Skalovski. Stojche Toshevski (1944), Dimche Nikoleski (1943) also published many articles, where as Blagoja Ivanovski (1921) and Mihajlo Nikolovski (1934-1998) also published a smaller number.

            Overall, the 1970s notes the appearance of a new generation of music critics. One of them is Jelica Todorchevska (1937) who was librarian and director of the music collection in the National University Library St.Clement of Ohrid in Skopje.

            The music critic Jane Kodzhabashija published many articles and reviews in the newspaper Nova Makedonija between 1976-84. He also wrote reviews and articles for other journals: Ekran, Kulturen zhivot, Sovremenost, Prosvetna zhena and Mlad borec.

            The music artist Milan Firfov (1943) is also one of the reviewers in the newspaper Nova Makedonija.

 

b) Macedonian Radio  

            On 28 December, 1944, Radio Skopje, the first institution which united almost all post-war ensembles and music groups was established. In the following decades this institution stands as one of the pillars of Macedonian music culture, especially through its music production which was the only center for professional recording of national music events until the 1990s. During the four decades that are subject of this paper, the Macedonian Radio continuously grew and saw the opening of the Second (1960) and Third (1980) programs. At the time many music journalist were employed in the Radio. These journalists regularly prepared reports, comments and reviews on music life in Macedonia. In fact, the first educated Macedonian musicologists received employment at the Radio as early as the 1950s. Among them, Branko Gligorov (1930) is the most important representative. Along with Vlado Chuchkov he is one of the first Macedonian musicologists who was chiefly dedicated to music criticism until his departure from Macedonia in the 1980s. Vlado Chuchkov describes him as Òthe first pen of MacedoniaÓ (Brandzholica 2000: 333). Gligorov also wrote a proposal for the establishment of a Higher Music School and was the first president of the festival ÒOhrid SummerÓ.

            The fourth Macedonian educated musicologists Dragan Bojadzhiev (1930-1981) also worked during this period. He later turned to Macedonian music culture management and became a long-term director of the music programs in the Radio Skopje music production.

 

Dragan Bojadjiev

Branko Gligorov

 

            In the 1960s and 1970s the Macedonian radio permanently employed several Macedonian composers (Trajko Prokopiev (1909-1979), T.Skalovski, D.Ortakov who was permanent music reviewer from 1956-63, P.Bogdanov-Kochko, B.Ivanovski, V.Nikolovski, M.Nikolovski, T.Zografski, Dragan Shuplevski (1933-2001), R.Avramovski, S.Toshevski, D.Nikoleski) who worked as editors or journalists.

            Apart from the large amount of information, interviews, reviews and papers, the Third program of the Macedonian Radio established a practice of publishing theoretical musicological research. The long-term editor of the music sector of the Radio Skopje Third Program was Veselinka Babamova.

            The third programs emerging across Yugoslavian radio in the 1970s (Radio Belgrade, Zagreb and Sarajevo) played an important role in stimulating general theoretical thought, with a special emphasis on humanities, i.e. philosophy, sociology and economy. Along with the read versions broadcast on air in the 1980s, printed versions of these papers began to emerge, thus becoming available for further reference and theoretical research. The third programs regularly organized conferences and debates regarding separate theoretical issues. The Radio Skopje Third program promoted the above-mentioned activities, publishing many theoretical research papers by various Macedonian musicologists and composers such as Dimitrije Buzharovski and Toma Proshev. The end of the paper  features an excerpt of the article The Dilemma of Macedonian Musical Critical Thought by Vlado Chuchkov which directly refers to the problem discussed in this paper:


... during these post-war years, music interpretation and original music production together with music criticism are happily and idyllically married, having few, brief conflicts which do not upset their harmonious life togetherÉ Music criticism, at least within the past 25 years, has avoided more hostile conflicts and confrontations since it was conscious of the fact that authors are not born every day and that music compositions do not spring like mushrooms after rainÉ slowly and democratically, the opinion was formed that music criticism is the servant of the creator or the performer; it will sing to them and clarify things, will protect them from the musically ignorant plebeians, will create the social climate for them to breathe the clean air on top of their musical Olympus in the battle for the essential recognition of the identity of our music criticism there will be dead and wounded ones but that is much better than to decay on the margins of an art as magical as music.

 

c) Conferences

            Musicological conferences, symposiums and scientific forums have played an enormous role in the development of Macedonian musicological activity. In 1975 the festival Struga Music Autumn (a survey of the newest developments in Macedonian music in terms of composition, performance, musicology, music pedagogy and amateurism) founded the Musicological Section. After the transferring of the music part in Skopje and after the establishment of the festival Days of Macedonian Music, this section will gain independence and be renamed as Musicological Conference. The papers from this conference were published in the journals Macedonian Music and Music Folklore. Its participants were almost all Macedonian musicologists, composers and performers who published critical papers.

            Other smaller sections emerged from the development of this Conference, two of which are central: for medieval music studies and musicology. As a music discipline arising in the 1970s in Macedonia, medieval music studies is the main interest of Dragoslav Ortakov and Sotir Golabovski.

 


Dragoslav Ortakov

Sotir Golabovski

 

2. Books

            The first large publication regarding Macedonian music culture is The Music Creators in Macedonia (1970) by Branko Karakash. This work consists of 33 portraits of Macedonian composers. Nevertheless, the real production of books which raised the level of theory and Macedonian musicology happened in the 1980s. Those were works which set the foundations for the forthcoming theoretical research in the field of Macedonian music.

            In 1982, Dragoslav Ortakov published the book Music Art in Macedonia. Its first part consists of a historical overview of Macedonian music before World War II, whereas the second part presents contemporary Macedonian music composition. In 1983 Kostadin Kostadinovski published the monograph The Life and Works of Trajko Prokopiev. The book Traditional and Experimental Macedonian Music by Sotir Golabovski, published in 1984, greatly contributes to the study and recognition of our medieval music. In 1986, Toma Proshev and Dragoslav Ortakov published their doctoral theses under the titles of Contemporary Macedonian Music, analyzing the stylistic, compositional and technical characteristics of Macedonian composers, and Ars Nova Macedonica, which refers to music during the Revival. This series of books also includes the publishing of Dimitrije Buzharovski's The History of the Aesthetics of Music in 1989, one of the rare studies in the field of music philosophy.

 

3. Education

            The first group of Macedonian musicians educated at the history and folklore departments at the music academies in Belgrade, Zagreb and Ljubljana appeared in the 1950s. The first musicology graduate was Dragoslav Ortakov, who graduated at the Music Academy of Belgrade in 1955. Branko Gligorov graduated at the Music Academy in Ljubljana in 1957. Vlado Chuchkov and Dragan Bojadzhiev also studied at the academy in Ljubljana, at the Department of History and Folklore.

            With the establishment of the Higher Music School in Skopje (1 December, 1966), Dragoslav Ortakov became professor of music history. During his teaching at the School (which became FMU in 1978) he initiated the opening of a Musicology Department at the example of the Zagreb Conservatory. The School Board accepted this initiative and Ortakov organized a Seminar in Music History in order to prepare the creation of the department. The Seminar was active from the school year 1973/4 until 1976/7 (Ortakov 1986:16). Upon the completion of this Seminar, the newly-formed Musicology Department was opened on 01.12.1977. The first musicology graduate in professor Dragoslav OrtakovÕs Department is Marko Kolovski. Between 1982-87 Toma Proshev also taught at this Department, whereas Sotir Golabovski took over teaching in 1987. In 1984 Dimitrije Buzharovski began teaching aesthetics of music at this Department, and later music sociology.

            The 1980s saw the completion of the first doctoral dissertations:

 

Name and surname

Year

Doctoral dissertation

Mentor

Faculty

Toma Proshev

1981

The Compositional-Technical and Stylistic Characteristics of Contemporary Macedonian Music

Zija Kuchukalich

Sarajevo Music Academy

Dimitrije Buzharovski

1984

Of the Dialectic and Critical Aesthetics of Music

Georgi Stardelov

Faculty of Philosophy, Skopje

Sotir Golabovski

1985

Music Manuscripts from the Ohrid Collection and the Oldest Preserved Macedonian Triodions in the Slavic Language

Vladimir Alekseevich Moshin

Faculty of Philosophy, Skopje

Gjorgji Gjorgjiev

1985

Macedonian Folk Singing with Exclamations

Ana Chehanovska Kuhlinska

Belgrade Music Academy

Dragoslav Ortakov

1986

The Aesthetic Processes in 19th c. Macedonian Art with a Special Emphasis on Music

Georgi Stardelov

Faculty of Philosophy, Skopje

 

 

            The formation of the FMU Musicology Department marked a new phase of development in Macedonian musicology. Many generations of Macedonian musicologists appeared who actively take part in music life as editors in the Radio and Television, as teachers at the music schools, or as music critics in the media. Many of them deserve mention: Vaska Naumova-Tomovska, Zhanina Kirovska-Raleva, Tatjana Caneva, Sanja Shojlevska, Bojan Ortakov, Stefanija Leshkova-Zelenkovska, Tatjana Georgievska-Grkovska, Aleksandar Papesh, etc.

            In 1988 FMU saw the introduction of the first musicology post-graduate studies conducted by the professors Dragoslav Ortakov, Toma Proshev and Dimitrije Buzharovski. The first FMU research project conducted by Dimitrije Buzharovski Music Culture Trends in High School - Incidence and Prevalence of Music Genres was carried out that same year (1988-89).

 

Conclusion:

            Macedonian musicology so far has not seen research which presents its course of development. Thus, this paper is the initial attempt to systematically begin to research the history of Macedonian musicology.

 

 

References:

Bidjoska-Akjimoska, Veronika. 2000."Prilog kon dosegashniot zhivoten pat i muzikoloshkata dejnost na Dragoslav Ortakov": diplomska rabota,UKIM FM

Brandjolica, Ljubomir. 2000. Muzika,50 godini so vas. Skopje,pp.325-35

Golabovski, Sotir. 1977. "Od muzichkoto minato na Struga" in: Makedonska muzika No.1. Skopje: Strushka muzichka esen, p.43

Karakash, Branko.1970. Muzichkite tvorci vo Makedonija. Skopje: Makedonska kniga

Kolovski, Marko.1993. SOKOM 1947-1992 (Makedonski kompozitori i muzikolozi). Skopje: SOKOM

Ortakov, Dragoslav. 1982. Muzichkata umetnost vo Makedonija.Skopje:Makedonska revija

Ortakov, Dragoslav. 1986(ed.). 20 godini Fakultet za muzichka umetnost.Skopje: UKIM FM

Pavlovska, Mirjana. 1996. "Muzichkata publicistika vo Makedonija 1944-64 niz stranicite na vesnikot Nova Makedonija": diplomska rabota, UKIM FM

Todorchevska, Jelica. 1977. "Muzichkata publicistika na Tihomir Karapanchevski" in: Makedonska muzika No.1. Skopje: Strushka muzichka esen,pp.63-72