The institutional framework of musical activities in Sarajevo in the period between the two world wars

Regardless of the unfavorable political and economic context of Bosnia and Herzegovina as a part of the Kingdom of Yugoslavia (1919–1941), musical life in Sarajevo, being the administrative centre of Bosnia and Herzegovina, was institutionally achieved in the area of music education, reproductive and productive musical activities. Introduction: sociopolitical context In the period between the world wars (1918–1941) Bosnia and Herzegovina was part of the first Yugoslav state, the Kingdom of Yugoslavia.1 During this period Bosnia and Herzegovina experienced a few administrative and territorial divisions aimed at centralizing the state. Since its centuries-long historical, political, and economic heritage was 1 The first Yugoslav state was formed on December 1, 1918 under the name of “Kingdom of Serbs, Croats, and Slovenes.” After the sixth January dictatorship the state was renamed in “Kingdom of Yugoslavia”. The latter one is being used throughout this


Introduction: sociopolitical context
In the period between the world wars (1918-1941) Bosnia and Herzegovina was part of the first Yugoslav state, the Kingdom of Yugoslavia. 1 During this period Bosnia and Herzegovina experienced a few administrative and territorial divisions aimed at centralizing the state.Since its centuries-long historical, political, and economic heritage was 1 The first Yugoslav state was formed on December 1, 1918 under the name of "Kingdom of Serbs, Croats, and Slovenes."After the sixth January dictatorship the state was renamed in "Kingdom of Yugoslavia".The latter one is being used throughout this paper.
not taken into account, Bosnia and Herzegovina was damaged by this political process. 2 These changes affected all walks of life, and the most affected segment was population who, poor, and uneducated, suffered the consequences of political instability and increasing social and economic problems.Bosnia and Herzegovina entered the Kingdom of Yugoslavia as an underdeveloped, and backward region, thus, the dependence on economic circumstances, in terms of culture, was far more prominent in this area than other, more developed environments. 3arajevo did not have the status of one of the centers of political power, but due its sociopolitical and cultural-historical heritage still remained the administrative center of Bosnia and Herzegovina. 4While the "capitals", Belgrade, Zagreb and Ljubljana definitely established the institutional forms of musical culture, whose development had a beneficial influence for various musical activities, 5 Sarajevo, due to the marginal role in the political life of Yugoslavia, had to fight for a position of one of the cultural centers. 6rofessionalization of musical institutions in Sarajevo is only partially implemented.Specifically, National Theatre in Sarajevo remained the only professional cultural institution by the end of this period.All other institutions, including Sarajevo Philharmonic Orchestra, were acting in accordance with the tradition of amateur societies established in previous, the Austro-Hungarian period.Moreover, most vibrant and most diverse activity was developed by the amateur choral and other music companies that formed the backbone of the local reproductive music activity.Establishment of these institutions has contributed to the shaping of the European character of the Bosnian musical life, and favorable conditions for the music culture development and highly diverse composing activities, especially after the world war two.Regardless of the unfavorable political and economic context, the musical life of Sarajevo between the two wars was institutionally achieved in the area of music education, reproductive and productive musical activity. 7 The institutional base of music education: the public schools and the amateur music societies Upon the end of the World War I, almost all schools in Bosnia and Herzegovina have continued to work under existing curricula from the Austro-Hungarian monarchy.The new government has endeavored -in accordance with changes in the political and administrative organization of the state -to adopt new curricula with a tendency of equalizing in the entire territory.However, the process of harmonization of the curricula of all schools in the Kingdom of Yugoslavia has run quite slowly.The reasons were multiple, but economics is the most important one; in a society with serious economic and social problems, care for music education was not a priority.
Classes of music in public schools were prescribed in curricula in people's (elementary) and civil schools, high schools, teachers' colleges and religious colleges.In people's, civil, and high schools, pupils learned about music within a subject called 'singing'.Singing was present at teachers' colleges as well.However, future teachers also attended a few musical subjects: church singing, playing (violin and elective piano), orchestra and choral singing.Music classes in vocational religious catholic, orthodox and Jewish schools have occupied a special place, in accordance with a specific position of these schools within the educational system and the needs of the future profession of the pupils.Muslim vocational high schools adjusted their curricula to valid regulations, i.e. regulations for junior and senior high schools in the Kingdom of Yugoslavia, which meant that the subject 'singing' was taught according to the curriculum for all high schools.Namely, the musical subjects were not part of the curriculum in Muslim vocational schools until this period. 8ublic schools' concert activity implied the organization of public appearances of school ensembles and pupils, mainly on the occasions of school jubilees and academies, or state and religious holidays.The musical part of the program included choral and instrumental pieces with occasional appearances by guests.The state did not specially stimulate pupils' musical activities, but it did exert strict control over 7 The term musical institution implies "hierarchically organized action, work and status of one man (rarely) or a group of people (usually) with the aim of establishing communication and action that are socially contextualised in some social and/or legal framework with local and global significance, and whose field of discourse is music in the broadest sense."The musical institution is determined by the following elements: the workspace, subject, field, time, and method of operation, people employed or associated with the institution and the relations of people in the institution, finance, relationships and commitment of the company and vice versa.Ivan Čavlović, "Muzičke institucije i njihov značaj u razvoju kulturnog života: Prolegomena kulturološkim istraživanjima odnosa muzike i društva u Bosni i Hercegovini," Muzika 26 (2005): 30.

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Cf. Selma Ferović, Teorija i praksa muzičkog vaspitanja i obrazovanja u Bosni i Hercegovini (Sarajevo: IDP "Udžbenici, priručnici i didaktička sredstva", 1991); Mitar Papić, Školstvo u Bosni i Hercegovini (1918-1941)  schools' operations. 9A special attention was paid to the organization of St. Sava's and St. Vitus' Day celebrations, which were imposed as one of mandatory school performances, regardless of their religious character, and defined by a series of orders and instructions. 10Celebration of St. Sava's day, on January 27th, consisted of two parts, church and school one.The school part of celebration consisted of a lecture on St. Sava, suitable poems, music pieces and theatre plays of "patriotic and educational significance".Together with state celebrations, confessional schools celebrated religious and national holidays in accordance with the national mark of the school (or boarding school). 11 specific link between schools and national societies was formed through a network of boarding schools which had been developed in the Austro-Hungarian period by the larger culture-educational Bosnian societies, such as Serbian Prosvjeta, Croatian Napredak, Muslim Gajret and Muslim Narodna uzdanica.A special attention was paid to the development of boarding school pupils' social life by establishing various clubsliterary, amateur and music (most often choirs and tamburitza orchestras).The ensembles performed within celebrations on the occasion of state, religious and national holidays, as well as at celebrations of the founders.On the other hand, the establishment of ensembles in boarding schools was a very simple and practical solution for the societies that did not have ensembles of their own.Since the boarding schools were controlled by the societies, choirs of this kind were actually societies' choirs.12 In the period between the two wars, problems in teaching music subjects were numerous, primarily caused by inefficient cultural and educational policies "aided" by the economic crisis of the 1930s.Classes of music in public schools were struggling with difficulties caused by un-uniform curricula, a lack of professional staff, pupils' insufficient previous knowledge, lack of ties between theory and practice in music subjects, as well as by unresponsiveness to the demands of practice in general.Together with insufficient means for classes and poor working conditions (a lack of instruments, premises, sheet music, insufficient number of hours compared to the number of pupils, insufficient number of teachers, and time for rehearsing), insufficient attention of teachers who taught this subject "by the force of circumstances", and general lack of care for this aspect of education, created a fairly gloomy picture in this area of pedagogical practice.
The classes of music in public schools in Sarajevo did not yield adequate pedagogical results, "owing to" the inefficient state cultural policy.However, compared to other areas in Bosnia and Herzegovina, the public schools in Sarajevo were in far more favourable position, due to its status as an administrative and cultural center of Bosnia and Herzegovina.Better equipped school with suitable music-teaching staff achieved better results, 9 Director of the State teaching college "Queen Mary" (Državna učiteljska škola "Kraljica Marija") on behalf of all high schools in Sarajevo filed an application dated on April 27, 1939 for approval of the concert and the concert program, and by order of the Ministry of education, which related to the obligation to submit applications directly to the Ministry for approval.Sarajevo.The Archives of Bosnia-Herzegovina.Fond Kraljevska banska uprava Drinske banovine IV odjejenje, sign.KBUDB IV, 1558, 1939.which were reflected in more frequent and higher-quality public performances.This type of public schools' practice depended on modest financial and human resources available to schools, as well as on the overall involvement by a school's management, teachers and pupils.
Although the music education in interwar period continues to develop at the base of practice inherited from the Austro-Hungarian period within the regular classes in public schools and courses of amateur societies, Sarajevo obtained the institutional basis of musical education only upon the establishment of the District School of Music in 1920.

The District School of Music: the first state-subsidized school of music
The District School of Music (Oblasna muzička škola) in Sarajevo was established on October 1, 1920, 13 on the initiative of a few lovers of music and with the help of Đoko Kovačević, Chief of the Department of Education of The Royal Administration of the Drina Banate (Kraljevska banska uprava Drinske banovine). 14The purpose of the School was to "spread the music education" 15 and to provide music education to students to the extent to which they will be able to pass the entry exam and continue their education at some other academy or conservatory of music, or to complement their general cultural education. 16nterest in school enrollment was huge.The School had approximately two hundred pupils, mostly high school students, but there still were a large number of other rejected pupils.There were five employed teachers, Josip Hladek-Bohinjski (1879-1940) as the first principal of the school and several teachers from Czechoslovakia.The establishment of the District School of Music was observed by the local newspaper with an unconcealed tendency to promote the school as an institution for all strata of society in the national and in social terms. 17he District School of Music was receiving the state subsidy but, in accordance with general state policy toward art schools, it did not have the status of public school such as other state-owned schools.The District School of Music was enjoyed state subsidy and stood under the supervision of the Ministry of Education as well as other musical and painting schools in the Kingdom of Yugoslavia.Since the School had no final exam, it was not recognized as higher or primary music school, only as "merely a private music school". 18Regardless of the impossibility to provide public status of the school, management was credited for the highly successful work of this institution in the interwar period.District School of Music managed to gather the most qualified teachers in Sarajevo at that time.Throughout this period, 26 teachers of music had been working in this school.A few of them deserve particular credit for the school's successful activity, including: Bogdan Milanković (1885-1966), PhD and years-long Principal of the school, Ljubomir Bajac (1890-1951), teacher of piano and theory, Klemens Menšik (1890-1971), teacher of piano and organ, Beluš Jungić (1892-1968), teacher of theory and cello, and Franjo Topić (1881-1937), teacher of violin and viola.Besides the main subjects such as the piano, the solo singing, string and other orchestral instruments, classes for regular pupils included the choral singing (ear training), the music theory (elementary theory and harmony), chamber and orchestra tutorials.District school of music was attended by a few hundreds of pupils, including a few very significant Bosnian artists such as conductor and composer Alfred Pordes, composers Branko Grković and Emil-Milo Cipra, conductor and composer Ivan Demeter, conductor Tihomir Mirić, ballerina Ubavka Milanković, violinist Ljudevit Dobronji and bassoonist Sulejman Memić. 19ince its establishment to the beginning of the World War II, District School of Music operated as the only professional musical pedagogical institution which, besides its pedagogical work, acted as a significant participant in the concert life of Sarajevo.Throughout this period School organized at least two pupils' concerts a year including the final concert at the end of the school year.The School encompassed the Philharmonic Association and the Quartet of Philharmonic Association, which gathered teachers who, under the auspices of the association, regularly organized concerts.This association was the main initiator of the establishment of the Sarajevo philharmonic orchestra, the most significant music society in this period.

The National theatre in Sarajevo: the music activities of the first professional cultural institution
With the establishment of The National Theatre in Sarajevo in 1919, Sarajevo and Bosnia and Herzegovina obtained the first professional theatre ensemble, the center of the city's theatre and cultural life in the period between the two wars. 20Regardless of all the difficulties it was encountering in its work, National Theatre managed to maintain a well-profiled annual repertoire, human and material resources, and attain broad cultural activity which, besides theatre, encompassed literature, visual and music arts, from its establishment all the way to 1941.National Theatre's influence on the development of musical life was great, and was primarily reflected through staging pieces with singing 21 and operates within its regular theatre repertoire.Since there were no opera or operetta houses in Sarajevo or Bosnia and Herzegovina in the period between the wars, staging such stage musical types with one's own human and material resources have had an immeasurable significance for the development of culture and arts.Performing pieces with singing and operettas encouraged the establishment of music ensembles, theatre choir and employment of professional musicians, conductors and vocal soloists, which had a direct impact on strengthening professionalism.Over the two decades of their activity, the ensembles were led by professional musicians, conductors Josip Hladek-Bohinjski, Karel Moor, František Matĕjovský, Josip Rožđalovski, Beluš Jungić, Otmar Hofer, Alfred Pordes, Jaroslav Plecitý, Josip Majer and Max Unger.
Theatre musical ensembles, particularly the orchestra, performed very often, since the theatre play without music were very rare in this period.However, financing the choir, orchestra and ballet ensemble was a very expensive investment and a heavy burden for the theatre's tiny budget.So, these ensembles were consequently formed and dismantled for a few times, as a result of management's struggle to ensure the survival of the only professional cultural institution in Sarajevo.On the other hand, the National Theatre directly spurred music creations by means of contests and orders for new pieces with singing.Actually, after two seasons which included staging of popular pieces with the singing of Serbian and Croatian writers, the 1922/1923 season witnessed the first performance of the piece with singing on the text by a local author.It was Aiša, the first piece with singing on a theme from Bosnian life (of Bosnian Muslims) according to the text of the local writer Svetozar Ćorović and to the music of the local composer František Mate ˘jovský.This piece was followed by a series of new local creations in this genre such as Zlatija (text: Osman Đikić), Almasa (text: Jovan Palavestra), U Struzi dućan da imam by Beluš Jungić, Od kako je Banjaluka postala (text: Rasim Filipović) by Jaroslav Plecity, etc. 22 Theatre management also struggled with the pressure by cultural public and theatre critics, who had extremely negative attitude about the musical part of theatre repertoire. 23ctually, the quality of musical theatre pieces very rarely exceeded the average level, and was in a serious danger of falling into dilettantism and superficiality.It was due to the non-adequate ensemble, which consisted of actors rather than musicians.However, despite the critics' condescending view of the plays with singing, the musical part of repertoire was the most demanded and visited one.It was Sarajevo audience's appetite for "musical performances" and light plays of prominently entertaining character that 21 Pieces with singing (komadi s pjevanjem) were the backbone of the national-romantic repertoire, which was extensively cultivated in Sarajevo up to the Second World War.Musical parts of this theatre genre were present in large numbers, but they were not tightly tied to the dramatic action.The musical number could be a newly composed melody, but more often composers create melodies by folk motifs, or, which was also very common, as adaptation of some popular folk song.Josip Lešić, Sarajevsko pozorište između dva rata (1918-1929), 1 st volume (Sarajevo: Svjetlost, 1976), 147-148.22   Cf.Tamara Sarajlić-Slavnić, "Repertoar praizvedbi i premijernih predstava drame (1921-1996)," in Narodno pozorište u Sarajevu: izložba 75 godina rada Narodnog pozorišta, 100 godina zgrade sa osvrtom na teatarski život Sarajeva prije osnivanja Pozorišta: teatrografska studija Repertoar Pozorišta (1921-1996)  (1886-1933).Other participants were theatre actors who appeared in operetta "by the force of circumstances", and the most successful among them being Andrija Ćurčić (1876-1935), Jelena Kešeljević-Gavrilović (1894-1962), Jolanda Đačić (1906-1985) and Ljubica Stefanović (1888-1946). 25peretta in National Theatre in Sarajevo had aroused fears of "choking" of the drama.Many performances -such as Geisha or Countess Marica which included a good direction (Turinski), solidly prepared musical and singing parts (Rožđalovski, Hofer, Jungić), well-coordinated ensembles (chorus, ballet) and the luxurious decor and dazzling costumes -completely suppressed the interest of the audience for the performance of drama 27 However, despite a large success of pieces with singing and operettas in the period between the two wars, there were no serious attempts to launch opera in the theatre repertoire, nor was staging operettas aimed at the formation of opera ensemble of Sarajevo National Theatre.The operetta was used as a suitable means of filling the theatre budget.In despite of a few attempts, 28 staging operas using local forces were too early since there were no sufficient number of proper singers who could carry even an easy opera repertoire, nor were theatre ensembles able to satisfy requirements of opera performances.This gap in Sarajevo concert life was filled by opera houses from Kingdom, which performed in Sarajevo a few times.

The activities of music societies: the flourishment of music amateurism
The national societies worked in line with new social, political and economic conditions.In the new state community, the "foreigners' influence" disappeared, and the prominent national ideologies were developed under the Yugoslav idea.Broad educational activity was continued by the largest national societies established in the Austro-Hungarian period such as Serbian educational and cultural society Prosvjeta, Croatian cultural society Napredak, Muslim educational and cultural society Gajret, Jewish educational, cultural and humanitarian society La Benevolencija, and newly formed, such as Muslim educational and cultural society Narodna uzdanica (since 1923).The large national societies developed strong relationships with singing societies of the same nations in Sarajevo and beyond, as well as good cooperation.The regular festivities and concerts organized by societies in the atmosphere of rivalry had a positive impact on the development of music culture.The results were many musical ensembles established within these national societies such as choirs of Gajret and Narodna uzdanica, wind orchestra, philharmonic orchestra and choir of high school students of Napredak, and choir of high school students of boarding school of Prosvjeta. 30esides the activities of the largest national cultural societies, the singing societies also had significant influence on the development of the musical culture.After the end of the World War I, all Sarajevo singing societies, except for Männergesangverein, renewed their activity and started the liveliest period in their respective development.Until the beginning of the World War II, Sarajevo hosted seven singing societies: Serbian singing society Sloga, Croatian singing society Trebević, Jewish singing society Lira, Workers' singing society Proleter, Choir Železničar, Workers' choir Sloboda, and Singing society Petar Veliki Oslobodilac in Novo Sarajevo.Since no Muslim singing society operated in Sarajevo neither in the Austro-Hungarian period nor in the period between the two wars, organization of social festivities by Muslim culture-educational societies Gajret and Narodna uzdanica led to the establishment of choirs under their auspices.Gajret's choir was established as early as in 1905; however, this and other society's choirs were ad hoc groups, and their activity could not be traced as continuous until 1930, when the Statute of Gajret's singing societies was issued.From 1929 to 1940, with the exception of a pause from 1934 to 1936, Gajret's choir was led by Franjo Mate ˘jovsky and Cvjetko Rihman.The Narodna uzdanica choir was established in 1930, and until the beginning of the World War II it was led by choir masters Kosta Travanj and Ivan Demeter.
Singing societies' success depended on the choir masters' involvement.Some very notable musical names were included in the activity of amateur musical societies in this period: Sloga choir was led by Ljubomir Bajac, Cvjetko Rihtman, Trajko Prokopiev and Oskar Danon, Trebević by Josip Hladek-Bohinjski, Karel Moor, Franjo Topić, Stanislav Volarić and Ivan Demeter, Lira by Kosta Travanj, Ljubo Bajac, Alfred Pordes, Edo Křenek, 30 The main sources of scientific research of musical activities of national societies are the legacies of these societies stored in The Archives of Bosnia-Herzegovina: Fonds Gajret (sign.GPKD), HKD Napredak (sign.HKDN), Narodna uzdanica (sign.NUM) and Prosvjeta (sign.PKD).
The specific function of social festivities compared to the society members' position in a broader community was reflected through repertoire, i.e. concert programs.Depending on the society's national belonging, a specific music repertoire was nourished, with national, church and secular pieces.Croatian society's repertoire primarily included pieces by Croatian composers, Serbian societies' by Serbian composers, while the repertoire of Jewish and Muslim societies included both, with a special emphasis on Spanish romances and arrangements of Jewish spiritual pieces in Jewish societies, and sevdalinkas in Muslim societies.National societies worked based on experiences gained in the Austro-Hungarian period and on "old glory", renewing their patriotic repertoire.However, there were also successful attempts to include contemporary pieces by Yugoslav composers in the repertoire.Workers' societies also organized concerts and festivities according to the same principles as national ones, but the nourishing of the ideas of proleterianism instead of nationalism is reflected in the choice of repertoire.So, the pieces with social topics in the repertoire of those societies were very common. 31eside the music amateurism of national and workers' societies, the novelty of music amateurism in this period refers to the establishment of the societies that did not recruit members based on national or any other belonging but exclusively based on a love for music.The most significant society of the kind was Sarajevo Philharmonic Orchestra.Due to the clear artistic criteria of activity, membership and repertoire, as well as to a few dozen of high-quality concerts, the Sarajevo Philharmonic Orchestra stood out as the best music society in Sarajevo at the time.

The Sarajevo Philharmonic Orchestra: the beginning of the history of symphonic music in Bosnia and Herzegovina
Initiated by an extreme success of eight concerts by Philharmonic Association and the Quartet of Philharmonic Association of District School of Music during the 1922/1923 school year, the Sarajevo Philharmonic Orchestra was established in 1923. 32The need for the establishment of this type of institution was already marked by the press in 1922. 33The newspaper Narodno jedinstvo published an article about several lovers of music driven by the difficulties in the work of the theatre orchestra and District School of Music, came to the idea of a founding Philharmonic orchestra to help one and other 31 Sarajevo.The Archives of Bosnia-Herzegovina.Fond Društva, 1929-1941.32   The establishment of the Sarajevo Philharmonic was encouraged by the great success of eight concerts organized during the school year 1922/1923 by Philharmonic Association of District School of Music.The participants were teachers of the School and guests, among them some renowned Yugoslav and foreign artists such as violinist Petar Stojanović, pianists Ćiril Ličar and Paul Weingarten.

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The Sarajevo Philharmonic Orchestra was not the oldest orchestra founded in Sarajevo.The activity of military orchestras in this period was developed based on the tradition of military orchestras of Austro-Hungarian army, which were the only professional orchestras in Bosnia and Herzegovina in the Austro-Hungarian period.The members of military orchestras were mostly foreigners and, on the other hand, the members of the Sarajevo Philharmonic Orchestra were mostly local musicians.This circumstance marked the start of the history of the Bosnian-Herzegovinian symphonic music with the establishment of the Sarajevo Philharmonic Orchestra.institution. 34However, an organizational meeting was not organized until the following year.The request of a temporary committee and founders was submitted to the Police Directorate in Sarajevo on June 26, 1923. 35he Sarajevo Philharmonic Orchestra was founded with the intent to nourish and advance folk and music arts in general, and refine the musical taste.The main form of Sarajevo Philharmonic Orchestra operation was concert activity, i.e. the organization of symphonic concerts of their own orchestra, chamber concerts and recitals of local reproductive artists and artists from other Kingdom regions, as well as visits by foreign artists.Attempts of Sarajevo Philharmonic Orchestra's management to provide a permanent budget offerings that would ensure regular fixed income and safety in the work, were unsuccessful.By its composition and way of activity, Sarajevo Philharmonic Orchestra remained an amateur ensemble, whose work involved a certain number of professional musicians (military musicians, District Music School teachers) and amateur musicians, from its beginnings till the end of this period.
Sarajevo Philharmonic Orchestra's concert repertoire was created in accordance to art tendencies of the conductors and management, as well as in line with the financial and performing resources, and the objective of the society's existence was attempted to be satisfied exclusively guided by artistic criteria in terms of repertoire selection.On the other hand, deficiencies of the repertoire were rather the result of cramped performer's potential than the desire for cheap success as the audience.In this sense, special attention was given to the concerts organized to mark the anniversary of the birth or death of great composers, such as marking the 100-anniversary of the birth of B. Smetana in 1924, the 100-anniversary of the death of L. Van Beethoven in 1927, the 100-anniversary of the death of F. Schubert in 1928, and 25-anniversary of the death of A. Dvorak in 1929. 36Organization of concerts with works by a single composer calls for a special effort, which is due to the limited possibilities of the orchestra require an additional effort of the organizers.In this regard, the Sarajevo Philharmonic Orchestra has been more or less successful, but the anniversaries of great composers, Sarajevo brought into connection with the most recent developments in European cultural centers.
Under the leadership of conductors Alexander Lukinič, Edo Křenek, Beluš Jungić, Max Unger and Oskar Danon, and with occasional help of military choir masters Josef Rožđalovski and Josip Majer, Sarajevo audience had the opportunity to hear significant pieces from a world music heritage in performance of the Sarajevo Philharmonic Orchestra, local and foreign musicians. 37Except concerts in their own organization, the orchestra often performed at events organized by other cultural societies, while the orchestra members cooperated with the theatre and military orchestras as well.
as with the non-existence of a regular concert audience which.Coupled with the obvious financial crisis, those were to become chronic problems, particularly pronounced over the last ten concert seasons.The material problems are the most important reason for discontinuation of Sarajevo Philharmonic's activities on two occasions: from the end of season 1926/1927 until 1929 and from 1932 to 1933.By the contemporary press, the cause of the crisis was primarily seen in the economic unsustainability of the institution that failed to attract a larger number of permanent concert audience.Costs of organizing concerts had exceeded the profit and revenue from tickets was scarce.Management of Sarajevo Philharmonic Orchestra -despite the fact that they worked without a conductor -had to cover the deficit alone.Management of the company was in a dilemma whether to liquidate or reduce to a minimum the number of concerts. 38istrict School of Music had taken care of the Sarajevo Philharmonic Orchestra's work and during the season 1927/1928 organized four concerts. 39All four concerts were held as a Sunday matinee in the hall of the "Imperial Cinema", in time "reserved" for the Sarajevo Philharmonic Orchestra's concerts in previous seasons.Activities of Sarajevo Philharmonic Orchestra in the interwar period were closely associated with the District School of Music under whose auspices it was founded.Without the help of this school in terms of members of the orchestra, place of work, guardianship etc., the main goal of existence of this institution would have been hardly possible to achieve.Still, Sarajevo Philharmonic Orchestra management headed by the chair Bogdan Milanković, managed to overcome all the difficulties.Sarajevo Philharmonic Orchestra operated until the beginning of World War II that marked the end of the first, amateur period of the Sarajevo Philharmonic Orchestra. 40

The rise of composing activities: the two generations of Bosnian composers
The two generations of Bosnian composers were active in this period, so-called the preparatory generation -whose activity begins in the Austro-Hungarian period and ends in this period, and the first generation -whose activity begins in this period but recognized after the World War II.Compared to the Austro-Hungarian period, the composing in the period between the two world wars was characterized by a significant quantitative increase.
The composers of the preparatory generation that worked in Sarajevo are František Matějovský, Josip Majer and Alfred Pordes. 41This list could be complemented with the several foreign musicians who were composing during their stay in Sarajevo, such   -1931). 42Composers of the first generation include Beluš Jungić and Ivan Demeter, composers who would create the most important part of their opus after the World War II, though they underwent their first creative stage in this period.This generation also includes Cvjetko Rihtman and Oskar Danon who, upon their return from studies, started their professional careers in Sarajevo.Apart from a few compositions, these composers did not have a significant impact on composing of the time. 43lthough a number of local musicians were far greater than in the Austro-Hungarian period, the need for foreign musicians in this period was still extremely high.There were a series of new composers, but a number of foreign musicians were still very significant; of the listed composers only Pordes, Bajac, Jungić, Demeter and Danon were born in Bosnia.All other composers were mostly Czech musicians, but also musicians from other parts of the Kingdom of Yugoslavia.The educated personnel have been very scarce, and highly educated musicians were able to found a job in a very short time. 44owever, despite the significant increase number of educated musicians, results of composing activities are generally either very modest.Reasons of the poor quality were diverse.On one side, most composers were self-taught, without solid academic education, and, on the other, composing was subordinated to ensembles' performing abilities.Due to the fairly poor network of performing music institutions, composers composed for the ensembles they had at their disposal, i.e. for soloists, choirs and small vocal and instrumental ensembles.In accordance with these ensemble's performing abilities were technical solutions, which were based on musical past as a distinctive variety of the belated Romanticism.The result was musical pieces with simple formal and technical solutions, and persistent use of folk music at the level of quotations or harmonization.Composing was depended on creative intuition and individual creative talent and results were fairly scant regardless of the obvious quantitative, even qualitative rise.
Among others composers, František Matějovský was standing out by both, the number and quality of his composing heritage.Composing oeuvre of Matějovský comprises some 130 compositions: works for piano, chamber ensembles, wind orchestra, sym-42 There were also several musicians who made attempts in composing but with far smaller and more modest opuses, such as Albert Suzin, Ljubomir Bajac, Julije Laas, Mara Matějovska, Klemens Menšik, sister Lujza Kozinović, and writer and amateur musician Laura Papo Bohoreta.

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Oskar Danon (Sarajevo, February 2, 1913-Belgrade, December 18, 2009) was one of the most important musical figures from Bosnia and Herzegovina.However, his opus, considering the time that he has spent in Sarajevo before moving to Belgrade, belongs to the period several years before and during the Second World War.After the war he accepted the position of director of the Belgrade Opera, and his further music life was tied to Belgrade.Anonim, "Danon Oskar," in Leksikon jugoslavenske muzike, ed.Krešimir Kovačević, vol. 1 (Zagreb: Jugoslovenski leksikografski zavod "Miroslav Krleža", 1984), 178.Cvjetko Rihtman (Rijeka, May 4, 1902-Sarajevo, September 1, 1989) was ethnomusicologist, music educator, conductor and composer.Since 1932 by the outbreak of the Second World War he has worked as conductor of several singing societies and music teacher.After the war he worked as director of Teacher Training School, director of Music High School, the first director of the Sarajevo Opera and the Institute for the study of folklore and first rector of the Academy of Music.He was one of the pioneers of ethnomusicology in Bosnia and Herzegovina and one of the prominent figures in history of music in Bosnia and Herzegovina.Dunja Rihtman-Šotrić, "Bibliografija akademika Cvjetka Rihtmana," in Zbornik radova u čast akademika Cvjetka Rihtmana (Sarajevo: Akademija nauka i umjetnosti Bosne i Hercegovine, 1986), 21-26.phony orchestra, chorus, solo songs, pieces with singing and spiritual works.Besides the original works, there are series of arrangements of folk songs for orchestra or chorus, treated individually or in cycles. 45Although extremely important in the course of history of music in Bosnia and Herzegovina, works of Matějovský does not exceed the local significance.These local frames of compositional practice are also valid for other composers, given that their works were rarely or never performed beyond Sarajevo and Bosnia and Herzegovina.However, there is one exception.
Alfred Pordes, composer of Jewish origin born in Sarajevo, has left a significant mark in the history of composing in Bosnia.During his short life he managed to compose works that were performed in the most important theatre stages in Kingdom of Yugoslavia.Pordes was the author of Mis Ganimed, the first operetta written by the Bosnian composer, premiered at the National Theatre in Sarajevo on October 19 in 1929.His other operettas and theatre music were represented in Zagreb, Belgrade and Sarajevo and he even composed music for a film of Serbian director Maks Kalmić (A Tale of a Day or Unfinished Symphony of a City) filmed just before the beginning of the World War II in 1941. 46he novelty of this period was occasional competitions for new works.The competitions have been a good opportunity to acquire some material benefit, but also the promotion and social recognition for the composer.In 1935 the National Theatre in Sarajevo established "The Fund of the knightly King Alexander First the Unifier" with the aim of "the encouragement and support to the artistic efforts in this area, i.e. in Sarajevo, the Drina Banate, as well as throughout the Kingdom of Yugoslavia."The best new composition of "the composer of the Drina Banate" was to be awarded with the prize money of 6,000 dinars. 47There was a jury for drama, acting and directing, set design and music and they all together constitute the Jury of the Fund. 48ccording to the rules, the musical piece had to be carried out in one of the theatre pieces represented in the National Theatre in Sarajevo.The genre was free, but mandatory in the spirit of folk music.The award-winning composition has been performed on the annual festive matinee on December 17th of each year, on the occasion of the birthday of King Alexander.Thus, the tendency of the Fund has been very clear -the stimulation of domestic creativity in all forms. 49However, it is very remarkable that since the establishment of the Fund until 1940, the prize for composition has been assigned just once and it was Beluš Jungić's music in melodrama U Struzi dućan da imam. 50ompetitions were the impetus to create, but they have always been directed towards a specific goal of the institution that organizes competitions.In the case of the National Theatre it was music "in the spirit of folk music," which corresponds to the production    52 Besides more lively composing practice in terms of quantity, and folklore as the most important composing material, an important feature of composing in this period was the new very significant and influential Yugoslav ideology.A series of new, ideologically coloured musical pieces, were composed during in this period.The composing was developed according to the societal needs and the inspiration in folk music was the primary choice of composers who wanted to gain recognition of the society.According to this, music compositions with the determinant "Yugoslav" in the title were very common, such as Jugoslavenske pjesme (Yugoslav Songs) by Lj.Bajac or Oda Jugoslaviji (Ode to Yugoslavia) by F. Matějovský.

Conclusion: the development of music culture influenced by politics
Extremely turbulent period in the history of Bosnia and Herzegovina, which began with the end of the World War I and the collapse of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, has strongly affected the status and developments in the field of culture and art.The establishment, activity and development of musical institutions in Sarajevo in the period between the two wars depended on social, political and economic conditions in the Kingdom of Yugoslavia.
Problems in cultural institutions' activities grew in the second decade of Kingdom's existence and corresponded to the largest political and economic crisis, i.e. the 6th January Dictatorship (1929-1931) and the fragile economy of Kingdom shattered by the great world economic crisis.All the cultural institutions, particularly those with state subsidies faced the grave financial difficulties in the second decade of Kingdom of Yugoslavia existence.The National Theatre, the only Sarajevo state-owned cultural institution was not spared struggle with financial problems.The consequences were evident -the National Theatre management tried to overcome these problems by introducing popular theatre plays, frequently of questionable artistic quality.
The general economic and political crisis was also reflected in the activity of District School of Music, which was also receiving the state subsidy.While the first decade of schools' existence was characterized by a rise in quality, reflected in all segments of work, such as higher-quality and more numerous teachers, sufficient number of pupils, regular concert activity and satisfactory financial support of state, the second decade was characterized by a crisis, primarily of a financial nature.It was only owing to efforts by management and teachers that the District School of Music managed to maintain the continuity and a certain level of quality until the outbreak of the World War II in 1941.
The music amateurism that rests upon the activity of national and other culturaleducational, musical and singing societies had flourished in the period between the two wars.The National cultural-educational and singing societies with the tradition dating back to the Austro-Hungarian period made up the backbone of Sarajevo music amateurism and their popularity did not diminish even in the new Yugoslav state.On the contrary, in terms of music amateurism, concert life of Sarajevo was nationally labelled by concerts of Muslim, Serbian, Croatian and Jewish societies.On the other hand, a novelty -when it comes to music amateurism -was related to the establishment of singing societies that recruited their members based on a love for music, not toward their national commitment.The most important society of the kind was Sarajevo Philharmonic orchestra.Although amateur societies have not received any state subsidies, they were influenced by unfavorable political and financial circumstances, for example, caused by financial problems, the Sarajevo Philharmonic Orchestra had stopped its activities entirely from the end of 1926/1927 season to 1929, and from 1932 to 1933.
As other music practices, composing activities achieved institutional basis, but also failed to surpass the local significance.Musical works of interwar period composers, in most cases, were lost forever.Moreover, those that still exist are not being performed on concert stages.So, the main feature of composing between the two wars, with some rare exceptions, still suggests the local significance of the practice considering the significance of this practice is based more on its cultural-historical than artistic value.
The period between the two world wars, compared to the entire history of Bosnian music based on events from its political history can be defined as a period that witnessed the first significant results of the music life institutionalization.Despite the prominent economic stagnation and political marginalization in the period between the two wars, Sarajevo managed to maintain features of one of the cultural centres of Kingdom of Yugoslavia.A distinctive "return" to Western European music traditions was a process which, after a few-centuries long interruption during the Ottoman rule, started during the period of Austro-Hungarian administration in Bosnia and Herzegovina, yielded the first results exactly in this period, through the establishment of first institutions which are even today the fundamental institutions of music culture in Sarajevo and Bosnia and Herzegovina.

10Sarajevo.
The Archives of Bosnia-Herzegovina.Fond Pokrajinska uprava za BiH, sign.PU -128, 67/2/379.11 Schools were obliged to deliver reports about their concert activities -especially about Celebration of St. Sava's day -to the relevant ministries.Those reports, stored in the Archives of Bosnia and Herzegovina, are an important source of musical activities of school ensembles.

38Sarajevo.
The Museum of Literature and Theatre Arts in Sarajevo.Fond Album-spomenica Sarajevske filharmonije.39 Spomenica (drugi izvještaj) Oblasne muzičke škole u Sarajevu (Sarajevo: Državna štamparija, 1930), 8.After the arrival of conductor Oskar Danon in the 1938/1939 season, The Collegium artisticum -section of Sarajevo Philharmonic was established in 1939.This society, that based its activities on contemporary literature and music, gathered all the artists and intellectuals of Sarajevo's younger generation and definitely confirmed the position of the Sarajevo Philharmonic as the best music society in Sarajevo at the time.
Since 1918 Sarajevo were gradually losing the potency of the administrative and political centre of Bosnia and Herzegovina.With the adoption of The Vidovdan Constitution on June 28, 1921, The April laws in 1922, after which the country was divided into 33 areas (six of them in Bosnia and Herzegovina) and the abolition of provincial government in Bosnia and Herzegovina on February 25 1924, Sarajevo's administrative potency was reduced to the level of the headquarters of the Sarajevo's area.After introducing The 6 January Dictatorship in 1929, Sarajevo became the provincial headquarters of Drina Banate.The April War and occupation in 1941 was an introduction to a new period of history of Bosnia and Herzegovina as a part of a new socialist Yugoslavia after the World War II.Cf.Mustafa Imamović, Historija države i prava Bosne i Hercegovine (Sarajevo: published by author, 1999), 349-393.5 During this period, Belgrade, Zagreb and Ljubljana were economic, political and cultural centres with the most intense cultural life.There were many new cultural institutions that formed the backbone of musical life such as: Academy of Music in Zagreb 2 Vlado Azinović, "Bosna i Hercegovina u državnoj zajednici jugoslavenskih naroda," in Istina o Bosni i Hercegovini: Činjenice iz istorije BiH (Sarajevo: Altermedia d.o.o., Narodna i univerzitetska biblioteka BiH, 1991), 61-79.3 The periodisation of history of music in Bosnia in Herzegovina is based on its political history and includes the following periods: 1. Ancient music up to the settlement of Slavs; 2. Music in medieval Bosnia; 3. Music during Ottoman rule; 4. Music during the Austro-Hungarian rule; 5. Music between the two world wars; 6. Music during World War II as a transition period; 7. Music from 1945 to 1992; 8. Music during the 1992/95 war as a transition period; 9. Music after 1995.Ivan Čavlović, Historija muzike u Bosni i Hercegovini (Sarajevo: Muzička akademija, 2011), 21. 4 Cvetko, "Slovenska muzika.Umjetnička." and Muzička enciklopedija, ed.Krešimir Kovačević, vol. 3 (Zagreb: Jugoslovenski leksikografski zavod, 1977), 385.
19 The names of school teachers and students who participated in public school concerts since 1920/21 to 1929/30 are given in Spomenica (drugi izvještaj) Oblasne muzičke škole u Sarajevu (Sarajevo: Državna štamparija, 1930).The names of the teachers and pupils of the school in the second decade of the school's existence are found in the school reports stored in The Archives of Bosnia-Herzegovina, Fond Ministarstvo prosvjete Kraljevine Jugoslavije, sign.MP, Oblasna muzička škola, 1925-1940.20 Three categories of national theatres in the Kingdom Yugoslavia were identified by decision of the Ministerial Council of the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenians on September 1, 1919, namely: state (national) theatres in Belgrade, Zagreb and Ljubljana, county theatres in Skopje, Novi Sad, Sarajevo, Split, Osijek and municipal (travelling) theatres in Niš, Kragujevac, Varaždin and Maribor.According to this decision, the National Theatre for the Western District in Sarajevo was established on October 1, 1919.Sarajevo.The Archives of Bosnia-Herzegovina.Fond Zemaljska vlada za BiH, sign.ZVS2, 1921, 243a (32a), 92/14/32 2.
of folk singing pieces, extremely popular and profitable at the time.Croatian Cultural Society Napredak had a similar viewpoint when the competition for new compositions, the first of its kind in Bosnia and Herzegovina, was published in 1933.The fund of 10,000 dinars was available to composers of Sklad from Zagreb as prize money for the best composition composed on the basis of Bosnian folk songs.51Onthat occasion, composer Rudolf Matz had come to Bosnia and agreed with the Napredak's representatives what kind of songs composers should use.The elected compositions were performed at the annual concert in the occasion of the 40th anniversary of Croatian Singing Society Trebević called "The Night of the Bosnian National Lyrics" held on May 16, 1934.The concert program included choirs composed by Croatian composers Franjo Dugan Jr., Božidar Kunc, Rudolf Taclik, Rudolf Matz, Zlatko Špoljar and Bosnian composer Ivan Demeter.