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The article attempts at pointing out the selected aspects of discussions held in the relevant literature on the concept of Gypsy music. Although for centuries it has been admired and appreciated, its phenomenon has not been yet exhaustively defined. A wide range of repertoire and musical styles that have been exposed to various in¬fluences and practiced by different Gypsy groups determines that there is no shared idiom of Gypsy music. Like the ethnic identity of Gypsies, Gypsy music is not something unchangeable and homogeneous. It is a dynamic entity that is created and performed in ever-changing conditions and situations. That is why the designation of Gypsy music depends on the broader context in which it functions. The criteria for the recognition of music as Gypsy are much differentiated, as is the music itself. The origins of musical works, their features, language and content may be equally important as their aesthetics and market value.
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The operatic culture is inseparable from its social environment, and as such it implicates not only a musicological, but also sociological and anthropological approach.The operatic culture of interwar Lithuania (192038–1940) was a rather controversial phenomenon. In the middle of it stood the State Theatre of Kaunas (then, the capital of Lithuania) that was richly subsidized by the state. However, the critique – reviews in national dailies – particularly those dealing with the subject of national operas, indicated a certain tension or a conflict of interest concerning legitimation in the opera field between its agents.The case of the premiere of Jurgis Karnavičius’ opera “Gražina” (1933) – the first new Lithuanian opera staged in the independent Lithuania – is representative in this regard. A critic of a semiofficial newspaper of the day “Lietuvos aidas” (“Lithuanian Echo”), Vladas Jakubėnas, wrote in his review: “Our society’s desire to have a national opera was not totally fulfilled this time. As we know from the history of opera, such works get created only by those who descend from the core of the nation. <...> The spirit of Mr. Karnavičius’ music isn’t truly close to our folk tunes”.As we can see in this evaluation of the work, the criteria of the evaluation of the work – society’s desire to have a national opera that must be fulfilled and expectation that the spirit of the music must be truly Lithuanian – are not connected sensu stricto with the art itself, but with some extra-artistic expectations.To investigate the reasons of the rejection of Karnavičius’ “Gražina” as a truly Lithuanian opera one could invoke the concept of the social field defined by a French sociologist Pierre Bourdieu (1930–2002) and his definitions of habitus, cultural capital, illusio and others. By means of the Bourdieusque field we could maintain that Lithuanian operatic culture during the interwar period existed as a controversial interplay between at least two fields. The first one was an autonomous field of artistic (in our case, operatic) production, which – after Bourdieu – emerged by refusing or turning upside down the principle of material benefit. The second one is the field of political power that aimed at specific tasks (therefore negating the autonomy of art) and mani- fested through the critics’ reviews.The aim of the article is to discuss the main definitions of Bourdieu’s “field sociolog y” as a means for investigating the interwar Lithuanian operatic culture as a controversial social phenomenon.
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The starting point of this paper was influenced by E.T.A. Hoffmann’s Sandman (1816), which belongs to the dark romanticism period. In 1870, on the basis of this story, a very popular ballet called Coppelia was introduced to the ballet world. The creators decided to present its content in the form of a comedy ballet, focusing on the aspect of the love story.This classical version inspired many choreographers to create their own versions, including contemporary artist Maguy Marin. She introduced her own choreographic diagnosis of male-female relationships based on 20th-century life. This paper reflects on the interesting changes made through the use of dance towards Hoffmann’s text.
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During its “long term”, sevdalinka proved to be very flexible folklore creation,given the fact that it successfully resisted various social, cultural, political and other influences it has been exposed to. As one of the consequences of the accelerated development of information and communication technologies, at the end of the 20th and at the beginning of the 21st century, emerged a new medium, the Internet, through which sevdalinka today mostly finds its way to its audience. Because this medium is standing in a direct connection with the process of globalization, here we will try to examine sevdalinka from the angle of this complex sociocultural phenomenon. Special attention will be dedicated to sevdalinka as an “engaged” cultural heritage, that is “used” tradition,and besides the legal ones, there will be also taken into account the illegal means of this cultural consumerism, or more precisely, musical piracy. The paper argues that only those creations of culture that actively participate in the life of a certain community get their full sense; in other words, they are confirmed through this community, because they represent bearers of its historical memory, value system, identity, etc. This also applies to sevdalinka, which in the Internet environment gets far more opportunities for cultural “consumption”, not only by those who build their ethnic, national or cultural identity through it, but also by all other users of the worldwide network interested in this music genre. The aim of this work is to show how a local music tradition,depriving itself of by its own exclusivity, through the Internet, becomes a global cultural asset, giving itself greater chances to survive in contemporary conditions.
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The search for mathematical relationships in musical compositions are often studied. There are many musical compositions, in which the composer consciously used mathematical knowledge during their composing. The search for mathematical dependence in music could be called “mathematization of music”. Can we use math to music illustration of mathematical objects? The problem of using music to math illustration is analyzed in this article and the aim of the article is to present some mathematical structures consciously used in the compositions by Iannis Xenakis. His work is an excellent example of the connection of mathematics with music. There are described stochastic processes and probability theory, group theory, game theory, and Brownian motion and Markov chains. Music of Xenakis opposed any tradition in music by using mathematical modeling in it. It was unpredictable, but not accidental. There is also about the creative process when composing music and about mathematical order in musical works, as well as aesthetic and artistic values. This article facilitates the perception of Xenakis music and enables to understand his work better.
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Tome ljetu 2000. nisam mogla dočekati kraj. Čekao me toliko iščekivani Zagreb, dovoljno velik i dalek od trule provincije tek izašle iz devedesetih. Miris sam joj osjećala gotovo kao smrad, dobro znanu tufinu od čijeg me zadaha lovio smrtni strah. Voljela sam to ljeto jednog stalno nakemijanog, sitnog i krhkog dečka. Baš poput neke varalice koristila sam blagodati njegovog čestog ekstaziranja i odgađala svoje do mitskog Zagreba iako nisam ni sama pretjerano razumjela zašto. Ljeto je izmaklo svome kraju i ostavila sam ga iako me zbog toga boljela svaka sitna i pojedina koščica. [...]
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For Lithuania, the 19th century was marked by the symbol of the Russian Empire – Lithuania became a province of a foreign empire. Farming suffered a severe general downturn. As the Church’s powers began to be restricted, there was almost no opportunity for new significant instruments to emerge. The monasteries, which until then had been the initiators of the best organ building, were closed. Eastern Catholic (Unitarian) churches, which also had organs in Lithuania, became part of the Russian Orthodox Church, and the organs were ordered to be liquidated. The Catholic Church itself, unlike evangelicals, also had little regard for music and especially for organ matters. From the beginning of the 15th century, the development of Lithuanian organ culture was closely associated with Königsberg. Once the import customs were imposed, significant contacts which had taken place almost disappeared. The industrial revolution in Lithuania was delayed, and for half a century small artisan workshops still prevailed. Almost exclusively small, single-manual organs without pedals or positives were built. A large three-manual organ at Vilnius University St John’s Church was rather an exception. It was built by the Tiedemanns. This family, which originated in East Prussia, worked in the Baltic States throughout the first half of the 19th century. Only in the middle of the century did the new European organ building trend, the so-called organ romanticism, reach Lithuania. A particularly important role in this period was played by the experience of organ building of the neighbouring Curonia. Very few impressive examples were created, and in this respect Lithuania is hardly able to compete with the major countries of Central Europe. Lithuania is characterized by the fact that in the 19th century local masters and companies (J. Rudavičius, M. Masalskis, F. Ostromensky), as well as masters from neighbouring Curonia (Herrmann, Weissenborn) and Poland (Blomberg) worked there. In western Lithuania, then part of Prussia, Terletzki was active. Meanwhile, large factories (Walcker, Rieger) reached Lithuania only in the first half of the twentieth century and only in a few instances. At that time, more work started to be focusing on the construction of two-manual with pedal instruments. At the end of the century, J. Rudavicius built some three-manual organs. His 63-stop organ built in 1896 for a long time was the largest in Lithuania. Although the 19th century Lithuanian organs are relatively modest compared to other countries, they have the value that is only growing in the context of present-day Europe, since the “progressive ideology” of more economically powerful European countries affected the art of organ building and few small romantic instruments are left.
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Among numerous genres of sacred music (such as chorales, hymns, motets, masses, etc.), Requiem, or otherwise Missa pro defunctis, Missa defunctorum (Mass for the Deceased) stands out. It is the Mass for the Deceased, corresponding to the Roman Catholic Missal, that is celebrated mainly during the funeral. Over time, Requiem has become a vocal-instrumental genre, a composition associated with the theme of death and mourning. In the 19th century, two principal forms of the genre of Requiem co-existed: a proud, concert-type form, heavily influenced by secular music, and a more modest, reserved, and more “traditional” liturgical one. The latter was smaller in scope, written for a more modest composition of performers in a simpler music language and of a non-dramatic character. The development of the liturgical Requiem over the period in question was largely affected by the Cecilian Movement, active also in Lithuania. True, it is also possible to discuss an intermediate link between the concert and the liturgical types of Requiem – a concert-type vocal-instrumental Requiem, which could also be performed in liturgy.The paper focuses on the manuscripts of the Requiem compositions re-written in the 19th century that were once performed in churches of Vilnius and other cities of Lithuania and currently are stored in in the Rare Books and Manuscripts Reading Room of the Martynas Mažvydas National Library of Lithuania and in the Manuscript Department of the Vilnius University Library. These are copies of the Requiem compositions by the following authors: Gioacchino Albertini (1748–1812), Josef Becher (1821–1888), Luigi Cherubini (1760–1842), Max Filke (1855–1911), Joseph Gruber (1855–1933), Lambert Kraus (1728–1790), Antonio Rosetti (1750–1792), and Johann Baptist Schiedermayr (1779–1840).
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The anthropological consideration of music as a cultural phenomenon entails the analysis of meanings which are produced in synergy with a certain cultural context in which music is created and practiced. This understanding of music led to numerous analyses which have shown to which extent this phenomenon influences the formation of identity – be it individual, group, local or global. This paper represents an analysis of the influence of music on creating local identity, using the example of The Festival of youth culture in Knjaževac. The aim of the research is to show what an event like this means to the local population, to what extent is the music played at the festival a means of identification as well as how it influences the formation of notions about the city.
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Intensive cultural contacts and the increased mobility of people on a global level over the last few decades have influenced the formation and dispersion of the idea that globalization unfavorably and necessarily influences the survival of local cultural identities. This initiatives for the conservation of intangible cultural heritage can be viewed in the context of emphasizing the importance of recognizing and preserving differences in all spheres of culture. As music is one of the means of communication and identification among both individuals and communities on different levels, it is my intent to – within the framework of anthropological theory – view the aspects based on which music can be recognized as a kind of intangible cultural heritage.
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This article documents the presence of sevdalinka songs in Zagreb, and to a degree in the wider Croatian public, until the end of the 1950s. Although sevdalinka is a musical genre characteristic of Bosnia and Herzegovina, it was interwoven into the Croatian cultural imaginary, starting from the middle of the 19th century (or, according to some interpretations, as early as the 16th century). Up to the first decade of the 20th century, the most important sources include popular textual songbooks (by Zagreb bookseller Lavoslav Župan; this songbook was actually a reissue of the Vuk Stefanović Karadžić’s songbook, as well as songbooks by Gjuro Deželić and August Kaznačić), Franjo Kuhač’s folksong collection and collections of musical arrangements by two Croatian musicians working in Sarajevo (Šandor Bosiljevac and Bogomir Kačerovsky), and data from periodicals related to the reception of sevdalinka. Further on, the article analyses the inclusion and contextualization of sevdalinka in the collections by Salih Odobašić, Hamid Dizdar, and Branimir Sakač, which may be taken as paradigmatic of new features of the image of sevdalinka in the period between the two world wars, during the Independent State of Croatia, and in the early years of the socialist Yugoslavia. The next part of the article is dedicated to the presence of sevdalinka in the programs of the Zagreb Radio Station, and in particular to Hamdija Samardžić, who was one of the leading singers of sevdalinka in Zagreb from the late 1930s to the mid-1950s. The most detailed part of the article pertains to the production of sevdalinka by the record industry, beginning with the earliest recordings made in Zagreb for the Gramophone Company 1907–1909 and the sales catalogues of Zagreb’s music store owned by Mavro Drucker, through sevdalinka produced by the Zagreb-based companies Edison Bell Penkala and Elektroton, to sevdalinka produced by the succeeding Zagreb-based company Jugoton from 1947 until the end of 1950, when 78 rpm shellac records were abandoned, and other relevant Yugoslav record companies had appeared. The last part of the article focuses on the example of the sevdalinka “Kradem ti se u večeri” (At night I steal upon you) and examines the complex historical trajectory of this song from the authorial composition of Petar Konjović to a well-known sevdalinka, as well as features of its selected musical interpretations from the 1920s to the present.
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In theatre (including musical theatre genres), the text of the performance is an artefact which can express and echo a historical theme. Additionally, over the course of time, this artistic narrative can experience various changes due to the influence of external factors. This narrative can also consciously or unconsciously influence society’s view over a longer period.
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The aim of this paper is to present the choral pieces composed by Viktor Osváth, who was a pastor and church musician. The compositions had at their basis tunes of psalms and tunes of praise from the official hymn book of the Hungarian Reformed Church. These choral pieces can be found in the three volumes with the title Meghódol lelkem tenéked, nagy Felség (My soul is worshiping You, great Majesty). The volumes contain 105 pieces. Following practical considerations, the three volumes presents the choral pieces at different difficulty levels and in different groups according to genre: choral pieces for single gender choir, choral pieces for mixed choir and choral pieces with instrumental accompaniment.
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Public responsibility means, that an entity (institution, university, as well as the Church) has an obligation, a duty to act for the benefit of its social context, and for the promoting of the society. Church music has a character of public responsibility, and the duty of contributing to the teaching, service, and mission of the Church. The Synod of the Reformed Church in Hungary exercises the right of ius reformandi and ius liturgicum. Liturgical books, Hymnals, and the official translation of the Holy Scripture can be exclusively accepted and introduced by the Synod. This is a clear expression of public responsibility. A clear distinction between Church music and religious music has to be made. This study deals with the historical and the theoretical aspects of public responsibility concerning Church music.
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The article presents the socio-cultural research on interactions between the Argentinian tango dance and cinematography. The author analyzes reasons why screenwriters and directors show a big interest in tango music and dance. Research unveils the evolution of tango representation in cinematography since the earliest sound films until the twenty-first century. Of particular interest are films with tango scripts and tango performances (Tango bar; Tangos, the Exile of Gardel; Tango; The Tango Lesson; Moulin Rouge). Also, the reasons why tango in cinematography is often associated with gangsters, criminals and prisons is analyzed (Naked tango; Chicago; Assassination tango; Tango libre). Tango dance and music are perceived as particularly appropriate to express feelings of love, passion, jealousy, and to visualize freedom and death. Therefore, tango music and dance is considered an important and perspective topic of cinematography.
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Music therapy is an applied science still making its way in Bulgaria. Therefore, in its opening part, the article presents some definitions of music therapy and its types according to different characteristics. The main part treats individual and group music therapy focused on self-consciousness and self-development; reviews in brief the psychological defence mechanisms involved in this process and points out some of the psychological theories at the base of this type of music therapy.
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The article deals with the research of the reception of ancient apocryphal texts and legends in Ukrainian spiritual songs of the Baroque era. The author has carried out a source-study and textual analysis of the selected Christmas carols from ‘Book of Chants’. This ancient book, which was compiled by the Greek-Catholic Basilian Fathers in the Holy Dormition Lavra in Pochaiv, is a unique Ukrainian anthology of the spiritual music works of the 17th-18th centuries. The apocrypha were an important source of themes of Ukrainian spiritual songs. Ivan Franko, Vladimir Perets, Mykhailo Vozniak, Sofia Shchehlova conducted the first studies of the influence of apocrypha on the texts of spiritual songs. However, in the 1920s the process of studying of this issue stopped. Today, it is possible to carry out a comprehensive source and textual study of the reception of apocryphals in spiritual songs, thanks to the collected database of texts of spiritual songs and to a large number of published texts and their variations. In this article, an attempt has been made to analyse several texts of famous Ukrainian spiritual songs of the second half of the 17th century, which were recorded in the songbooks of the 18th century and published in ‘Book of Chants’. The songbook manuscripts show the widespread popularity of the songs: from Galicia (Halychyna, Western Ukraine) to Belarus, Moscovia / Russia, eastern Slovakia and northeast Poland.
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This article explores the relationship between violence and art music in Anthony Burgess’s A Clockwork Orange and Stanley Kubrick’s film adaptation. Instead of focusing on differences between novel and film, the intermedial perspective of this study is on underlying similarities beyond the different media characteristics of film and literature. Both the novel and the film exploit how the somatic impact of music creates a fundamentally ambiguous relationship between violence and music. Musical choices in the novel and the film at first glance appear incongruous. However, an intermedial approach reveals a connection between the textual and audiovisual ambiguity, unknown fictive music described in the novel and the well-known music played in the film, defamiliarised lyrics and distorted sound. Thus, the novel and the film not only present the inherent violent potential of music; both works also exploit the attitudinal ambivalence created by the contiguity of music and violence. Music in violent contexts, which at first appears to distance us from violence seen, in fact pushes us towards the experience of felt ambivalence that undermines the order of things.
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