Talk:Music of Croatia

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[edit] Partisanship

User:Shallot wrote it seems that we need some mediation between the klape and gusle advocates, each of which wish to disown the others... mass copyedit

I have all the Music of XXX articles on my watchlist, and after the last anon edit, I was wondering if there was a slow-motion edit war going on here, since it sure seemed like the wording had been switched back and forth a couple times. Would either of you anonymous users care to discuss it? Tuf-Kat 15:50, Apr 17, 2004 (UTC)

It's not really an unexpected quarrel, people disagree over this in real life just as well. But since each of the two styles can be accused of being an import, unpatriotic, unoriginal or whatever, I just killed off those inflamatory bits and rephrased stuff in a more neutral way. --Shallot 23:14, 17 Apr 2004 (UTC)

[edit] 66.185.85.80's rant

Presently, we are witnessing an open war against Croatian Dinaric culture. Croatian Left often portrays this culture as "primitive" and "rural" (even "fashist") being in service of Conservative HDZ party. Croatian writer Predrag Raos, for instance, "performed" on gusle instrument in Zagreb on several occasions this year (2004) with only one intention - to ridicule the same instrument and its rich poetic tradition.

Another "apostle" of Croatian Left - Miljenko Jergović - refers to his political opponents on the Right as "gusle players".

Some even claim the Serbian origin of Croatian Dinaric culture following the line of traditional greater Serbian propagabda (all štokavian people and their culture are Serbian). However, Croatian Dinaric folklore and its rich gusle heritage is primarly Croatian. Dalmatian costal region has been historically associated with this culture. For example, the first written document about the most popular folk hero of traditional gusle music, Marko Kraljević, is associated with Dalmatian island Hvar through Petar Hektorović's book "Ribanje i ribarsko prigovaranje", 1568). Also, the first historical document which mentioned gusle player and its instrument originated in Dubrovnik (1547). Even now, a contemporary Croatian writer (born in Dubrovnik) Stijepo Mijović Kočan tells us a story about his uncle (also from Dubrovnik area) who could memorize numerous gusle songs (Stijepo Mijović Kočan: Gusle, Glasnik, May 25, 1992, p. 42). Dubrovnik is also a home of Anica Begin (born Kalafatović, 1816), a daughter of famous gusle player Ante. Although illiterate, she was able to recite by heart an immense number of gusle songs, some of which were recorded in antology of Croatian folk poetry.

Not far from Dubrovnik, another coastal city - Makarska – was also a bastion of Croatian gusle music. Actually, this region could be considered the Capital of all Croatian gusle players. This Mediterranean area also gave birth to Andrija Kačić Miošić (18th century Catholic priest), who is viewed as the father of all gusle players of Croatia and beyond. To honour Kačić's work, Ivan Meštrović, the most famous Croatian sculptor, built a sculpture in America showing Kačić in his priestly clothes playing gusle instrument.

In addition to Kačić, Makarska Littoral produced a great many other followers of Croatian gusle music. According to dr. fra Karlo Jurišić (who quotes the work of Croatian folklorist Stipan Banović), Zaostrog alone produced a great number of gusle players starting with Stipan Kosović-Kudrić (1771-1818) and culminating with the most known Mate Banović – Trliš (1844-1915). As for Dalmatian women, they didn't play gusle (it's considered a male activity only), yet they were actively involved in spreading gusle music by imitating its sound.

Olinko Delorko, the researcher of Dalmatian folk poetry in the 1960s, states in his book Ljuba Ivanova (1969) that most of his Dalmatian folk poetry collection was obtained by women, especially the ones from the island of Hvar.

The Zadar Littoral also witnessed strong gusle tradition. English writer Maude M. Holbach, travelling through Zadar region in the first decade of 20th century states in her book "Dalmatia: The Land Where East Meets West" that the gusle was the national instrument of the region. As for Dinaric dances, which took place at markets and certain festivals, they are very picturesque and interesting, and worth going a long way to see, being a survival of ancient custom probably unique in Europe (p.54)

This admiration for Dinaric folk music, particularly gusle, was seen in both Dalmatian Litteral and Hinterland. Matija Murko, the researcher of this literary/music forms, had reported that during his trips through Dalmatia in the 1930s, he saw a child, barely three years old playing gusle (Eduard Osredečki: “Hrvatske narodne junačke pjesme”, Željezno-Beč, p. 9)

Now, lets take a look at the names of some Dalmatian sports clubs and organizations: Hajduk, Junak, Gusar, Alkar, Uskok, sinjska alka, etc. What do they have in common? Of course, their names refer to the heroic gusle tradition of the region.

Having this in mind, one wonders why this proud Croatian heritage has become almost extinct. Why do we have so few gusle players today ? Is it a result of unavoidable urbanization of modern Croatian society where peasant culture is being considered inferior to global rock 'n' roll culture ? If so, why has tamburitza music of Northern Croatia gained wide acceptance from the Croatian establishment while its Dinaric counterpart (gusle music) is looked upon with suspicion and open hatred?

In the world of cultures, the bigger fish eats the smaller one. Anglo-Saxon culture (rock 'n' rall music, entertainment, Hollywood, etc) reigns around the world because it is a product of the most powerful nations. The same rule reflects our Croatian milieu as well. Thus, the music culture (tamburitza) of northern Croatia is by its proximity to the Croatian Capital in more favourable position than the “peasants” down in the boondocks.

Also, the fact that Croatians of Dalmatia have generally renounced the folk heritage of their forefathers in favour of “more civilized” Italian culture (their former oppressors), this certainly speaks volumes abouth the collective well-being of the nation. Even some towns in Dalmatian hinterland (such as Sinj or Imotski), where mandolina or klapa singing have never existed before, these towns boast themselves of their “Mediterranean” identity by establishing mandolina/klapa groups. Isn't this, after all, similar to Bosnian sevdalinka music? After so many centuries of slavery under the Turkish occupation, the Bosnian victims identified themselves with their former collonial masters. The only difference between Italian masters and Ottomans was in their torture techniques. The Turks, among the other things, have mounted their subjects on spikes while Italians/Venece prefered slave galley.

Now, let's compare the music of American blacks (former slaves) to the Croatian Dinarics. The American blacks have introduced banjo instrument to the American population long time ago and now it's become American national instrument. Next, the once despised jazz music of blacks in the American south has now become mainstream. Rap music? The same story. Now, let's move to Great Britain for a moment. Everyone knows how much the British cherish their bagpipe (similar to Croatian mišnice/diple). It's become a symbol of the whole nation glorified through popular media, schools and churches.

In short, the folk heritage of other Western nations flourish (including the former slaves) while the Croatian Dinaric culture is on the verge of extinction. In the name of globalization we are forced into museums like the prehistoric dinosaurus. And nobody cares!

[edit] Klapa Music Recorded

Klapa music is being recorded for the first time by Nenad Bach. So far he has recorded Klapa Lindjo, Sinj, and Novalja. Nenad Bach's Website

What about the accordion? Coming originally from Austria and the becoming popular throughout the Alp and the Balkans it has always been a part of Croatian folklore. Since the war, the accordion is being demonised because it's popular in Bosnia and Serbia aswell. In the area of Kordun and Lika the Accordion is an essential instrument while in other regions it's more used in the background. My English is probably not good enough to write a paragraph about this instrument, so I'd be glad if someone (Croats from Canada or Australia?) could do the job.

Gde je vuco u ovaj Članak? Where is the mention of Siniša Vuco. - Lazar