UDK 78.071(497.11=162.3)"18" Milica Gajic
University of Arts, Faculty of Music, Belgrade Univerza za umetnosti, Fakulteta za glasbo, Beograd
Some issues of studying the activities of Czech musicians in Serbia in the 19th century
Nekatera vprašanja preučevanja delovanja čeških glasbenikov v Srbiji v 19. stoletju
Prejeto: 6. maj 2009 Sprejeto: 15. maj 2009
Ključne besede: češki glasbeniki v Srbiji, glasbena migracija, 19. stoletje
Izvleček
Glavni cilj sestavka, posvečenega vprašanju preučevanja čeških glasbenikov v Srbiji v 19. stoletju, želi opozoriti na dileme in njih rešitve v dosedanjem muzikološkem raziskovanju. Posebna pozornost je bila usmerjena v manj znane in redko objavljene podatke v zvezi z raznovrstnim delovanjem čeških glasbenikov.
Received: 6th May 2009 Accepted: 15th May 2009
Keywords: Czech musicians in Serbia, music migration, 19th century
Abstract
The main object of this paper, dedicated to the issue of studying Czech musicians in Serbia in 19th century, is to point to the dilemmas and their solutions in the musicological research carried out so far. Particular attention was paid to less widely known and rarely presented data on versatile activities of Czech musicians.
Our diverse studies of the issue of activities of Czech professional musicians on the territory of the present Serbia, which has taken several years, assures us that perception of this area permanently and persistently imposes numerous issues and dilemmas that we are sometimes able to clear out as we went on; however, certain segments have remained persistent in not being solved. Even though tendencies of the Czechs were mainly of local character and importance, they were frequently irreplaceable at their positions from the standpoint of professional music life in Serbia. Nowadays, it appears to us that the conditions, maybe even the need to view this issue in all its versatility and ampleness were almost never in place. This is corroborated by their almost regular assimilation in general trends of music development in Serbia, both in the older and later
historiographic and musicological literature. Because, as well as the local music forces, apart from being into composing activities, the Czechs also played in various music ensembles, embraced pedagogic activities as teachers, conducted, and did everything to respond to the requirements of the environment they had tied their professional activities to.
Generally, the topic of perceiving the influence of Czech musicians on creative endeavour in music in Serbia primarily calls for abandonment of stereotypes and biases which are persistently repeated in literature. Only then could they be integrated in the general historic trends. Lately, however, we have encountered a significant historic cross-section of their presence, as well as their contribution to Serbian 19th century music, even though, unfortunately, this issue has not been deliberated from primary musicological sources.1 Regardless of this, most persons encountered in our country who belonged to the corps of Czech musicians have still not been included in any contemporary music lexicon or encyclopedia. There is also not a single unique and trustworthy study on this issue. However, it needs to be pointed out that this topic, although not fully suppressed, was studied only partially and mostly sporadically in most musicological researches carried out in Serbia so far, and mainly in texts in which the Czech authors found their place: in manuals, history books, studies, lexicons and encyclopedias.2 Separate texts on them were relatively rare and sporadic.3 This is why the search for data has so far been aimed at some preserved and available archive sources, rare monographs of composers Robert Tollinger and Joseph Weikert4, theatre and opera houses, testimonials of various music institutions and singing societies, music and other libraries in which their published music or manuscripts are kept, and periodicals of the period.
The less well known Joseph Weikert falls into the separate and large group of Czech musicians comprising members of military orchestras of the Austro-Hungarian military. Migrations of Czech musicians into Hungarian regiments of the time were almost an everyday phenomenon. Numerous Czech musicians were deployed at military bands which were placed in military garrisons of Austro-Hungarian Empire. The fact is that most bandmasters in military bands were at the same time teachers, but frequently also very successful mediators in multiethnic settings with mixtures of different cultures
1	nejoBHft, PoKcaHga: ^ernKUMy3unapuy cpncKOM My3UHKOM wueomy (1844-1918), I, Hobh 3ByK, Eeorpag, 1996, 8, 51-58; ^ernKUMy3unapu y cpncKOM My3UHKOM wueomy (1844-1918), II, Hobh 3ByK, Eeorpag, 1997, 9, 65-74; Tomaševic, Katarina: Contribution of Chech Musicians to the Serban Music in the 19th Century, Muzikološki Zbornik, Ljubljana, 2006, XLII / 1, 127-137.
2	Muzička enciklopedija, I-III, Zagreb: Jugoslavenski leksikografski zavod, 1971-1978 as well as Leksikon jugoslovenske muzike, Zagreb, 1984 contain only some individual units on Czech musicians in Serbia. Significant enlargements were provided by Vladimir Djordjevic in his book Biografski rečnik srpskih muzičara, Beograd, 1955. The most numerous and most comprehensive positive developments in this sense were noted in the recentlz initiated publishing of CpncKu 6uO^pa$cmpevuuK, Hobh Cag, Mara^ cpncKa, 2004-2007. The three volumes published so far mostly contain completed biographies of the following Czech musicians, listed in an alphabetic order: Brodil, Josif/Brodil, Josif/; Brož, Miloš/Brož, Miroslav/; Bruneti, Fridrih/Brunetti, Fridrich/; Burza, Rudolf/Burza, Rudolf/; Blažek, Dragutin/Blažek, Karel/; Valenta, Avgustin; /Valenta, Avgustin Aleksandar/; Vedral, Vaclav/Vedral, Vaclav/; Vimer, Franja/Wimer, František/; Vovec-Bordervic, Antonije/Voves, Antonin/; Voves, Josip; / Voves, Josef/ ; Dubska-Adamovic, Božena/Dubska, Božena/; Dubska-Matačic, Karola/ Dubska, Karola/, Dusil, Josif/Dusil, Josef/; Žaludova, Marija/ Žaludova, Marja Marie/; Zikova-Dimitrijevic, Zdenka/ Zikova, Zdenka/. We would like to emphasise that the Cyech lexicographic editions, which have recently published the on-line edition of the very important lexicon Česko slovensky hudebni slovnik osob a instituci, Praha: Statni hudebni vydavatelsti, I A-L, 1963; II M-Ž, 1965., as well as Pazdirkuv Hudebni slovnik naučny II, čast osob, sv. 2, 12 tiskovich arcu, nedokončeno, Brno 1937 /41 were invaluable assistance in our work.
3	Compare: ToMameBHfr, KaTapHHa, the stated paper.
4	Mnnopag Mnmrc®: PO6epm tomuu&p,	1986.; Živan Ištvanic - Edit Fišer, Weikert, Bela Crkva, 1999.
and confessions. They were frequently very successful in establishing specific forms of their symbiosis.
A great problem in studying the topic is represented by the fact that the available sources are mostly incomplete and frequently also inaccurate, even incorrect - starting from incomplete, erroneous or changed spelling of names of certain persons. 'Numerous professional Czech musicians, who worked in various areas of the Habsburg Empire, including areas inhabited by Serb population in Vojvodina, registered themselves with Serbian Ministry of education and got jobs in Serbia. It is important to mention that acceptance of Orthodox confession and a Serb name on baptizing was a necessary prerequisite for having a job in Serbia'5 On the other hand, we encountered meagre and incomplete, mainly incorrect information on their professional life and work, as some sources bring us data only on their activities in Bohemia, while the other relate to their activities almost solely connected to Serbia. Thus, based on such sources, it has been difficult, sometimes even impossible, to single out real and authentic values of individuals who deserved it for numerous reasons. The solution to these problems is primarily perceived in stating the names of every individual musician in two ways - the original manner and as acquired in Serbia, as well as in compiling the information collected independently by Czech musicologists and their Serbian counterparts.
Sometimes it was very difficult for us to establish whether certain musicians really had authentic Czech origin6. We were surprised to discover that Czech nationals were hiding behind the names of authentic local musicians. This is why we deem it necessary to conduct comparative research of our and Czech sources; this would result in a meticulous analysis of the data stated as well as their comparison. This should result in a new quality while the arguments, originating from authenticity, should resolve numerous dilemmas and ambiguities. I believe that is this way the issue of Czech migrants in our regions should be considerably deepened and complemented. Some of the results achieved in this area will enable us to catch a glimpse of, and at least try to perceive the scope and main directions of their activities the professional quality of which was of crucial importance for the overall development of the art of music in our country in the 19 th and at the beginning of the 20 th centuries.
It is worthwhile mentioning that yet another difficulty in studying was in the fact that the Czech sources that we had the opportunity to consult so far did not treat the topic of activities of musicians in Serbia. Thus, almost complete lack of information on activities of musicians who left their homeland, that is, in another setting, is still the main problem.
Let us recall that the development of music art in our country in the 19th century was marked by development of a national style with a permanent trend of getting closer to achievements of west European music. This is when, simultaneously with efforts of numerous music amateurs as well as the first, albeit rare educated musicians, Czech musicians were also active in laying professional foundations of our overall music life. 'Being Slavs, they corresponded to the cultural tendencies of our people and their resistance
5	Markovic, Tatjana: Transfigurcije srpskog romantizma - muzika u kontekstu studija kulture, Beograd: Univerzitet umetnosti u Beogradu, 2005, 62.
6	For instance, Jindrih Hartl is hiding under the pseudonym Dobromil Tvrdic, while Ljubica Stanojevic, wife of Ilija Stanojevic, was Lujza before her marriage.
against Germanisation and Hungarisation. They occupied the positions of conductors of choral societies, taught music in elementary and professional schools, worked as military or civilian bandmasters, worked as singers or concert musicians, and members of chamber and larger orchestras. Almost all Czech musicians in our country aspired at harmonization of folk or church songs. Their activities include music publishing, first textbooks on music and some of the first ethnomusicological studies'.7
In this period of time, Czech musicians started conquering Serb towns and having positive influence to their music development by moving around professionally, but teaching as well. Many of them did not spare either effort or time, even though appropriate kindness or even understanding of local citizens was frequently lacking. It is also necessary to make clear distinctions according to whether certain Czech musicians remained on the territory of Serbia only briefly, just as they were passing by. On the other hand, because of their permanent professional engagement, many of them embraced Orthodoxy and Serb citizenship, and started their families here. Thus, in some cases, their descendants, also talented and educated in the area of music, continued the work on upgrading the level of our music education and creativity as a whole.8 Some Czech musicians found eternal peace in our country, as they grew to love it and respect it sincerely in time. The environment in which they lived and worked was mostly able to recognize their efforts, so that many of them were awarded high professional recognitions and awards9. However, we cannot ignore the fact that they sometimes felt hostility of their Serb colleagues10 even though, in the period of war, they actively fought on the Serb side on the front.11
Newer, complete, but apparently not quite justified and much disputed achievements of some hardworking individuals present an equally difficult issue. 'BlaZek used to work as a teacher of music in a Sombor school for teachers for many years, and wrote a book on theory of music which was totally insignificant from the standpoint of pedagogic literature...'. 'This was a totally dilettantish approach to music education that could not possibly be used to develop music literacy and music culture'.12 As a contradictory musician, BlaZek was both praised and denied at the same time. However, the fact remains that he was the first teacher of music to Serb composers Josif Marinkovic and Petar Konjovic. However, in such texts, we may also encounter a realistic picture of another musician who, as it appears to us, was too frequently favourised to the detriment of other Czech musicians in Serbia. 'Tollinger gives ideas for elementary school curricula that teaching must be based on folk music, that is songs which are closest to children'... 'If Tollinger had stayed in Vojvodina, or if he had come to Belgrade, instead of going to Cetinje, he
7	nejoBHft, P.: the stated work.
8	Let us mention the already quoted Vajkert, then Martin Novacek/Novacek, Martin Josef/ and his family, then the brothers Voves, Frantisek and Emil Pokorny / family Konetzni and many others.
9	They were most frequently decorated with the Order of St. Sava for achievements inpedagogy. Among others, this order was awarded to Dragutin Blazek /1875/, pianist Marie Dvorzakova, Josef Svoboda, and others.
10	An act of denial of professional qualities was performed by Stevan Sojanovic Mokranjac who composed his Primorski napjevi was inspired by his dissatisfaction with the manner in which Slavoljub Lzicar /Lzicar, Eduard Frantisek/ did it before him. He was probably not among top musicians, but became important in Serbian music history by writing about Mita Topalovic's remake of Kornelije Stankovic's Liturgija.
11	Vojtech Frait was a volunteer in the Serb military in 1915-1918. Intolerance as well as jealousy were the reasons for launching debates between Serb and Czech music professinals. Let us recall the debate between Jvan Ivanisevic and Robert Tollinger on his composition Pupoljci.
12	BacnaeBHft, 3opncnaBa: Pam 3a cpncKy My3UHKy nucueHocm, Eeorpag: npocBeTa, 2000, 61-62.
would have given much more in the area of spreading the culture of Serb people. Even though he did not develop a particular 'method', Tollinger gave exquisite pedagogic ideas which would not be encountered in our country for a long time.'13
On the other hand, the Czech sources, relevant for this issue, have still not taken a deserved place in our historiography in general, as well as in music. We believe that their critical viewing might make up for some of the injustice done so far.
At that time, the need for Czech musicians in our country was doubtless great. This is why in the 1890s Czech choral conductors and music teachers flooded our towns. It could be said that in some settings Czech composers dominated the music scene with almost no competition, even though their overall efforts were of mainly local significance, with rare exceptions.14 It became obvious that Czech musicians were the core of the music life in Serbia of the period. Apart from singing and playing in choirs and orchestras, which were their predominant activities, they struggled to be more intensely active as solo musicians and performing in chamber orchestras.15
The last great influx of Czech musicians in Serbia occurred in the 1890s. The reason for the sharp drop in the number of musicians from Bohemia in the beginning of the 20th century was not only in a growing number of local professionals with music education. One of the reasons for this may also lie in the fact that by that time all vacancies they had been wanted for had been occupied by that time.
Still, 'our Czechs' kept educating the whole generations of youth at schools, as well as lovers of music in other music institutions. They tended to make them musically literate and took part in the very difficult act of laying professional foundations and developing our national music culture. The impossibility of conducting precise measuring and the lack of scientifically justified indicators in this segment have not prevented us in establishing that these were their greatest achievements the value of which is absolutely impossible to perceive or measure. We could conclude, however, that these results could have hardly been achieved by the few local musicians who would not have either strength or knowledge to reach them if it were not for the selfless assistance of their Czech colleagues.
Studies of this topic unambiguously contribute to our music history with new personalities who have generally not been known even to the professional music public so far. The same applies to numerous new details on their activities, that have both in terms of quantity and quality become relevant for the purpose of introducing some more serious corrections in interpretation of this period of our music history.
13	The stated work, 64-65.
14	The objectivity of singling out such statements significantly problematises the fact that not all contributions of all Czech musicians who, as it is believed, left the deepest and the most fruitful trails in Serbian environment were taken into consideration. In literature it is customary that Robert Tollinger, Dragutin Pokorni, Dragutin Blazek, and Josif Ce are singled out, if not for their exceptional achievements, then for their significant contribution. This is why some pioneer results and achievements of some other Czech musicians, for example Antonin Andel, who informed Czech public about the premier performance of Stanslav Binicki's opera Na uranku after this important event - Prvni srbska opera. (Dalibor, 1904, 46, 328-329), have been quite neglected. Speaking about operas, let us recall that Vaclav Vedral's opera Pitija which was composed in 1902, was one of the first operas composed in Serbia, even though it was never performed. It is through his merit that in Bohemia a text was published on Kornelije Stankovic (Dalibor, 1913). It is sometimes forgotten that the author of one of the best known Serb patriotic songs Rado ide Srbin u vojnike was a Czech national, Antonin Jahimek/.
15	Thus, uit is well known that the first string quartet in Serbia was active in the following composition: 1st violin - Ferdinand J. Melher, 2nd violin - Stevan Mokranjac, Strevan Sram - viola, and Josef Svoboda - cello.
A deeper analysis surpassing chronological presentation of data will be yet another proof to confirm the large number of Czech musicians on this territory as well as the great role they played. It will help perceive all pioneer efforts of these modest, albeit sincere fighters for professionalisation. The general problem of their de-etatisation resulted in the fact that migrant Czech musicians have not been valued in proper way so far. In places where their importance is perceived to some extent, it is still unjustifiedly minimised.16 In extreme cases, they are sometimes denied their national affiliation and individuality, so that the 'authenticity' of local music development could remain primary. There are also examples of their being 'annexed' with the explanation that they fully fitted in the new environment.
Czech musicians treated Serb folklore in the most versatile manners: we encounter numerous song-books - let us recollect that, prior to Kornelije Stankovic, the first one was published in Serbia by Alois Kalaus, Czech17; as well as compositions of different genres inspired by Serb folklore. Ludvik Kuba also treated it in a specific manner, as he was one of the first persons to study, write down, and publish it. However, the most authentic sources on Serb musical folklore in the 19th century from a pen of a Czech national can be found in the texts of Romuald Lukke. As a teacher of music in Po2arevac Grammar school, he is important as the author of a whole range of very professional texts on Serb music and music folklore which, together with music examples, he continued to publish in Czech music periodicals of the time (1870-1874).18 Still, most Czech musicians created more or less successful compositions based on our folklore motifs. This, to be honest, is the most frequently treated issue in terms of Czech musicians in Serbia.19 Let us add that many Czesh musicians may be placed in the category of 'music travellers' - hudebny cestovately - who, unlike Kuba who wrote down folk songs and customs of the people, traveled our country either as concert musicians or patrons of the arts, publishers and sellers of music instruments.
It has been long known that the 'Conservatorium of Europe' dispersed its musicians throughout many countries, and not only European ones. 'In the high Czech music schools, which were founded in the beginning of 19 century (School of organ 1830 and Conservatorium in Prague, 1811) numerous music professionals were educated. In search of a job, they went everywhere where educated musicians were needed - most frequently to the provinces of the Habsburg monarchy, but across the borders as well -to Serbia, Bosnia, Bulgaria, and elsewhere. In our country, they provided an exceptional
16	This is why we launched a series of texts on activities of Czech musicians in individual towns of Serbia proper under the common archaic name of Crtice iz muzickog iivota in Mokranjac magazine.
17	Alois Kalaus, pianist and the first piano teacher in Serbia, won his greatest merit in development of Serbian music as the compiler and the author of the first printed collection of covers of our folk songs for the piano, which was published in two volumes: Serbische Melodien: Srpski napjevi, Wien I 1852, II1855. Regardless of artistic value of this collection, its historic value is doubtless. The prefaces to both volumes (published in Serbian, French and German languages) are also the earliest texts on our folk music, in which the author explains the criteria for selection of songs and gives his division. Due to their solid presentation and processing, they are also mentioned and analyzed by Carl Engel in his work An Introduction to the Study of National Music, London 1866.
18	Compare: rajnft, Mnn^a: Hanucu o cpncKOM My3uHKOM ^oMKMopy y cpncKoj nepuod^uMoKpam^eeo^ do6a, Hobh 3ByK, Eeorpag, 1993, 1, 139-146.
19	Compare: rajrih, Mnn^a, Heno3Hamo deuo ^ydeuKa Ry6e K0Mn03^uja Z luhu slovanskyh Ipisne cernohorske - KOHmeKcm HacmaHKa, Hobh 3ByK 23, Eeorpaa, 2004, 71-83.
contribution to the establishment of professionalism'.20 Because, Prague was the city which was a Slav cultural centre and one of European music capitals, and where from a range of Czech musicians, who graduated from the aforementioned university institutions, came not only to Serbia, but to the Slav south in general in the 19th century. Even though they were mainly young and without considerable professional experience, they were frequently very successful in managing our newly established music institutions. Through providing a personal example and with their active participation in the overall musical life of their new settings, they managed to successfully inspire local forces to reach higher artistic values and frequently became very popular among local citizens. Simultaneously, although this is rarely mentioned, they established lasting relationships between their home country and their new place of residence by ordering necessary music instruments to be sent to Serbia, and maintaining them professionally; they also ordered many Czech compositions, and had local ones published as well. However, the wide scope of the role they had as migrants, far away from their homeland, is still not perceived. As pioneers of organised music activity, Czech musicians were establishers of many segments of it, and this is where their influence was the most dominant. Certainly, it is about the establishment of the first orchestras and choirs, as well as professional education of local musicians. In this sense, our science of musicology has numerous tasks ahead. One of the primary ones is to reevaluate overall activities of Czech musicians in our country, in order to place them on the adequate position and to assign them the deserved recognition in every individual segment, as well as in a whole.
This is why it appears to us that the basic questions the answers to which may assist us grasp the issue of Czech music migration in our country are as follows:
•	What are the reasons for Czech musicians of various profiles to have gone abroad?
•	What part of their music tradition did they bring or transfer to the new setting to which they moved?
•	How and to what extent did they manage to market their music individuality in the new environment?
•	To what extent did the new setting influence changes in their spirit and mentality?
The fact is that studying of individual cases most frequently leads to conclusions and statements that they are actually a synthesis of the first artistic elements collected from two-fold experience - both in the homeland and in the new setting in which they were active.
Czech musicians came to our country either upon invitation or based on competitions which were published in Czech music magazines, e.g. Dalibor, Hudebny listi.21 It is doubtless that the established reputation of Czechs as people very talented for music was of crucial importance for their selection. But, there was also their willingness to accept Orthodoxy22 and not really perfect working conditions if they opted for work in schools.
The lack of Serbian language skills, even though it falls in the group of familiar Slavic languages, was a greater problem than it may appear at first. They encounter difficulties
20	MapHHKOBHfr, Cofta: Hcmopuja cpncKe My3UKe, Eeorpag: 3aBog 3a yuôeHHKe, 2008, 21.
21	These magazines are in any case important for the studying of our topic due to the large number of texts in them.
22	See: footnote No. 5.
with accentuation of Serb poetry in composing, but the major problem was in almost the total lack of music terminology in the Serbian language. However, aware of the needs, despite criticism, they bravely embraced translating, writing and publishing of some of the first texts on music, and even created the first music textbooks.23
Still they were most numerous as initiators and advocates of music in all settings, especially in the countryside, even though, objectively, there were few cases in which these settings had overcome provincial characteristics, and in frequent cases even provincial needs. Most of them adapted to the new environment fast, responding to its needs in accordance with the performing possibilities in which they adequately incorporated their personal artistic ambitions.
In the 19th century, numerous Czech musicians were in charge of development of music life in practically all our cultural centres. This is why reasons for migration of Czech musicians changed, which can nowadays be regarded as a collective social movement at most. The basic difference from the previous migrations originated from establishment of the professional music education system in their home country- the Conservatorium in Prague, as well as the Scholl of Organ, private music schools that educated a large number of professional musicians, too many of them to be adequate for real needs of their own setting. For many of them, especially instrumentalists, it was necessary to leave and it was sometimes the only way out to use the chosen profession to assure certain social security. This issue will be complemented by the statement that this is why migration of musicians was a serious and significant phenomenon, running on a large scale in Bohemia, especially in the 1880s. After this, it gradually dropped, so that after the establishment of Czechoslovakia in 1918 it was restricted to individual cases only.
Still, these social migrations of musicians do not always have the same common denominator. There was a great difference in forms and motives for migration of top musicians in comparison to the so-called 'music proletariat'. In the period of Austro-Hungarian monarchy, it was important to distinguish between leaving the borders of a country within the Monarchy, and leaving the Monarchy altogether. As a whole, it appears that the whole problem of migrations was still caused by the hyper-production of highly educated musicians which was absolutely disproportional to the possibility of their getting a job in their local environment.
Studying Czech periodicals of the time presents yet another considerable problem in discussing this issue, because it related to these migrations of Czech musicians in different manners. On the one hand, they were unobjective and jealous in supporting only local artistic forces, struggling to keep them at home, and giving moral support only to those who were not 'corrupted by foreign countries'. The other extreme is the situation in which publicists regularly covered and frequently exaggerated news on successful foreign activities of Czech musicians in other countries. This was even more so as the musicians themselves acted in the capacity of unique 'correspondents' and informed their compatriots on their always success activities in a non-selective manner.
Despite numerous problems encountered in studious deliberation of this issue, we can freely state that numerous singers and instrumentalists, a whole range of not so
23 Dragutin Blazek is the author of the both praised and denied Theory of music, while Tollinger was the founder of the first music magazine Gusle which was published in Sombor.
well known Czech bandmasters and composers developed a significant portion of their professional and artistic activities out of the Czech land, incorporating their activities in the overall development of their new settings.24 Let us also add that in Vojvodina there was a large number of Czech musicians deployed at military bands placed at the military garrisons of Austro-Hungarian monarchy. Enlargement of the wave of migrations outside the borders of the Monarchy and conquering of new professional positions emerged in the 1870s, when Czech musicians started leaving for the Balkans. Here, in time, they occupied key positions in the overall music life.
Family music dynasties, so characteristic of Czech environment, did not surpass our region; the older member of a family would frequently bring along a family 'colleague'.25
Several hundred artists of Czech origin, who were, primarily due to economic and to a lesser extent political or religious reasons, forced to leave their home country which in the 19th century was impoverished and oppressed, got a unique opportunity to employ their natural skills and systematically developed talents in the new environment, moving too frequently, as they believed they would be able to find something better, sometimes failing to leave more significant evidence of their activities.
Only since the period of Absolutism, which in Czech regions came in power soon after the 1848 revolution, did radicals, who found the Habsburg regime uncertain, even unbearable in many segments, started leaving the home land. Apart from this, some young men, unwilling to serve in the Habsburg military looked for employment outside their home land, which was yet another reason for leaving to the new environment.
There were several very important periods when the number and range of activities of the newly-arrived Czech musicians greatly surpassed the achievements of local forces. It was also noticeable that the Czechs were so entrepreneurial in answering to the needs of a certain community significantly extended their activities thus promoting their professional, as well as financial status.
The picture of Czech music performance in our country can never be complete, because, in time, many archives and other primary music sources were lost forever. The attempt to reconstruct the overall activities of Czech musicians on our territory will be enriched with new discoveries to complement to the main trends of music historiography in Serbia. By that time, we shall have to resolve at least some dilemmas about their activities in Serbia in 19 century. Even though they opted for working away from home, some of them were inspired to work hard by the new environment. Many of were also educated not only in musical, but in general terms as well, and informed about current developments in many areas of culture. Apart from this, they were also continually bringing music and considerable music literature into our country, which they compiled persistently in time, thus significantly extending local knowledge by performing general music literature.
24	According to the research I have been conducting since 1989 thanks to the materials I collected in Prague as a recipient of scholarship of the Czech music fund, in this period there were more than 250 Czech musicians of different profiles in Serbia.
25	Czechs would not be Czechs if there had been no music talents in their families, at least in the second generation of families who migrated to other countries. Many of the newly-arrived Czechs brought with them their music education and experience, at least as a secondary profession they would frequently resort to in a new environment - in order ot survive in case all their other plans failed.
Povzetek
Večletno in raznoliko preučevanje vprašanj v zvezi z delovanjem čeških profesionalnih glasbenikov na današnjem ozemlju Srbije v 19. stoletju nas prepričuje, da obravnava tega vprašanja vzbuja mnoge probleme in dileme. Raziskovanje se je usmerilo v njih možne razrešitve na podlagi dosedanjih muzikoloških raziskav. Posebno pozornost je posvetilo manj znanim in bolj redko upoštevanim podatkom glede mnogovrstnosti dela čeških glasbenikov. Kar je pomenilo tudi osvoboditev od mnogih predsodkov in stereoti-pov. Ostaja dejstvo, da večina čeških glasbenikov, ki so delovali v Srbiji, ni uvrščenih v noben sodoben leksikon ali enciklopedijo, pa čeprav bi si to zavoljo svojega dela in prispevka to vsekakor zaslužili. Na drugi strani pa so ohranjeni primarni muzikološki viri nepopolni in nenatančni, pa čeprav neznanje srbskega jezika češkim glasbenikom ni branilo, da bi - ko so to okoliščine
narekovale - ne skladali različne vokalne skladbe, pa čeprav s pomankljivo akcentuacijo, ali se ne bi hrabro spustili v pisanje učbenikov in teoretskih del ter tako sodelovali pri vzpostavljanju osnov srbske glasbene terminologije. Čeprav tujci, so se zlili z novo sredino in aktivno sodelovali pri polaganju temeljev srbskega nacionalnega stila ter vsesplošni profesionalizaciji srbskega glasbenega življenja v 19. stoletju. Zdi se, da je vzroke za migracijo številnih čeških glasbenikov v Srbijo iskati predvsem v dejstvu, da je v njihovi domovini - Češki - število profesionalno šolanih glasbenikov daleč presegalo lastne potrebe. Zato so bili razlogi predvsem ekonomski in veliko bolj poredkoma politični.
Z današnje perspektive moremo mnogim češkim glasbenikom biti hvaležni, da jih je novo srbsko okolje, v katerem so profesionalno bivali v 19. stoletju, vzpodbujalo k marljivemu in skrbnemu delu, ki jim je na mnogih področjih profesionalnega glasbenega življenja omogočilo pionirsko vlogo.