UDK 784Mokranjac:781.7(497.11) Srdan Atanasovski Institute of Musicology, Serbian Academy of Sciences and Arts Inštitut za muzikologijo, Srbska akademija znanosti in umetnosti Stevan Stojanovic Mokranjac and Producing the Image of Serbian Folk-Song: Garlands from »Old Serbia« as a Form of Musical Travelogue* Stevan Stojanovic Mokranjac in ustvarjanje podobe srbske ljudske pesmi: Rukoveti (venčki) iz »Stare Srbije« v obliki glasbenega poročila Prejeto: 4. marec 2012 Sprejeto: 15. marec 2012 Ključne besede: Stevan Stojanovic Mokranjac, venčki (rukoveti), »Stara Srbija«, poročilo o potovanju, ljudske pesmi, nacionalnega ozemlja Izvleček Received: 4th March 2012 Accepted: 15th March 2012 Keywords: Stevan Stojanovic Mokranjac, garlands (rukoveti), »Old Serbia«, travelogue, folk-song, national territory Abstract Z umeščanjem Mokranjačevih venčkov iz Kosova in Makedonije v kontekst poročila o potovanju iz »Stare Srbije« se ne morem strinjati, da bi se njihova politična pomembnost skrivala v vsebinski privrženosti folklornem gradivu. Z analizo načina Mokranjačevega obravnavanja ljudskih pesmi bom pokazal, kako je ustvaril podobo domovine Srbije kot organske celote. By positioning Mokranjac's garlands from Kosovo and Macedonia into the context of travelogues from 'Old Serbia', I will argue that their political significance lay in purported adherence to folklore material. Analyzing how Mokranjac handled the folk-songs I will show how he produced an image of Serbian homeland as an organic whole. The paper was written as a part of the project Serbian Musical Identities within Local and Global Frameworks: Traditions, Changes, Challenges (no. 177004 /2011-2014/) funded by the Ministry of Education and Science of Republic of Serbia. Opus of Stevan Stojanovic Mokranjac in general, and the collection of fifteen garlands (rukoveti) in particular, undoubtedly acts as the cornerstone of Serbian art music canon. Adopting the paradigm of originality, and at the same time positioning Mokranjac as the founder of the Serbian national music school, one of the main objectives of Serbian musicological discourse, as well as discourse on music in general, has become claiming the much disputed status of original artworks for Mokranjac's garlands. However, in my investigation of Mokranjac's compositional choices and procedures, I will attempt to reconstruct the contemporary political and social meaning of Mokranjac achievement by addressing notions such as nation, territory, and folk-song as social constructs, and observing compositional activity as a material social practice. As a result, I will be able to show that in moment of their creation, garlands actually contested the position of folk-song arrangements, which could give them a greater role in political life than the position of an original artwork. In my discussion I will position a number of Mokran-jac's garlands 'from Old Serbia' in the discourse of 'Old Serbia' travelogues which was current at turn of the centuries and which formed a germane part of Serbian kingdom's cultural politics. Finally, analyzing certain compositional choices and procedures, I will show how through these 'travelogue-garlands' Mokranjac built an image of a Serbian folk-song which strove to present accessible image of these lands and to represent them as an organic part of imagined Serbian 'homeland' Stevan Stojanovic Mokranjac (born in Negotin in eastern Serbia in 1856 and died in Skopje in 1914 during the First World War) represents the most prominent Serbian composer of romanticism. Not only was Mokranjac a widely acclaimed composer during his lifetime, but he also acted as one of the most important figures in the Serbian musical life. In the period between 1887 and his death he was the leading conductor of the Belgrade Choir Society (Beogradsko pevacko drustvo), the most excelled Serbian choir society of the time that acted under the patronage of the royal family. Mokranjac gained his musical education in leading European centres of Munich and Rome, as he was awarded a scholarship firstly by Belgrade Choir Society and later by the state, gaining insight in the contemporary techniques of harmony and counterpoint.1 The vast majority of Mokranjac compositional output was dedicated to choral music. Continuing the tradition of choir conductors, he wrote an array of occasional compositions, and compositions meant to be performed exclusively by his own choir. Distinguished from this line stands the collection of fifteen garlands, conceived as medleys of Serbian folk-songs organized by geographical criterion, stylized in a coherent musical whole and arranged for a capella choir.2 In the case of garlands, initial premiere by Belgrade Choir Society was swiftly followed by reproduction, printing, and wide distribution through the network of choir societies. This secured garlands achieving not only great popularity during Mokranjac's lifetime, but also becoming the core stone of Serbian musical canon. In the nineteenth-century and the beginning of the twentieth-century, choir societies were amongst the most far-reaching music institutions in Serbian cultural life, concern- 1 Details of Mokranjac education are available in Bypufr-KnajH, Cmaua. Mnadu danu Cmeeaua MoKpa^a. HeroruH: MoKparaneBu gaHu, 1981. For general biographical data see PoMaHa Pu6u&, "XpoHonomnH nperneg ^HBora u paga CTeBaHa Ct. MoKpa^a," in Cmeeau Cmojauoeuh MoKpaw^. ^hbot u geno, eds. ^ejaH ^ecnufr and BnacTHMHp neprnufr (Eeorpag: 3aBog 3a yu6eHUKe u HacTaBHa cpegcTBa KftaxeBafl - HoTa, 1999), 235-249. 2 The exception is Fourth Garland (1890), composed for soloist, mixed choir, piano and castanets. ing both the sheer number of them, and the territorial extent covered by their network. In most of the cases, the activities of choir societies compromised political, cultural and artistic function and their cultural politics had a great impact on Serbian public in general. The political function was especially prominent in the lands controlled by Austro-Hungary, where the political discourse of Serbian nationalism was heavily censored. It is thus very important to bear in mind that in the period between Berlin congress of 1878 and the end of the First World War - that is, in the period when Mokranjac's creative output took place -people recognizing themselves as belonging to the Serbian nation were divided by many political borders crossing the Balkan. They inhabited various parts of Austro-Hungary - South Hungary, Croatia, occupied (and later annexed) Bosnia and Herzegovina, etc. - parts of the Ottoman Empire, and, finally, the newly constituted Kingdom of Serbia. Although the Principality of Serbia (which was declared kingdom at Berlin congress) existed as an autonomous polity in the Ottoman empire from the beginning of the nineteenth-century, and mostly acted as an independent state, throughout this period the major part of Serbian intellectual elite that played crucial part in shaping the Serbian nationalistic discourse was still concentrated in the South Hungary and cities of Vienna and Budapest. This overall political situation made the construction of the Serbian nation a difficult project; it was of crucial importance to create the cultural artefacts that could transcend given political borders and symbolize the unity and legitimacy of Serbian nationhood in a way that could be easily understood and perceived. Serbian choral music of Mokranjac's predecessors was often bluntly nationalistic, especially regarding the texts of the songs, whereas the music held to the hymn- and fanfare-like sound. What this representation lacked at the end of the nineteenth-century, when ethnic and primordial features of the nations became increasingly important throughout Europe, was the adequate usage of the folklore material that would create the musical image of common ancestry and speak about shared heritage. In this context, Mokranjac's collection of garlands can be construed as an adequate answer to this need.3 In the period between 1884 and 1909 Mokranjac composed fifteen garlands, as well as the composition entitled Coastland Tunes (Primorski napjevi), built on the similar principles,4 giving in total 92 folk-tunes arrangements for various choir settings. In the process of finding the adequate folk-tunes, Mokranjac drew on pre-existing compositions of other authors, folk-songs collections of his predecessors such as Kornelije Stankovic and Franjo Kuhac, used songs that were popular in his urban surrounding, and, finally, performed his own fieldwork in order to collect folk-songs. It is possible to show that Mokranjac activity closely corresponded with the strivings of Serbian intellectual and political elite to encompass all the lands recognized as Serb national territory under the realm of a single nation-state. As Biljana Milanovic demonstrated, the different stages in creating the cycle of garlands, as well as in planning the concert tours of the Belgrade Choir Society, reflect the strategic changes in Kingdom of Serbia territorial expansion politics: after first six garlands, labelled 'from my homeland' For situating Mokranjac in Serbian romanticism from the aspect of the theories of musical style cf. Markovic, Tatjana. Transfiguracije srpskog romantizma: muzika u kontekstu studija kulture. Beograd: Univerzitet umetnosti u Beogradu, 2005. Coastal tunes (c. 1893) differ from the garlands as they were composed using an eponymous medley by Slavoljub Lzicar as a model. They, however, meet the criterion of geographical reference (Dalmatia) and have had similar reception history. (which can be interpreted as the boundaries of existing Kingdom of Serbia), Mokranjac turned his eyes towards south ('Old Serbia', 'Macedonia', 'Kosovo' and 'Ohrid' in seventh, eight, tenth, eleventh, twelfth and fifteenth garland) and west ('Bosnia' in fourteenth, as well as Dalmatia in Coastal Tunes), paying tribute to Montenegro in the Ninth Garland, on occasion of strengthening political ties between kingdoms of Serbia and Montenegro.5 Mokranjac was also closely related to semi-civil initiatives which served as vehicles of state politics, such as Saint Sava Society (Društvo Sveti Sava), purportedly educational initiative active in Ottoman Kosovo and Macedonia, and which strived to inculcate Serbian national identity in the Slav population of these regions.6 The garlands which Mokranjac composed referring to the territories widely recognized at the time as 'Old Serbia' are particularly intriguing from at least two standpoints. On one hand, perusing the narrative of Serbian medieval state, these territories increasingly came to be recognized as the 'core territory' of Serbian nation, becoming more and more prominent in the official political discourse of the day. On the other hand, Mokranjac himself travel to these lands, whether specifically for performing ethnomusicological research or as a part of Belgrade Choir Society concert tours, which makes it possible to construe these compositions as a part of a current and politically engaged discourse of travelogues from 'Old Serbia'. It is far from surprising that the narrative of Serbian medieval state rose as the main focal point of Serbian nationalistic discourse. Serbian medieval state, or, more precisely medieval feudal polity ruled by the Serbian dynasty of Nemanjic from 12th to 14th century, was perceived as the golden age of Serbian nation, when both the claim of Serbian statehood and autocephaly of Serbian church were successfully vindicated in spite of the vicissitudes of medieval Balkan political map. The main figure of this narrative was emperor Dušan 'the Mighty', the first of the lineage to adopt the lofty title, after he had waged a successful military campaign and occupied a vast swath of land, reaching even the Bay of Korinthos. The potency of this narrative in the nineteenth century was manifold. As the narratives of medieval states' past were adopted as one of the main sources of nations' legitimacy across Europe, it gave the nascent Serbian nation sense of dignity and a vehicle to strive to symbolic equality with the 'great European nations', notwithstanding its current unenviable political situation. More generally, it served as a claim to prove the Serbian nation's historical right to statehood and it was used to vindicate the project of the unification of 'Serbian lands'. Finally, as the very territories which formed the core of Serbian medieval state were the lands ruled by Ottoman Empire and bordering the south reach of the contemporary Serbian kingdom, the glorification of this chapter in Serbian history served as often unambiguous call to wage yet another 'liberation' war with the Ottomans. Widely named 'Old Serbia', these lands, mostly encompassed by Ottoman Kosovo vilayet and compromised of Kosovo and Metohija, Raška and Macedonia, were becoming the object of rising curiosity of Serbian people living in the Kingdom and in Austo-Hungary, and who were eager to receive information on this places which they considered to be the spring of their nationhood. 5 EuaaHa MunaHOBuft, "CreBaH CrojaHOBufr MoKpatta^ u acneKTH eTHu^uTeTa u Ha^0Hanu3Ma," inMoKpantyy Ha dap. 2006. Upouiema - nyduux nyda Korny - 150 oduHa. 1856, eds. HBaHa nepKOBuh PagaK and TujaHa n0n0Bu&-MnafjeH0Bu& (Eeorpag: OaKynreT My3UHKe yMeTHOCTu, 2006), 33-53. 6 MunaHOBuh, "CTeBaH CrojaHOBufr MoKpatta^ u acneKTu eTH^ureTa u Ha^0Hanu3Ma," 45. Although travelogues of Serbian lands appeared in Serbian culture throughout the nineteenth century, after the Berlin congress and strengthening of the newly constituted kingdom one can note formation of a specific discourse of travelogue form 'Old Serbia'. These 'travelogues' appeared in various disguises, as literary travelogues, demographic and ethnographic reviews, works of visual art, etc., sharing a common goal to present cogent and vivid imagery of the distant lands that people living in Kingdom of Serbia and Austro-Hungary, and participating in the Serbian national identity, felt belong to their nation, and form the core part of their homeland (see table 1). Importantly, this discourse formed when travel in general was becoming increasingly available to middle class as a possible articulation of incipient category of 'time of leisure',7 which made the descriptions of travel and movement through space more tangible to the prospective audience. The corner stone of the discourse was laid by Miloš S. Milojevic, historian, politician and writer, who published two key works following his travel through 'Old Serbia': the first one was literary travelogue written in documentary style and published in three volumes during the 1870's,8 and the second one was scholarly study on demographics, ethnography and geography of the region.9 These works established several basic principles of the discourse: the travelogue was to be ostensibly documentary, purporting to contain the factual reports, descriptions of the places were to be designed to emphasize the sense of space and downplay the sense of historical time, knitting together events from past with current landscape and paying special attention to historical monuments linked to Serbian medieval state, and, finally, reports of the present state of affairs was to be filled with the sense of imminent danger of cultural assimilation or even sheer extinction of Serbian population. The documentary nature of the Miloš Milojevic's literary travelogue was even more accentuated with the consequent publication of scholarly study, and this strategy was to be repeated by Branislav Nušic, writer and politician, who for a certain period of time acted as the Serbian consul in Priština, in Kosovo.10 The principles of the discourse functioned across different media and can be also discerned in the illustrated journals Iskra (published in 1898) and Nova iskra (1899-1911) that were continuously bringing illustrations of places from 'Old Serbia'. It was often stated that the illustrations were produced following the photographic image, portrayed objects were often monuments linked to Serbian medieval state, and comments to the images convey the sense of danger posed towards Serbian national heritage in these lands. Illustrations 1 and 2 bring images from Nova iskra in 1899, when an array of images from Macedonia was reproduced. The second one brings an image based on photographic material of the bridge which was supposedly build by emperor Dušan 'the Mighty', and the first one an image of a gorge Demir Kapija, one of the most iconic geographical landmarks of Cf. ^y6paBKa CrojaHoBuft, "Typu3aM u KoHCTpyK^ja co^ujanHO^ u HaynoHanHor ugemureTa y Cp6uju KpajeM 19. u noHeTKoM 20. BeKa," rodurnwaK 3a dpymmeeHy ucmopujy 13 (2007): 41-59. MunojeBuft, Munom C.. Hymonuc dena Hpaee (Cmape) Cp6uje. Kft. 1, Eeorpag: TnaBHa cpncKa Kftu^apa JoBaHa .Ha3apeBufta, 1871; Kft. 2, Eeorpag: ^p^aBHa mraMnapuja, 1872; Kft. 3, Eeorpag: ^p^aBHa mraMnapuja, 1877. Idem. HapodonucHu u3eMA>onucHu npewed cpe^we^ dena npaee (Cmape) Cp6uje: ca emH0^pa^cK0MManoM cpncKux3eMaA>ay KneweeuHaMa: Cp6uju, ^Hoj ropu, Kpa^eeuHu PyMyHuju, Aycmpo-y^apcKoj u TypcKoj ^peeuHu. Eeo^pa^: 3agpyra mraMnapcKHX pagHuKa, 1881. Nusic travelogue from Kosovo appeared in parts in various journals prior to its integral publication. For data on the history of its publication, but also for discussion of the sense of timelessness in Nusic's travelogue from Kosovo, cf. CnaB^a ^ejaHoBuft, "HymufteB nyronuc o KocoBy y cpncKuM HaconucuMa og 1892. go 1902. roguHe," in Kmum o nymonucy, ed. Cno6ogaHKa neKoBuft (Eeorpag: HHCTmyr 3a Kftu^eBHocT u yMeTHocT, 2001), 451-463. Macedonia. Interestingly, very similar illustration of Demir Kapija was also featured in Spira Kalik's short travelogue documenting the trip of the members of Belgrade Choir Society on the concert tour to Macedonia, where this gorge is described as similar to other gorges one could find in Kingdom of Serbia. Table 1: Example of 'travelogues' from 'Old Serbia' from the late 19th to the beginning of 20th century. Year of publication / first exhibition / premiere performance Work Genre 1871-1877 Miloš S. Milojevic: Putopis dela prave (Stare) Srbije [Travelogue of a part of the true (Old) Serbia], three volumes literary travelogue (with several illustrations) 1881 Miloš S. Milojevic: Narodopisni i zemljopisni pregled srednjeg dela prave (Stare) Srbije [Ethnographic and geographic review of the middle part of the true (Old) Serbia] demographic, ethnographic and geographic study 1884 Borde Krstic exibition featuring number of sketches and drawings made on a trip to the south visual art works: drawings, aquarelles, oil painting 1894 Spira Kalik: Iz Beograda u Solun i Skoplje s Beogradskim pevačkim društvom: putničke beleške [From Belgrade to Thessaloniki and Skopje with Belgrade Choir Society: traveler's notes] literary travelogue (with several ilustrations) 1894 Branislav Nušic: S obala Ohridskog jezera [From the shores of lake Ohrid] literary travelogue 1894-1909 Stevan Stojanovic Mokranjac: garlands from 'Old Serbia', 'Macedonia', 'Kosovo', 'Ohrid' choir compositions / folk-songs arrangements 1892-1902 Branislav Nušic: S Kosova na sinje more [From Kosovo to the blue sea] literary travelogue 1898-1911 Illustrations in illustrated journals Iskra (1898) and Nova iskra (1899-1911) illustrations / graphic art 1903 Branislav Nušic: Kosovo. Opis zemlje i naroda [Kosovo. A Description of the land and people] demographic, ethnographic and geographic study (featuring music examples) Picture 1: Demir Kapija, published Picture 2: Mostpreko Vardara kod Skoplja, in Nova iskra 1 (1899): 95. published in Nova iskra 1 (1899): 118. In order to demonstrate that Mokranjac's garlands from 'Old Serbia' can be construed as a musical travelogue and a part of the discourse of 'Old Serbia' travelogues I will firstly discuss the documentary nature of garlands. On two occasions Mokranjac himself travelled to the territories of 'Old Serbia': in 1894 Mokranjac travelled with Belgrade Choir Society on a concert tour to Thessaloniki and Skopje and in February 1986 Mokranjac travelled to Kosovo specifically in order to collect folk-songs for his garlands. Information on both of these travels was available to Mokranjac's audience, as Spira Kalik literary travelogue described the former, from the vantage point of a choir member, and Nusic, in his study Kosovo. Opis zemlje i naroda (Kosovo. A Description of the land and people) published in 1902, included eight tunes recorded by Mokranjac on his latter trip, mentioning the name of the recorder. The dates of Mokranjac first garlands form 'Old Serbia' closely correspond with these travels: just after the trip to Thessaloniki and Skopje Mokranjac wrote the Seventh Garland, From Old Serbia and Macedonia, and in the year of trip to Kosovo he wrote the Eight Garland, From Kosovo. Comparing the relationship between Mokranjac's garlands labelled 'from my homeland' and garlands from 'Old Serbia' one can note a striking difference: while Mokranjac rarely wrote down the tunes for the first six garlands in a form of ethnomusicological transcription before composing the garland itself (bar two songs from Third Garland and two songs from Fifth Garland), all the songs from Seventh and Eight Garland can be found in Mokranjac ethnomusicological material, as well as majority of the songs from later garlands from 'Old Serbia' (see table 2). Investigating the contemporary receptions of these Mokranjac's garland, it is possible to argue that the purport of the garlands was to present the authentic folk-songs from various regions inhabited by Serbs.11 For purposes such as reporting the concert 11 Even in today's Serbian (ethno)musicological discourse one can sense that it is a certain taboo to discuss the posibilities that the tunes in the garlands are not authentic folk-songs, that is that Mokranjac acctually composed some of the tunes he used in garlands, which is paradoxical having in mind that vindicating Mokranjac originality in composing garlands has become one of the main goals of the same discourse. In his intruduction to Mokranjac's melogprahic work Dragoslav Devic gives a following paradigmatic statement: "We know that Garlands are based on about eighty odd folk songs originating from various parts of the country, of which this edition covers 32 songs. We think that Mokranjac's records should also inlcude the other songs from the Garlands, but we did not publish them in this book because they are partly altered by his composer's treatment." programs in press garlands were generally referred to as medleys of songs and the subtitle - emphasizing the geographical origin of the music material - often acted as the title. from certain geographical region.12 Tunes from Mokranjac garlands were also further transmitted as authentic folk songs, which can be shown using an edition of Serbian folk-songs edited by composer Isidor Bajic and printed at the begging of the 20th century in Belgrade. Bajic titles his edition "Serbian folk-songs and folk-songs from Mokranjac's garlands", printing the latter part of the title in small prints (see illustration 3), and throughout edition does not make any additional comments whether a certain song which is included is a folk-song or derives from Mokranjac's garlands.13 This also corresponds with the manner in which Kalik also refers to the garlands in his travelogue, describing Third Garland as "the artificial array of Serbian folk-songs".14 Concurrently, Mokranjac ethnomusicological work was highly praised and esteemed, as we learn from the writings of Vladimir Bordevic, himself collector of folk-songs; in his preface to an edition of folk-songs from 'Southern Serbia' Bordevic warned the reader on low quality and reliability of previously collected folk-songs material, praising Mokranjac as the deftest of the collectors whose work is "in every regard, flawless".15 Picture 3: Title page of Isidor Bajic's album for voice and piano Srpske narodne pesme i narodne pesme iz Mokranjčevih rukoveta [Serbian folk-songs and folk-songs from Mokranjac's garlands]. Dragoslav Devic, foreword to Stevan Stojanovič Mokranjac, Ethnomusicological work, ed. idem, trans. A. S. Petrovič (Beograd: Institute for Textbooks and Teaching Aids, and Knjaževac: Nota, 1996), xvii. ^ejnft, Cf. Tiopjjje, ed. rycue. 3eauunHo wacuuo Caee3a cpncKux neeanKUx dpymmaea. CoM6op: ToflHHa I, Epoj 1, 1911; ToflHHa IV, Epoj 5, BajnS, Hcnflop. CpncKe HapodHe necMe U HapodHe necMe U3 MoKpawneeuxpyKoeema. Eeo^pa^: fleopcKa Kwuwapa Mume Cmajuha, s.a.. "Čim se malo stiša, Stipan dade znak i mi počesmo III rukovet, taj veštački niz srpskih narodnih pesama našega denijalnoga Mokranjca," Cnnpa KanHK, M3 Eeo^pa^ay ConyH u CKon^e c Eeo^pa^cKUM neeanKUM dpymmeoM: nymHunKe 6enemKe (Eeorpag: MraMnapnja n. K. TaHacKOBHfra, 1894), 49. BnagHMHp P. TiopfjeBHft, npegroBop for CpncKe HapodHe Meaočuje (CKonae: CK0ncK0 HayHHO apymTBO, 1928), xiv. S. ATANASOVSKI • STEVAN STOJANOVIC Table 2: Tunes in Mokranjac's garlands 'from Old Serbia'. Name of the song in the garland Reference in Mokranjac* Reference. in Dordevic** Reference in Milojevic*** Seventh Garland, From Old Serbia and Macedonia (Iz Stare Srbije i Makedonije), 1894 More, izvor-voda izvirala 257: Iz vir voda izvirala 62: Izvir voda izviraše. Veles 'Ajde, koj' ti kupi kulančeto 258: Ajde koj ti kupi kulančeto Što li mi je milo le, majko, i drago 259: Što mi je milo i drago Poseja dedo golemata njiva 260: Posadi deda golemata njiva 57: Poseja dedo golemata njiva. Peč Varaj, Danke, gizdava devojko 260a Mokranjac used only the text of the song he noted. Unlike the small ambitus of the noted melody, the tune used in the garland is wide-spread and follows the contours of the tonic six- four chord. Eighth Garland, From Kosovo (Sa Kosova), 1986 Džanum, na sred selo šarena češma tečaše 173 : Na sred selo šarena češma (urban, from Živko / gradska, od Živka) Što Morava mutno teče 189a, 189b (402: Rosa pade te Morava dode. Donja Gušterica / na Kosovu/) 6: Što Morava mutno teče. Vučitrn Mokranjac noted two different versions of the song. In the garland he used melody of 189a, and part of the text of 189b. Milojevic noted another version of the song, with the text similar to 189b Razgrana se grana jorgovana 129 (urban, from baba Lena/ gradska, od baba Lene) 51: Razgranjala grana jorgovana. Uroševac Skoč' kolo, da skočimo 117 (rural / seoska), 118 Mokranjac opted for 118 with greater ambitus and clearer dominant, discarding 117 he noted as rural. He also adds octave leap at the final cadence. Name of the song Reference in Reference. in Reference in in the garland Mokranjac* Dordevic** Milojevic*** Tenth Garland, From Ohrid (Sa Ohrida), 1901 Biljana platno 295 236 beleše Mokranjac used only the text of the song he noted. Dordevic notes different version of the song, but recognizes Mokranjac tune from the garland as an older folk song. Do tri mi puški puknale Dinka dvori mete 298 Pušči me, majko le 388. Puštaj me, mila male mori, da vidam. Tetovo Niknalo cvekje šareno Eleventh Garland, From Old Serbia (Iz Stare Srbije), 1905 Pisaše me, Stano, 190 mori Mokranjac adds fourth leaps, makes rhythmical changes and speeds the tempo. Crni goro, crni sestro Oj, Lenko, Lenko, 305: Oj, Lenko, Stavreva kjerko Lenko, Stavreva cerko Mokranjac used only the text of the song he noted. Unlike the small ambitus of the noted melody, the tune used in the garland follows the contours of minor six-four chord. Kalugere, crna 191: Kalugere, crna dušo, 'ajde de dušo Twelfth Garland, From Kosovo (Sa Kosova), 1906 Deka si bila 299 daneske, Cveto Aman, šetnala si, 163 more Jano Da l' nemam, 162: Da l' nemam, džanum, ruse kose ruse kose Cvekje cafnalo 306: Cvece c'fnalo u naša gradina Sedi moma na 127a: Posejala baba pendžeru tikve 127b: Sama rade po livade Mokranjac combined the tunes of two similar folk-songs and used new text, as he considered existing texts as unsatisfactory. Name of the song in the garland Reference in Mokranjac* Reference. in Bordevic** Reference in Milojevic*** Fifteenth Garland, From Macedonia (Iz Makedonije), 1909 Marije, bela Marije 307 (for 15th G / za XV R) Ej, obasjala mesečina 308: Ugrejala mesečina (for 15th garland / za XV rukovet) 203: Ugrejala mesečina. Bitolj Bog da go ubije, mamo 309: Bog da go ubije komšičeto (279: Bog da go bijet Alima. Kičevo) Prošeta devet, majko, godini 310 Sejala Dinka bosiljak 311 326: Sadila Dimka bosilek. Debar-Melničane * - CreBaH CrojaHOBHh MoKpaaa^ ETHOMy3HKOjromKH 3anHCH, ed. .OparocjaB ^eBHh (Eeorpag: 3aBog 3a yuSeHHKe h HacTaBHa cpegcTBa Kaa^eBa^ HoTa 1996). The number refers to the numbering in this edition. The title of the tune is given if it differs from the title in the garland. If Mokranjac's comment exist, it's given in brackets. ** - BjagHMHp P. 'RopljeBHh, CpncKe HapogHe Mejognje (CKon^e: CKoncKo HayHHo gpymTBo, 1928). The number refers to the numbering in this edition. Follows the title, geographical reference (regular in Bordevic) and comnent, if any. Loosely connected songs are bracketed. *** - Mnjoje MnjojeBHh, HapogHe necMe h urpe KocoBa h MeToxnje, ed. ^parocjaB ^eBHh (Eeorpag: 3aBog 3a yuSeHHKe h HacTaBHa cpegcTBa and Kapnh ®oHga^Hja, 2004). The number refers to the numbering in this edition. Follows the title and geographical reference (regular in Milojevic). Placing Mokranjac garlands from 'Old Serbia' in the context of travelogue discourse has ample ramifications. If Mokranjac's contemporaries perceived tunes contained in the garlands as authentic, documented folk-songs, the garlands then acted as the musical image of the territories they considered belonging to the Serbian nation and served as a vehicle in producing a tangible sensory representation through which both members of the choirs performing these works and their respective audience believed to experience the soundscape of the core of their homeland. It is thus of crucial importance to investigate how Mokranjac produced these representation, by manipulating and arranging the folk-tunes from the moment of making transcription in the 'field' to the composing of the arrangement in the garland. I will argue that Mokranjac's compositional choices had at least two goals: firstly, he tended to produce an accessible image of Serbian folk-song adjusted to Western-European music style and, secondly, he tended to downplay regional differences creating a unified image of Serbian folk-song which was to symbolize the organic unity of the imagined Serbian homeland itself. In order to do so, I will trace Mokranjac compositional choices comparing the songs from the garlands with his transcriptions from the 'field'. As an aid, I will also use later transcriptions of particular folk-songs made by Vladimir Bordevic in 1920's and Miloje Milojevic in 1930's, having in mind that they certainly must have had encountered different versions of the songs. Tracing Mokranjac creative process from the 'field' to a garland, there are at least four different stages in which he made choices which are important for the resulting product of the image of the Serbian 'folk-song'. As a first step we must recognize Mokranjac's decision where and what to record. Mokranjac mostly recorded songs in urban centres where folk-music would be under heavier influence from western-style functional music harmony, which sets him apart from the later ethnomusicological tradition. Unlike other collectors of folk-songs, Mokranjac never intended to publish his ethnomusicological work, and his prime objective in recording the folk-songs was to collect material for the garlands. In the case of two first songs from Fifteenth Garland he even noted their purpose together with the tunes. Therefore, we can suppose that his decision whether to record a song or not would be driven with the prospect of including it in one of the future garlands. The second step is the process of making the actual transcription: phonograph was not available to Mokranjac, and he wrote down the melodies on the spot. It is interesting to note that in the case of several tunes which entered the garlands mostly unaltered (such as the last song from Fifteenth Garland), Bordevic or Milojevic give significantly different version of the tunes, which could lead us to the conclusion that Mokranjac also recorded the tune in the way he wanted to include it into the garland. Third and fourth step in Mokranjac compositional process would be selection of appropriate songs for a garland, and arranging the songs for choir and making interventions on the tune. These are two crucial steps both to accommodate the tunes in western-style music harmony and to produce a unified image of what a Serbian folk-song is. In selecting the songs Mokranjac mostly shunned songs from rural areas and songs with small ambitus, as well as songs which were hard to fit into his harmonic idiom.16 In altering the tunes one can also note certain repeating procedures which Mokranajc performs: - speeding up the song, especially if it is the opening song of a garland (e.g. "Pisase me, Stano, mori", first song in the Eleventh Garland) - changing leaping intervals in order to meet desired harmony, most often dominant function (e.g. "More, izvor-voda izvirala" in the Seventh Garland, correcting the tune to accommodate cadential six-four) - introducing octave, fifth or forth leaps (e.g. "Poseja dedo golemata njiva" in the Seventh Garland); - introducing dotted rhythm (e.g. "Sejala Dinka bosiljak" in the Fifteenth Garland). While the first, third and fourth procedure contribute to the overall vivacity and dancelike style of the garlands, second and third procedure help establish strong functional harmony anchored in strong dominant function. One of the most intriguing questions in this investigation is whether Mokranjac actually composed some of the songs himself, contrary to the belief of his contemporaries. In three cases Mokranjac actually completely disregarded the tune he recorded and 16 For a detaild overview on Mokranjac harmonic style see ^ejaH ^ecnuft, "XapMOHCKu je3uK u xopcKa i^aKTypa y MoKparaneBuM flenuMa," in CmeeaH Cmojauoeuh MoKpan>a^. Mueom u deao, 145-199. Importantly, Despic argues that Mokranjac came up with specific harmonic patterns which he then applied across his choral oeuvre (see specifically pp. 157-165). seemingly decided to compose the tune himself, using only the text of the songs. These examples are the last song in Seventh Garland, "Varaj, Danke, gizdava devojko" ("Beguile, Danka, beauteous maid"), the first song from Tenth Garland, "Biljana platno beleše" ("Biljana whitened her linen") and third song from Eleventh Garland, "Oj, Lenko, Lenko, Stavreva kjerko" ("Lenka, Lenka, Stavro's daughter"). The first and the last of these three examples are very much alike: Mokranjac disregarded small ambitus tune and instead wrote a vivacious tune which mostly follows six-four chord, thus building climactic closure of the Seventh Garland and contrasting section of the Eleventh Garland. As these examples correspond with the interventions Mokranjac performed in case of other tunes, it is viable to conclude that these songs are indeed thoroughly composed. In order to strengthen my argument, I will look more closely at two specific examples of songs from garlands: "Što Morava mutno teče" ("Why does the Morava turbidly flow"), second song in the Eighth Garland, and aforementioned "Biljana platno beleše". In case of "Što Morava mutno teče" Mokranjac had recorded two distinct versions of the song (189a and 189b), differing both in the tune and in the text (see examples 1 and 2).17 Comparing the musical, as well as the literal content of the songs, it is possible to discuss their historical sequence and to argue that the first song (189a) is of more recent origin. While the story of the first song refers to relatively recent historical events connected with the contemporary crisis of Ottoman society, the second song (189b) tells an allegorical story of one of the sisters lost in a flowing river, that can be interpreted as related to pre-Christian Slavonic rituals. Regarding the melodies, the first song has simplified rhythm, clearer chromatic substance, as well as fully developed second phrase that the second song lacks. In producing his garland, Mokranjac made very interesting choice: he selected the tune of the first song, but he adhered to the text of the second one. Choosing quasi-mythological subject over a subject from a recent history Mokranjac adds the quality of 'timelessness' quintessential in the context of 'Old Serbia' travelogue discourse. Mokranjac's choice of musical material, however, conveniently fits into already existing and recognisable models of harmonisations of Serbian folk-songs, and by accentuating augmented second he also achieved striking resemblance to the several other passages in the garlands, such as the very famous beginning of the Sixth Garland, From My Homeland. Hajduk Veljko. Example 1: Stevan St. Mokranjac, Što Morava mutno teče, 189a. 17 Similar examples are "Skoč' kolo, da skočimo", also from the Eight Garland, and "Sedi moma na pendžeru" from Twelfth Garland; see table 2. Mft - ho_ re - ie, ej,-. )tta - no - crnt mjt - ho re - a - hh iuibt - ho 6e - - nt - me Ha o - pHfl - ckh Te m - bo - pH, Eh - Aa - - us rumi - ho 6t* - - ne - me Ha o * p«a - ckh - Te H3 - - no - pH Example 3: Stevan St. Mokranjac, Biljana platno belese, 295. Allcsrenu graiioso [M.M. J = 1.12-144] Example 4: Stevan St. Mokranjac, Tenth Garland, beginning (bars 1-5). It is striking that Vladimir Bordevic, in his collection of folk-songs from 'Southern Serbia', argued the case of authenticity of Mokranjac's "Biljana platno belese", which shows the level in which Mokranjac's songs from the garlands were venerated as examples of true folklore tradition. Commenting on his record of another version of "Biljana platno belese", Bordevic states as following: This melody, in all likelihood, is not folk tune, but I record it as it has become extensively adopted and has suppressed the folk one. For the sake of completeness, I bring the folk tune, which Mokranjac recorded and used in his Tenth Garland. I, however, cite the text which I had noted.18 In the continuation, Bordevic gives the reader the tune of Mokranjac's "Biljana platno belese" in sixteen measures, copied from the leading voice in the garland. Bordevic transcribes Mokranjac in every detail, including the key of the song and articulation, which makes it obvious that he had no other source to claim this song as part of folklore tradition. Bordevic comment provide us with yet another and final argument in situating Mokranjac's garlands from 'Old Serbia' in the context of 'Old Serbia' travelogue discourse: Bordevic actually tends to perceive Mokranjac garlands as a repository of true, old folklore tradition which is increasingly being suppressed and threatened to the verge of existence. Mokranjac's garlands from 'Old Serbia' in the process of reception thus encompassed the sense of imminent danger posed to the cultural heritage of Serbian population. 18 "Ova melodija, po svoj prilici, nije narodna, ali ja ju beležim s toga što je ona veoma odomacena i što je potisla narodnu. Potpu-nosti radi unosim i narodnu melodiju, koju je zabeležio Mokranjac i upotrebio u svojoj Desetoj Rukoveti. Tekst, pak, navodim onaj, koji sam ja zabeležio," T>opfyeeuh, CpncKe HapogHe Menoflnje, 84. Mokranjac compositional interventions in assembling the garlands 'from Old Serbia' were more far reaching than it's usually recognized, especially in the aspect of composing and altering the tunes. Mokranjac's garlands served as a kind of mechanism of representing musical folklore of the Serbian lands in an accessible, recognisable manner, and that they produced the likeness of musical folklore of various Serbian lands. Through his compositional dexterity, Mokranjac cogently argued for and musically presented the organic unity of the imagined Serbian homeland, of which 'Old Serbia' acted as a core part. In contrast with modern musicological discourse, garlands were often described as arrangements of folk songs, and not as original compositions. Perceived as authentic, documented folk-songs, they carried the aura of authenticity and it was their proclaimed veritable adherence to the folklore that gave them political legitimacy to serve as an image of united Serbian people. Povzetek Ob dveh priložnostih je Stevan Stojanovič Mokranjac potoval na ozemlja, ki so bila na splošno poznana kot »Stara Srbija«: Leta 1894 je šel na koncertno turnejo po Makedoniji, leta 1896 pa je obiskal Kosovo z namenom, da bi tam posnel ljudske pesmi. Takoj za tem je začel pisati zbirke ljudskih pesmi, pri katerih je navdih črpal iz teh pokrajin, to tematiko pa je uporabljal še pozneje pri večini svojih venčkov. Ne strinjam se, da je ta glasbena dela mogoče obravnavati kot del razprave o poročilih o potovanjih po »Stari Srbiji«, ki je bila takrat aktualna in je ogrozila razne kulturne izdelke, kot so literarna poročila o potovanjih, demografske študije, ilustracije itd. Pogosta podlaga za ta dela, ki je bila vključena tudi v Mokranjčeve venčke, je dokumentarna osnova, kot tudi »brezčasna« razsežnost pripovedništva in čut za neizbežno nevarnost, ki je pretila srbski kulturi. Z analiziranjem, kako je Mokranjac izbiral, dopolnjeval in v nekaterih primerih celo skladal pesmi v venčkih iz »Stare Srbije«, želim prikazati, kako je ustvaril dostopno imaginarno glasbeno okolje, ki bi lahko preseglo današnje politične meje na Balkanu in vtisnilo zavest o teritorialni identiteti v glave ljudi, ki so se imeli za člane srbske nacije.