The creation of folk music program on Radio Belgrade before World War Two: Editorial policies and performing ensembles

Abstract

This paper deals with the establishing of the organizing models, on one side, and with folk music and its aesthetic characteristics in the interwar period, on the other. This problem significantly contributed to the present meaning of the term ?folk music? (?narodna muzika?). The program of Radio Belgrade (founded in 1929) contained a number of folk music shows, often with live music. In order to develop folk music program, numerous vocal and instrumental soloists were hired, and different bands accompanied them. During that time, two official radio ensembles emerged - the Folk Radio Orchestra and the Tambura Radio Orchestra - displacing from the program the ensembles that were not concurrent to their technical and repertoire level. The decisive power in designing the program concept and content, but also in setting standards for the aesthetic values, was at the hands of music editorship of Radio Belgrade. The radio category of folk music was especially influenced by Petar Krstic (folk music editor in the period from 1930 to 1936) and his successor Mihajlo Vukdragovic (1937-1940), who formally defined all of the aforementioned characteristics, but in rather different ways. A general ambivalence in the treatment of the ensembles that performed at the radio reflects the implementation of their policies. In comparison to the official orchestras, the tavern singers and players received poor reviews in the editors? reports, despite their strong presence on the program. On the other side, the official orchestras were divided according to the regional folklore instrumentarium, but also according to the quality of playing. The Folk Radio Orchestra probably had double leadership, so it was possible to observe different approaches to the music folklore, which eventually resulted in a unique tendency towards cherishing folk music. This paper represents an attempt to show how the media term ?folk music? was constructed and where it currently stands in comparison to the usual study objects of ethnomusicology and popular music studies. My argument is that the discourse of authenticity was fundamental for the creation of official folk music.

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