Page 146 - Weiss, Jernej, ur./ed. 2026 Skladateljska društva nekoč in danes.../Composers’ Societies Past and Present...

Skladateljska društva nekoč in danes | Composers’ Societies Past and Present
in one act of diplomacy, he subsequently arranged for the Workers’ Music
Association to publish two songs he encountered, including Oskar Danon’s
“Kozara” in what may be seen as an act of tribute and reciprocity for the per-
formances of British music during his tour.
Table 1: Bush’s travels in Eastern Europe, 1947

Date Place Activities
January Prague Attended opening ceremony of State Academy of Music, Theatre, and
Film
Attended celebration of the Cultural Department of the Czechoslovak
United Trade Union
Met Director and Music Director of Prague Radio: chamber music
concert arranged and talks illustrated by Bush’s songs sung in Czech
by Radio Choir
Meetings with British Council, British Embassy cultural attaché,
Yugoslav cultural attaché and Bulgarian Minister
January Brno Conducted concert of British music, including Purcell and the Walton
Viola Concerto.
Met Bretislav Bakala, Musical Director of Brno Radio
Banquet with Society of Moravian Composers
Visit to Janacek Museum
February Belgrade Conducted concert of British music with Radio Orchestra (five rehe-
arsals)
Witnessed performances of Serbian folk dancing and workers’ choirs
Visited Belgrade Academy of Music
Saw a Soviet play and La Traviata
Met composer Oskar Danon
Dinner with Union of Serbian Composers
February Zagreb Heard Zagreb Youth Choir sing partisan songs
Attended performance of opera Ero the Joker by Jakov Gotavac
Conducted concert of British music
February Rijeka Conducted concert of British music
Heard amateur workers’ choirs of Croatian and Italian workers
February Ljubljana Conducted concert of British music (11 February)
Met Josip Vidmar and Valens Vodušek
February Sofia Interviewed for Radio Sofia 24
Radio Choir performed Bush’s song ‘Make Your Meaning Clear’
(1939) with a reference to Georgi Dimitrov.
Attended High Mass in Cathedral
Met Dimitrov
Conducted concert of British music (27 February)
16-22 Prague First International Congress of Composers and Music Critics at Pra-
May gue [representative of the Composers’ Guild] 25
Met Shostakovich

24 Item 97a, TNA: PRO KV2/3515: Bush, Alan D.
25 Alan Bush to Secretary, Prague Youth Festival Committee, 12 May 1947, Item 107a,
TNA: PRO KV2/3516: Bush, Alan D.

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