Page 386 - Weiss, Jernej, ur. 2020. Konservatoriji: profesionalizacija in specializacija glasbenega dela ▪︎ The conservatories: professionalisation and specialisation of musical activity. Koper/Ljubljana: Založba Univerze na Primorskem in Festival Ljubljana. Studia musicologica Labacensia, 4
P. 386
konservator iji: profesionalizacija in specializacija glasbenega dela
1925 Jovan Zorko, the principal of the “Mokranjac” music school, submit-
ted a request to the Ministry of Education to upgrade the school to the lev-
el of conservatory, but the Ministry rejected it, on the basis that logistic re-
quirements were not met; moreover, they again rejected the school’s request
to become nationalized.5 This reluctance of the Ministry of Education to na-
tionalize private music schools in Belgrade and to upgrade their status cre-
ated a stark contrast to the situation in other Yugoslav cultural centers, Za-
greb and Ljubljana, where the existing music schools were nationalized and
elevated to the level of conservatories after the Great War. Therefore, ambi-
tious students from Belgrade and other Serbian towns who wished to con-
tinue their music education at the tertiary level were forced to move either
to Zagreb or Ljubljana, or to big European centres such as Paris, Vienna,
Prague, Berlin, Munich, Leipzig, Rome etc., which had a long-standing tra-
dition of tertiary music education.
By the year 1937 Belgrade, then the capital city of the Kingdom of Yu-
goslavia, already had over 300.000 inhabitants. Such a rapid demograph-
ic growth, and the cultural demands of the new, urban populace, result-
ed in the establishment of many cultural institutions in short succession
– among them, Belgrade Philharmonic Orchestra, Orchestra of the Music
Society “Stanković”, Opera and Orchestra of Serbian National Theatre, Or-
chestra of the Belgrade Music Society, Chamber Orchestra Collegium Mu-
sicum, and the Great Orchestra of Radio Belgrade;6 this list could be ex-
panded by mentioning numerous choral societies and amateur ensembles.
It is immediately obvious that the demand for professional musicians – be
it instrumentalists, singers, conductors or composers-arrangers – was con-
stantly increasing; hence the establishment of the Music Academy became
a necessity.
5 Đurić-Klajn, “Muzičko školovanje u Srbiji do 1914. godine,” 62.
6 On the establishment and development of these institutions, see: Živojin Zdravkov-
ić et al., Beogradska filharmonija 1923–1973 [The Belgrade Philharmonics 1923–1973]
(Belgrade: The Belgrade Philharmonics, 1977); Stana Đurić-Klajn, Akordi prošlos-
ti [Chords of the Past] (Belgrade: Prosveta, 1981); Stanojlo Rajičić, ed., 125 godina
Narodnog pozorišta u Beogradu [125th Anniversary of the National Theatre in Bel-
grade] (Belgrade: Serbian Academy of Sciences and Arts, 1997); Roksanda Pejović,
Koncertni život u Beogradu (1919–1941) [Concert Life in Belgrade (1919–1941)] (Bel-
grade: Faculty of Music, 2004); Ivana Medić, ed., Radio i srpska muzika [Radio and
Serbian Music] (Belgrade: Institute of Musicology SASA, 2015); Ivana Perković, ed.,
Naših 80 godina – Kultura sećanja [Our 80 Years – The Culture of Remembrance]
(Belgrade: Faculty of Music, 2018).
384
1925 Jovan Zorko, the principal of the “Mokranjac” music school, submit-
ted a request to the Ministry of Education to upgrade the school to the lev-
el of conservatory, but the Ministry rejected it, on the basis that logistic re-
quirements were not met; moreover, they again rejected the school’s request
to become nationalized.5 This reluctance of the Ministry of Education to na-
tionalize private music schools in Belgrade and to upgrade their status cre-
ated a stark contrast to the situation in other Yugoslav cultural centers, Za-
greb and Ljubljana, where the existing music schools were nationalized and
elevated to the level of conservatories after the Great War. Therefore, ambi-
tious students from Belgrade and other Serbian towns who wished to con-
tinue their music education at the tertiary level were forced to move either
to Zagreb or Ljubljana, or to big European centres such as Paris, Vienna,
Prague, Berlin, Munich, Leipzig, Rome etc., which had a long-standing tra-
dition of tertiary music education.
By the year 1937 Belgrade, then the capital city of the Kingdom of Yu-
goslavia, already had over 300.000 inhabitants. Such a rapid demograph-
ic growth, and the cultural demands of the new, urban populace, result-
ed in the establishment of many cultural institutions in short succession
– among them, Belgrade Philharmonic Orchestra, Orchestra of the Music
Society “Stanković”, Opera and Orchestra of Serbian National Theatre, Or-
chestra of the Belgrade Music Society, Chamber Orchestra Collegium Mu-
sicum, and the Great Orchestra of Radio Belgrade;6 this list could be ex-
panded by mentioning numerous choral societies and amateur ensembles.
It is immediately obvious that the demand for professional musicians – be
it instrumentalists, singers, conductors or composers-arrangers – was con-
stantly increasing; hence the establishment of the Music Academy became
a necessity.
5 Đurić-Klajn, “Muzičko školovanje u Srbiji do 1914. godine,” 62.
6 On the establishment and development of these institutions, see: Živojin Zdravkov-
ić et al., Beogradska filharmonija 1923–1973 [The Belgrade Philharmonics 1923–1973]
(Belgrade: The Belgrade Philharmonics, 1977); Stana Đurić-Klajn, Akordi prošlos-
ti [Chords of the Past] (Belgrade: Prosveta, 1981); Stanojlo Rajičić, ed., 125 godina
Narodnog pozorišta u Beogradu [125th Anniversary of the National Theatre in Bel-
grade] (Belgrade: Serbian Academy of Sciences and Arts, 1997); Roksanda Pejović,
Koncertni život u Beogradu (1919–1941) [Concert Life in Belgrade (1919–1941)] (Bel-
grade: Faculty of Music, 2004); Ivana Medić, ed., Radio i srpska muzika [Radio and
Serbian Music] (Belgrade: Institute of Musicology SASA, 2015); Ivana Perković, ed.,
Naših 80 godina – Kultura sećanja [Our 80 Years – The Culture of Remembrance]
(Belgrade: Faculty of Music, 2018).
384
