Arti musices, Vol. 43 No. 2, 2012.
Original scientific paper
Following the Track of Franjo Ksaver Kuhač: Croatian Music Historiography in the First Half of the 20th Century - with Special Emphasis on the Periodization of Croatian Music History
Sanja Majer Bobetko
orcid.org/0000-0001-9998-481X
; Odsjek za povijest hrvatske glazbe HAZU, Zagreb, Croatia
Abstract
The impact of Franjo Ksaver Kuhač (1834-1911) on the Croatian music historiography of the first half of the 20th century was crucial for many authors. In the first place, that can be read off in musical-historiographical syntheses and from the relation of their authors towards the Croatian National Revival period (1830-1848). Treated as a social, political and cultural movement, which was aimed at the constitution of the nation in the modern sense of the word, the Revival was experienced as the turning-point in Croatian music history, i.e. as a point of reference of the actual beginning of the history of conceived authentic national music. As only that kind of music could contribute to the national affirmation, the National Revival is considered the central event in the history of Croatian music. Drawing on Kuhač, that thesis is represented in all four histories of Croatian music that were published in the period from 1922 to 1944. These are: Pregled povijesti hrvatske muzike [Historical Survey of Croatian Music, 1922] by Božidar Širola (1889-1956), Razvoj hrvatske muzike [The Development of Croatian Music, 1930] by Branimir Ivakić (1906-1943), Hrvatska umjetnička glazba [Croatian Art Music, 1942] with the subtitle Odabrana poglavlja iz povijesti hrvatske glazbe [Selected Chapters from the History of Croatian Music] by B. Širola, and Pregled poviesti hrvatske glasbe [Survey of the History of Croatian Music, 1944] by Hubert Pettan (1912-1989). However, the history of Croatian music was not bypassed in general music histories of the time. A particular chapter on Croatian music was incorporated in those cases, and Vjenceslav Novak (1859-1905) was the first to use that model in his general history at the end of the 19th century. The same model was applied by Stjepan Hadrović (1863-1934) in Kratka povjest glazbe [Short History of Music, 1911] and by Josip Andreis (1909-1982) in Povijest glazbe [History of Music, 1942]. Though still standing by the thesis on the importance of the Revival period in forming Croatian art music, some authors of the time promoted the standpoint in a few cases that the Revival period did not signify the beginning but the continuation of Croatian music development. Numerous results of new research, particularly of that done by Dragan Plamenac (1895-1983) in the field of musicology and by Branko Vodnik (1879-1926) in the field of literary-historical and culturological research certainly contributed to that change in standpoints.
Keywords
Hrčak ID:
101356
URI
Publication date:
23.11.2012.
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