Review article
ZVONIMIR LOVRENČEVIĆ - THE FOUNDER OF ETHNOMUSICOLOGY AND ETHNOLOGY IN THE REGION OF BJELOVAR AND BILOGORA
Alida Sokolović
; Glazbena škola Vatroslava Lisinskog, Bjelovar
Abstract
A schoolteacher, Zvonimir Lovrenčević (1911-1990), was the Þrst
researcher of traditional culture in the region around the town of Bjelovar.
His greatest contribution was the fact that he managed, in the middle of the
20th century, when reliable traces and narrations on traditional life could
still be found, to salvage valuable data on traditional musical instruments,
singing, customs and beliefs of the population of Bilogora region, which,
in the meantime, have completely disappeared from the folk narratives.
Therefore Lovrenčević's ethnographic writings represent the basis for all the
future research of ethnomusicology and ethnology in the region of Bjelovar
and Bilogora.
Eventhough he was the author of several ethnographical, historical and
archeological articles, the main area of his interest was ethnomusicology,
primarily musical folklore, which was very popular in the middle of the
20th century. Lovrenčević wrote down notes and songs, described musical
instruments and customs, but was less interested in the role music had in
everyday life and the context of the performance itself. Many associates helped
him with collecting the material, and since he had no ethnomusicological
education, he got the expert help he needed in writing down melodies and in the
analyses of the collected data, from his friend, the famous ethnomusicologist,
Dr Jerko Bezić.
This article speciÞcally deals with Lovrenčevićs articles published on
ethnomusicology, ethnology, and oral literature, and with his book, Folklore
music of Bilogora (1994), which contains 115 melodies of folk songs. It also deals with several different articles on speciÞc topics: Neobična svadba u
Jabučeti (1963), Tambura samica u okolici Bjelovara (1963), Dvojnice i
jedninka u bjelovarskoj okolici (1964), Bilje kojim se gata i vrača u okolici
Bjelovara (1967), Dude u Bilogori (1971), Bilogorci u poslovicama (1971),
Aerofoni instrumenti u Bilogori (1972), Mitoloke predaje Bilogore (1972)
i Ladarice (1979). Through research of available archives, I composed a
bibliography of all Lovrenčević's articles (scientiÞc and newspaper articles,
handwritten material) which is a supplement to this article.
The work of Zvonimir Lovrenčević was very little written about until
recently, and eventhough his name was sometimes mentioned in relation to
some of his melodies used by folklore groups in the region near the town of
Bjelovar, his work remained without any recognisable purpose. Therefore
the author of this article suggests that the results of Lovrenčević's research
should be used in educational institutions of the region and in tourism. From
the author's experience in working with the students of the Musical school
in Bjelovar, she has noticed that teaching of folklore music, regardless the
changed context of performance, can develop in students awareness of the
value of traditional culture, while making of traditional musical instruments
can develop their creativity. If learned craftsmen would take part in the
making of more complex instruments, like dude, dvojnice and jedinke, the
results of their work could be used in contemporary folklore performances.
The forgotten musical instruments of Bilogora could also become original
souvenirs of the region around the town of Bjelovar.
Keywords
ethnography; musical folklore; Bilogora
Hrčak ID:
40880
URI
Publication date:
15.12.2004.
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