Arti musices, Vol. 56 No. 1, 2025.
Izvorni znanstveni članak
https://doi.org/10.21857/y7v64t4vey
The Role of Classical Music from 78 rpm Records in the Program of Radio Zagreb in the Vortex of Political Changes in the Period from 1927 to 1954
Željka Radovinović
orcid.org/0000-0001-8303-5492
; Knjižnica Muzičke akademije Sveučilišta u Zagrebu, Zagreb, Hrvatska
Sažetak
The beginning of the 20th century in Europe was turbulent in every way. In addition to the major political changes triggered by the outcome of the First World War, which led to World War II, there were significant changes in the structure of the population through migrations between the new state formations, as well as from the countryside to the city. With better transport connections with the USA, mass culture arrived on European soil from across the ocean. Cultural goods, such as sound recordings, films, etc., were produced in previously unimagined quantities.
From the West, the consumer economy (a consumption-oriented way of life) also arrived in Europe, with new forms of deferred payment (»credit«), which allowed even less affluent citizens to get closer to the image of an ideal life imposed by the marketing industry. In the transition to a consumer society, both sound recordings and the music they carried turned into commercial products intended for consumption. Many intellectuals and artists were disturbed by the growth of mass culture that they saw as a danger to the individuality they represented, fearing that the repetition of artistic creations, especially great musical works in reproduction from gramophone records or radio, would lead to their trivialization.
As part of the project »Recording Industry in Croatia from 1927 to the End of the 1950s«, I tried to present the way in which the described changes reflected on the situation in Croatia. My goal was to present the role of classical music from shellac gramophone records in the program of Radio Zagreb, which began in 1926 with special attention to the representation of the products of the Zagreb factories Edison Bell Penkala, Elektroton and Jugoton, which subsequently produced sound recordings for the entire territory of Yugoslavia and for export. Assuming that the use of gramophone records in the program was also influenced by political changes during the given period, the analyses of weekly schedules based on examples printed in periodicals are accompanied by references to basic historical determinants.
The study follows four periods driven by political changes: Beginning within controlled borders: 1926–1939, The New Political Situation 1939–1940 – Banovina of Croatia – Public radio, World War 2 – Independent State of Croatia – State radio, Year 1945: End of the war – Again but different Radio Zagreb. Although shellac records were produced in Zagreb until the end of the 1950s, my research ceased with the year 1954, when the new recording techniques (magnetophone) prevailed in the daily operation of the radio station. Radio was also mainly liberated from political control, and programs could be created according to public wishes and contemporary trends.
In the absence of program documentation, the research is based on the analysis of weekly schedules from periodicals and modest literature, as well as archival sources. The results are presented in percentages of representation of classical music, gramophone companies and, where possible, musical genres. Directly recorded gramophone records were also included in the elaboration. Carrying the music written by Yugoslav composers, they were a valuable supplement for the Radio program.
Ključne riječi
Radio Zagreb – music program; classical music on 78 rpm records; music and politics 1927–1954
Hrčak ID:
334236
URI
Datum izdavanja:
30.7.2025.
Posjeta: 359 *