The Efforts of Socialist Yugoslavia’s Music Associations in the Affirmation of (Contemporary) Art Music Among Children and Youth

Ivana Vesić; Miloš Marinković

doi:10.5937/newso2464101V

Ivana Vesić Senior Research Associate, Institute of Musicology SASA, Belgrade
Miloš Marinković Research Associate Institute of Musicology SASA, Belgrade

DOI: https://doi.org/10.5937/newso2464101V

Keywords: socialist Yugoslavia, aesthetic education of children and youth, (contemporary) art music, mass organizations, music associations, Musical Youth of Yugoslavia

Abstract

After the end of the Second World War the large-scale project of cultural and educational emancipation of the Yugoslav population was initiated by several mass organizations that were affiliated with the Communist Party of Yugoslavia. The newly established republican, and later federal associations of composers, art music performer, concert and orchestral performers, and music pedagogues also contributed to this process. In this paper, we will examine in detail the specific undertakings of mass organizations and music associations oriented toward cultivation of music taste of children and youth and advancement of their knowledge of its history. Special emphasis will be given to the initiatives of the Yugoslav organization of Musical Youth (Jeunesses musicales, f. 1954) carried out between the mid-1950s and mid-1970s as they manifested various innovative dimensions. The aim is not only to give an overview of different approaches to art music popularization among young Yugoslavs after WWII, but also to critically assess their outcomes.

Author Biographies

Ivana Vesić, Senior Research Associate, Institute of Musicology SASA, Belgrade

holds a Ph.D. in Sociology and MA in Sociology and Musicology. She graduated from the Department of Musicology of the Faculty of Music – University of Arts in Belgrade in 2007. She continued her studies at the Department of Sociology of the University of Belgrade where she obtained the master’s and doctoral degree in 2009 and 2016. Since 2011, Dr. Vesić has been working at the Institute of Musicology SASA (Belgrade, Serbia) where she currently holds the position of Senior Research Associate. Her research is mainly focused on the socio-historical dimensions of art and popular music practices in Serbia and Yugoslavia from the 1850s to the early 21st century with the emphasis on the issues of music and ideology, music and cultural policies, music taste and consumption, etc. She authored and co-authored two monographs and more than 40 articles and book chapters in scientific journals and collective volumes. She has been editor and co-editor of three collective volumes. Dr. Vesić has been a team member of several national and international (bilateral) scientific projects and digitization projects.

Miloš Marinković, Research Associate Institute of Musicology SASA, Belgrade

is a musicologist who is currently working as Research Associate at the Institute of Musicology SASA (Belgrade). He completed his bachelor, master and doctoral studies in musicology at the Faculty of Music of the University of Arts in Belgrade where he defended his doctoral dissertation under the title Yugoslav contemporary music festivals established during the 1960s: Correlations between artistic, social and political platforms (2023). He was a fellow of the CEEPUS’ scholarship program which included a research stay at the University of Ljubljana. He participated in the national project of the Institute of Musicology SASA, Serbian Music Identities from Local to Global Frames: Tradition, Change, Challenges, and is currently involved in the project Applied Musicology and Ethnomusicology in Serbia: Making a Difference in Contemporary Society – APPMES (Republic of Serbia Science Fund). His research is focused on the development of musical culture since 1945, cultural policy of socialist Yugoslavia, and music festivals in the period of socialism and post-socialism.