Trena
Jordanoska, Dimitrije Buzarovski Macedonian Composers During World War Two Revisited |
Abstract Despite the
numerous writings about the first generation of
Macedonian composers, we decided to design a pilot
project based on a meticulous review for missing
or contradictory data. We revisited the data about
four Macedonian composers who played a crucial
role in the establishment of the contemporary
Macedonian music culture: Stefan Gajdov, Zhivko
Firfov, Trajko Prokopiev and Todor Skalovski.
The historical
analysis of contemporary Macedonian music is
usually focused on the works and the activities of
Macedonian composers. If we compare the quantity
of the written materials regarding all aspects of
contemporary Macedonian music culture, the
majority of papers will be primarily devoted to
the life and the works of Macedonian composers. In
this sense, five composers who were among the
first to initiate the modern history of Macedonian
music have very distinguished positions: Stefan
Gajdov (1905, Veles – 1992, Ohrid),
Zhivko Firfov (1906, Veles – 1984, Skopje), Trajko
Prokopiev (1909, Kumanovo – 1979, Belgrade), Todor
Skalovski (1909, Tetovo – 2004, Skopje), and Petre
Bogdanov-Kochko (1913, Skopje – 1988, Skopje). Not
only are there numerous articles, essays, and TV
documentaries, but for three of them (Prokopiev,
Skalovski and Kochko) there are also monographs
(Kostadinovski 1983; Kitan Ivanovska, Skalovski
and Manchev 2003; Nikolovski, ed. 2002) describing
in detail their activities and the events in their
lives. One can expect
such an outcome, bearing in mind that they were
the crucial actors in the period that marked the
transition of Macedonian music culture from an
oriental to an occidental type, particularly after
the end of World War Two and the establishment of
the Republic of Macedonia. All modern
“westernized” music institutions are connected to
their names and their activities, and sometimes
they were compared to the Russian “petorka”,
alluding to their role in the establishment of the
Macedonian music idiom. The
existing papers give the impression that there is
sufficient written musicological material about
this subject. Nevertheless, we decided to revisit
and check the influence of ideological, political
and other factors which could have contributed in
misinterpretation of the events from the past.
This was the main incentive to launch a pilot
research regarding Macedonian music culture during
the World War Two period, presented in the paper
of Dimitrije Buzarovski and Trena Jordanoska (this
edition). We also
expected that the time distance, despite the fact
that participants are deceased and the artifacts
no longer exist, particularly those of the
pre-digital era, has a very important and serious
advantage – raised level of objectivity in the
understanding and the explanation of the events. Once again, we
would like to emphasize that there are no doubts
that these five composers, who were also choral
and orchestral conductors (Stefan Gajdov, Todor
Skalovski and Trajko Prokopiev), singers (Petre
Bogdanov-Kochko) and ethnomusicologists (Zhivko
Firfov), played a crucial and pivotal role in the
establishment of the Macedonian contemporary music
culture idiom. This paper does not intend to
reverse or re-evaluate the explanation and
understanding of the contemporary history of
Macedonian music. The history of Macedonian music
in the second half of the 20th century
is an exceptional example not only for the
oriental-occidental transformation, but also for a
skyrocketing development which brought fully
home-educated musicians such as Simon Trpcheski,
who at the moment holds performances on
worldly-renowned stages. In fact, our
main goal is to raise the level of criticism, and
determine, i.e. locate if there are missing or
contradictory data. We only share the common
scientific opinion that any written conclusion
should be carefully and meticulously checked to
avoid copying of statements not based on solid
facts. This also assumes that we have evidence for
such inconsistencies, particularly in the
pioneering years of Macedonian musicology (ibid.).
For example, the concert of Yury Arbatsky held in
the German Evangelist Church in Prague on October
18, 1942, which included two compositions for
organ, Fantasia by Zhivko Firfov, and Sonata
nr. 6 by Panche Peshev (Karakash 1970:
54/55), is confusing due to several reasons: – first, both
Zhivko Firfov and Panche Peshev wrote compositions
for an instrument which was totally unknown in
Macedonia at that time; – second, the
scores from the quoted compositions or other
similar compositions for the organ are missing; –
third, the title suggests large music forms not
present in their compositional opus; – finally,
“the sixth” sonata by Panche Peshev, implicates
that the other five are missing (see ibid.: 56). What can be
confirmed is: – that the
copy of the concert program, published in Branko
Karakash’s book on Macedonian composers, is
obviously not fake; –
that Yury Arbatsky, who was a pianist, an organist
and a composer, was also very interested in
ethnomusicology and Macedonian and Central Balkans
folklore, which resulted in his book Beating the
Tupan in the Central Balkans (1953); – that both
Firfov and Peshev were taking private lessons from
Yury Arbatsky (Karakash 1970: 28, 55; Ortakov
1982: 77; Burnazovski & Trajkovski 1984:
10–14, 97), but when, how often, how long and what
the content of the lessons was, remains unclear. The
theoretical responsibility was the main criterion
behind the revisited subject of the activities of
the Macedonian composers during World War Two.
Also, we would like to emphasize that this paper
is complementary to the paper by Buzarovski &
Jordanoska (this edition) that determines the
methodological assumptions and wholly reviews the
culture through the results of the pilot research.
In addition, we had in mind that the data
presented in the previous papers, are often based
on the interviews with the composers or the
members of their families, and there are rare
copies of the original documents that would
confirm their authenticity. While focusing
on activity of the composers, we decided to
organize the accessible artifacts in accordance
with the three different periods which
characterize the World War Two time
span: 1939–1941, 1941–44, and 1944–45. This
entirely corresponds to the changes of the
suffixes or even the entire family names from
“ić”, to “ov” and (for Skalovski to) “ski”. For
instance, until 1941 we find the following names:
Stevan M. Gajdović (Zorikj 2007: 40), Todor Nastić
for Todor Skalovski (Kitan Ivanovska 2003: 32),
Trajko Prokopijević (Kostadinovski 1983: 25, 28)
and Zhivko Firfović (according to the change of
the surname of his wife, see
Pavlovska-Shulajkovska 2009: 12). We also
decided that our paper will review the activities
of only four composers of the group, as Petre
Bogdanov-Kochko, started his compositional
activities later, i.e. at the end and after World
War Two (see Nikolovski, ed. 2002). The first
period was in continuity with the previous period,
where the group acquired their music education in
the Belgrade Music School (Muzichka shkola u
Beogradu), which after World War Two took the name
of its founder Stevan Mokranjac (Marinković 2007:
631). Still, despite the numerous papers about the
education of the group, the data should be
thoroughly checked as the only copy of the diploma
is the one printed in the Kostadinovski’s
monograph about Trajko Prokopiev (1983: 22). There
are no doubts that they completed the school – the
missing or contradictory data are related to their
enrollment, graduation and the classes they
attended (or what they majored in). There is
evidence, and consequently, a common agreement
that the emphasis of the compositional activities
of the whole group is in the choral area. There
are two major reasons for this outcome: the
compositional skills of the group and the
overwhelming presence of the vocal i.e. the choral
practice in the whole region during the pre World
War Two period (Buzarovski & Jordanoska this
edition). This does not undermine the achievements
of the group, as their compositions have been
present in the international repertoire until
present times (for example, see the data about the
most frequently performed works at the
International Choir Festival in Nish, where one
can find the works of Skalovski and Prokopiev,
Kostić 2010: 60, 62, 63, 94). It is obvious that
at that stage of the development of the Macedonian
music culture, one cannot expect complex
compositional works in a formal, orchestral and
stylistic sense. This will be achieved with the
appearance of the first generation of Macedonian
composers who passed through full higher education
training in Belgrade, Zagreb and Ljubljana in the
late 1950s and the 1960s, such as Kiril
Makedonski, Vlastimir Nikolovski, Toma Proshev and
Tomislav Zografski. Usually the
most documented part of the activities of these
composers are the catalogs with the titles of
their compositions. Among the latest research in
the area is the dissertation “Digital Catalog of
Macedonian Choral Works” by Ivica Zorikj (2007),
which is based on the largest collection of such
compositions at the moment. The catalog fully
confirms our previous thesis that the accent of
their opus was on the choral practice. Bearing in
mind that we were interested only in the specified
period of 1939–1945, we were immediately
confronted with the problem of the exact year of
creation, particularly as some of the compositions
might have been published, performed or rewritten
later. During
1939–1941, most of the existing data refers to the
choral works by Stefan Gajdov – ten compositions
for mixed choir, two for male choir and five for
female choir (Kolovski 1993: 88, 89). The other
composers are much less presented, or
hypothetically, less creative in the period. This
is particularly evident in Zhivko Firfov’s works
where there are almost no data. The opus of Trajko
Prokopiev includes two mixed choir compositions,
one for male choir and, a piece Pastorala
for flute, harp and violin with inconsistent data
about the ensemble(s) and year of creation (see
Kostadinovski 1983: 204–208, 315). The list of
Todor Skalovski’s works from the same period
includes two lost compositions, Uchi Karaj
and Rudari (Skalovski 2003: 198), four
compositions for mixed choir, and one for female
choir. In the same
period, 1939–1941, and particularly in 1941, all
of these composers were abroad: Stefan Gajdov was
a music teacher at the Vukovar High School
(Todorchevska 2004b: 34); Zhivko Firfov was a
teacher and leader of the orchestra at the Zemun
Center for the blind and visually-impaired, and a
conductor of the Zemun Choral Society (Karakash 1970:
27, 28); Todor Skalovski was a high school teacher
in Sremska Mitrovica and a conductor of the
Citizens’ Choir (Kitan Ivanovska 2003: 37, 38;
Skalovski 2003: 190); while Trajko Prokopiev was
conductor of the choral society Sloga in
Sarajevo and a part-time teacher at the Serbian
Orthodox Church School (Kostadinovski 1983: 38).
At the start of the war they all returned to
Macedonia. Although we cannot say that the exact
data of return are of a special musicological
importance, we found some discrepancies such as in
Kitan Ivanovska’s quote that “… as a supporter of
the Yugoslav Communist Party, with a decision of
the Croatian Ustasha on the April 6, he [Todor
Skalovski] was exiled with his family to
Macedonia...” (2003: 38). Such data should be
corrected bearing in mind that April 6, 1941 was
the first day of the German attack on Yugoslavia. During the
next period, 1941–1943, there are partial data
that the four composers from our survey mainly
stayed in Skopje, except for Todor Skalovski,
where there are inconsistent data about his stay
in Bitola and Skopje (compare ibid.: 38, 39; v.
Skalovski 2010: 69, 71). As the majority of them
were working as music teachers, it is unclear
whether they were sent to Bulgaria for additional
training as part of the restructuring of the
educational system in Macedonia during the
Bulgarian occupation (see Buzarovski &
Jordanoska this edition). In 1941, Stefan Gajdov
was employed in the Tsaritsa Ioanna
All-Girls High School in Skopje, and, “in
September 1943 he was appointed as a principal” of
the established by the Bulgarian authority Music
School in Skopje, “who, a month later,
discontinued classes” (see Todorchevska 2004b:
34). The quoted data contradicts the research by
the historian Rastislav Terzioski, who writes that
the Music School in Skopje was opened in the
school year 1941/1942: The
classes were held by high school music and singing
teachers. This music school in the school year
1943/1944, with order from the Ministry of
education, became the Music High School…
(Terzioski 1974: 31) Again there are
no data about Zhivko Firfov, while Todor Skalovski
was a teacher at the Bitola High School. Trajko
Prokopiev was also a teacher in the Second
All-Boys High School where we worked with a choir
and an orchestra which performed some of his
compositions (Kostadinovski 1983: 40). We were
particularly careful when reviewing the data of
this period, bearing in mind the ideological and
political pressure during the following socialist
period. All of the extant biographies emphasize
that Skalovski, Prokopiev and Gajdov (as well as
Bogdanov-Kochko) were included in the resistance
against the German and Bulgarian occupation, and
that choral practice was the undercover means for
these activities. Consequently, Skalovski formed
the Macedonia male
choir in 1942 in Skopje (Skalovski 2003: 156), “as
a cover for the activities of the partisans“ and
the members later on became members of the Second
Skopje Partisan Detachment (Kitan Ivanovska 2003:
39). Later, “under the directions of the Party” he
moves to Bitola where his house is “the
headquarter for the resistance of the entire
Bitola region” (ibid.). “In Bitola, also the choir
is the ideal form for action and propaganda and
sending the ‘singers’ to the partisan detachments”
(Skalovski 2010: 71). Similar
activities were noted by Prokopiev, who states
that he, as a sympathizer of the resistance,
supported the activities of the “progressive
youths” through the organization of music events,
which were used for undercover meetings
(Kostadinovski 1983: 40). He also helped keep
their meetings undercover through additional music
lessons and organization of weekend choir concerts
in the Sv. Gjorgji Church in the Chayr
neighborhood where one of the communist party
cells was working (ibid.). We find
similar information based on the interview with
Prokopiev that: … in
the “Boris Drangov” choral society, a Music School
was formed… [by Skalovski, Asparuh Hadzinikolov,
Prokopiev and Bogdanov-Kochko] where unofficially
they appointed Stefan Gajdov as its principal, and
Petre Bogdanov-Kochko as its secretary. But the
school did not start to work, and there were no
students enrolled. Under the instructions of our [sic]
Communist party the school should have been a
place for gathering of the progressive youth.
These intentions were discovered by the Bulgarian
occupants who immediately brought Bulgarian music
teachers and opened the Music High School. (ibid.)
At the same
time Gajdov was a conductor of the Brakja
Miladinovi male church choir in the Sv.
Dimitrija Church in Skopje until 1945, which
in accordance to the article by Todorchevska, was
“used as a link between the soldiers sent to
partisan detachments” (2004b:
34). Parallel with this information, in the
newspaper Celokupna
B’lgarija we found an article reporting that
“yesterday (August 5) in the hall of the First
All-Boys High School the new choir Brakja
Miladinovi was established” where the
members were mainly coming from the former Sv.
Dimitrija church choir (Celokupna B’lgarija
1942, no. 352: 2). As we have
already emphasized, this is also only a pilot
research into the area regarding a larger project
for cleaning the inconsistencies in the existing
data that arise particularly from political and
ideological reasons. We assumed that the political
pressure might have resulted in the exaggeration
related to the progressive roles of the
individuals. This also refers to the use of the
choirs as a center for the resistance movement, as
there are parallel data, which show that the
choirs were equally used for propaganda activities
from the Bulgarian side, as well (see Buzarovski
& Jordanoska this edition). For example,
immediately after the Bulgarian occupation of
Macedonia in 1941, the Boris Drangov choir
was formed from the former members of the choirs Vardar
and Mokranjac, and at first, the
conductors were Todor Skalovski and Asparuh
Hadzinikolov. Later on, Trajko Prokopiev was
appointed as conductor of the same choir, while
Petre Bogdanov-Kocko was a piano accompanist
(Kostadinovski 1983: 40). The next choir which was
frequently mentioned in the articles of Celokupna
B’lgarija reviewed in our pilot research, is
Georgi Sugarev with the conductor Todor
Skalovski. The pilot research points out that
there is written and photo material about both
choirs, particularly evident in the concert of Georgi
Sugarev in Zala B’lgarija in Sofia
with the conductor Todor Skalovski on July 16,
1942 (Celokupna B’lgarija 1942, no. 325: 4; no.
339: 2). As we have
mentioned earlier, there are only few data about
their activities as composers in this period.
There are only two choral pieces by Gajdov,
written in 1942, Gora i junak for female
choir with several confusing years of creation –
1941, or 1942 (Kolovski 1993: 89), or even 1932,
(Todorchevska 2004b: 34) and Rumba, rumba se
sobrale, also for female choir (1942)
(Kolovski 1993: 89). Again there
are no data about Zhivko Firfov. This only
confirms the need for a larger study of Zhivko
Firfov’s life and particularly his
ethnomusicological work, as there are no doubts
about his contribution to the establishment of
Macedonian ethnomusicology, and particularly the
preservation of Macedonian music folklore. But we
should not undermine his compositional activities
which are also confirmed by the article
“Makedonskata pesen” (“The Macedonian song”) where
one can find a list of the Macedonian composers:
Firfov, Gajdov and Prokopiev (Celokupna B’lgarija
1942, no. 355: 4). According to
the list of works by Trajko Prokopiev
(Kostadinovski 1983: 314), he finished the choral
work Kumanovka
IV (ibid.: 99) and wrote only the music for
the play Pechalbari by Anton Panov (1942)
which was performed the same year (Celokupna
B’lgarija 1942, no. 393: 2). We found very often
the name of Trajko Prokopiev in the Radio Skopje
program for children Chas za
Deteto, where he conducts the group Detska pesen
(for example, ibid. no. 353: 2). We have more
data about Skalovski’s choral compositions, mostly
for mixed choir: Goce (as
first part of the Ilinden trilogy) (1941–44), Rhapsody 1
(1941–44), Ilinden
Ballad, The Song of
Gjorgji Sugare [sic]
(as second part of the Ilinden trilogy) (1942), Prijdite
poklonimsja (1942) and Makedonsko
oro (1943–44) (also with a version for a
female choir) (Skalovski 2003: 199). Another list
of works by Todor Skalovski from 1942 includes an
additional three choral compositions: Dobro utro
lichno mome, Tuljo and Tumbe kafe
(Kolovski 1993: 198). In the monograph about
Skalovski, Kitan Ivanovska quotes Ivan Kamburov
who pronounced Skalovski’s composition Macedonian
Humoresque (written in 1938–1939) performed
during the concert of Georgi
Sugarev in Sofia in 1942, as “ the most
humorous song in Bulgarian literature” (2003: 39).
As we said, there are other data which need
further clarification, such as the performance of
Makedonsko
oro for female choir in 1943 at “the
National theater in Skopje, where all the
communist youth [SKOJ] was present and rewarded
the composition with a long applause” (ibid.: 43).
There is much
more data covering the period from 1944 and on,
mainly regarding the activities related to the
organization of culture at the liberated
territories by the partisans. They generally refer
to the music activities in the AGITPROP (agitation
and propaganda) unit of the Communist party, in
the Headquarter of the newly formed resistance in
the village Gorno Vranovci, where musicians,
poets, and other artists were gathered. In the
existing printed documents we find the names of
Skalovski, Prokopiev and Zhivko Firfov (Vlastimir
Nikolovski and Petre Bogdanov-Kochko are also
mentioned) working with the newly formed partisan
choirs (ibid.: 42). According to Todor Skalovski: every
event began with an opening speech and the song Izgrej
zoro na slobodata [sic]. The artistic part
consisted of Vrapche, followed by music
solos, recitations and choral songs; the crown of
every event was the performance of the drama group
Pettoimeniot Gjore. The dance Teshkoto
was performed together with the peasants...
(ibid.) It
is difficult to reconstruct when and which of the
compositions are linked to the activities of the
composers of the period. In the existing writings,
Todor Skalovski stated that: Firfov
wrote his First partisan’s march for male choir,
Trajko Prokopiev [wrote] his first composition…
inspired by the National Liberation War and the
Revolution… Here, I wrote my first works, several
marches, the cantata 11 Oktomvri and the
song Goce. (ibid.) Probably
Skalovski refers to his choral composition 11 Oktomvri
which is registered in the Zorikj’s catalog (2007:
75), while in accordance to the list of works in
the same monograph, the cantata 11 Oktomvri
is written in 1946 (Skalovski 2003: 202). In Gorno
Vranovci, Mlad borec published a small collection with
arrangements of the popular resistance songs under
the title Mladinski
poj,
with lyrics by Venko Markovski, Kole Chashule and
Aco Shopov, edited by Todor Skalovski (Nikolovski
1986: 96; Kitan Ivanovska 2003: 41; Skalovski
2003: 201). In the data
given by Todor Skalovski, he states that he made
the arrangements of A bre, Makedonche, Aj
shto mi e milo, em drago mlada partizanka da
stanam, Vo borba, Od Makedonija
glas se slusha, Ne odred, a vojska sme
nie, Zora zori and So chest i
gordost (Kitan Ivanovska 2003: 44) and the
compositions Titovi sme pioneri, March
of the Macedonian youth, March of the
Yugoslavian youth, Ognot (ibid.:
43). One can also find a list of twelve other
choral compositions written by Skalovski in this
period (Kolovski
1993: 198; Skalovski 2003: 199, 201; Zorikj 2007:
75). As concerns
Trajko Prokopiev, after the liberation of Skopje
(November 13, 1944) he formed the Military Choir
of the National Liberation War Headquarters in
Macedonia from the soldiers of the battalions in
Skopje. The first performance was at the reception
of the ASNOM delegates where together with the
choir from the All-Girls High School they
performed partisan and patriotic songs
(Kostadinovski 1983: 42). The choir grew up to 80
members and had its rehearsals “in the former
French school and later in the Music High School”
(ibid.). Prokopiev performed with this choir
throughout Macedonia and Serbia and later on at
the Srem front. This choir premiered his
compositions Karposh (written
in 1944, performed 1945) and Dena (written
1940–1941, performed 1945) (ibid.: 42, 43).
Kostadinovski (ibid.: 313, 314) also lists the
compositions Vardare for voice and piano
(1944–45), Rosa for female choir (1945), Pesna
za sturceto for children choir (1945) and
again the music for the play Pechalbari
(1945). There are very
rare data about Gajdov’s activity. His name is
mentioned in the newspaper Nova Makedonija
(November 30, 1944) as a choral conductor
performing the anthems Hej Sloveni and Izgrej
zora (cited in Izgrej zora… 2012). His name
is also quoted regarding the concert on December
9, 1944 at the celebration of Sv. Kliment day by
the new Ministry of Education formed by ASNOM:
“during the music part, Stefan Gajdov and the
choir from the All-Girls High School performed his
choral compositions Lele Jano, Shto mi
e milo em drago and Se zapali odajcheto
Treno, odajcheto” (Nova Makedonija, December
12, 1944 cited in Todorchevska 2004b: 35). This is
best proof that this choir, which we have already
met in the previous period, continued with its
activities. During our
period of observation (World War Two) there were
several other Macedonian musicians active as
composers. Among them the most quoted name is
Panche Peshev (1915, Veles – 1944, Kushkuli,
Plachkovica), who was active in the Yugoslav
Communist Party before the war, participating
directly in the resistance against the German and
Bulgarian occupation, was imprisoned in 1942, narrowly escaped execution and
tragically died in combat in 1944. He was
one of the first students at the Music School in
Skopje in 1934,
but he left the school (Burnazovski
& Trajkovski 1984: 14, 15). There are numerous quotations that he
took private lessons in composition with Josip
Slavenski and Arbatsky and was the author of one
of the first revolutionary songs Klasje zeleno in 1936
(ibid.: 13, 14, 29). Unfortunately the only accessible composition by Panche Peshev is the
March of the III Macedonian liberation brigade
(1944),
with lyrics by Aco Shopov (ibid.: 115–118). Among other
activities, he was one of the founders of the
illegal newspaper Dedo Ivan in 1941,
written in Kumanovo dialect (ibid.: 70). In the
second issue he published the article “Pejachki
hor” (“Singing choir”) as a reaction to Bulgarian
propaganda in Kumanovo: The
Bulgarians “through their AGENT Bojan… try to make
us traitors of our class and our people. To
increase his influence he promises that he will
organize a trip for the singers to Sofia... Do not
go to Sofia! This is not a time for that. Forward
in the struggle against fascism! (ibid.: 71, 72) Taki Hrisik
(1920,
Krushevo – 1983, Skopje) is
undoubtedly the composer that deserves to be
included in the review of the period. Among the
very rare data about his works and his life, we
find that he was taking music lessons with the
Austrian composer and conductor Albert Hrasche (Kolovski
1993: 229) who worked in Krushevo and Prilep in
the 1930s (Dzimrevski 2005: 238). Karakash (1970:
61); that he was a participant in the resistance
against the occupation of Macedonia; that in 1941
he translated the words from L'Internationale
into the Vlach language, and he wrote the songs Na
noze, Krevajte se rabotnici and Partizani.
Kolovski’s list (1983: 230) of Hrisik compositions
includes: Rabotnichki marsh
(1940), Partizanski marsh (1942),
Partizanska himna (1944) and Svechena pesna
za brakata Kiril i Metodij (1945).
Among his works, surprisingly, there are two
orchestral pieces: Vo mrakot – a phantasy
for orchestra, written in 1943, and Razdelba
– suite for orchestra, written in 1944 (Karakash
1970: 62; Kolovski 1983: 229). One can be sure
that Taki Hrisik focused on writing the
so-called mass songs, evident
through the award received at the anonymous competition of the Association of
Composers in Yugoslavia for a Yugoslav anthem in 1969, for
his composition Svechena pesna (Karakash 1970:
61; Kolovski 1993: 229). We would also
like to mention Asparuh Hadzinikolov (1909, Skopje
– 1980, Skopje) whose music education is unclear.
The existing data point out that he was enrolled
in a high school in Leipzig (Karakash 1970: 36;
Kolovski 1993: 226) and returned to Belgrade “when
Hitler took the power in Germany in 1933” and, in
the same year he finished the Music School in 1934
(Kolovski 1993: 226). From 1934 he became a music
teacher in different cities in Serbia and in
Skopje where he also worked as choral conductor.
An additional study of his compositional
activities should be undertaken as thirteen choral
compositions are listed in Zorikj’s catalog (2007:
23). The complete
survey of the compositional activities in the
period cannot avoid the discussion about the group
of amateur composers who created the repertoire of
the partisan songs (see for
example Ortakov 1977: 13, 14; Nikolovski 1986: 96).
Among them is Kiro Gligorov (the first president
of the independent Republic of
Macedonia) with his composition Lenka,
and Vlado Maleski as the author of the Macedonian
anthem Denes nad
Makedonija. Despite
the numerous references in different papers, we
assume that these data should be revisited and
reviewed, too. In
conclusion, we accept the opinion that revisiting
events from the music history can always
contribute to better understanding of the music of
the past, as well as bring enlightenment from a
more objective and realistic perspective. The pilot
research about the activities of the Macedonian
composers during World War Two confirmed the need
for careful and meticulous review of all existing
written data and artifacts in order to avoid
copying of statements not based on solid facts.
Raising the level of criticism aids in the
location of missing or contradictory data, and
particularly misinterpretations which could be a
result of the biased political, ideological,
cultural or ethnic attitudes. The review of
the activities of the four composers who are
considered as founders of contemporary Macedonian
music culture, Stefan Gajdov, Zhivko Firfov,
Trajko Prokopiev and Todor Skalovski, confirmed
the continuity of their pre and post World War Two
activities and their crucial role in Macedonian
music life and culture. Also the pilot research
proved the need for an extensive project that
includes other composers such as Panche Peshev,
Taki Hrisik and Asparuh Hadzinikolov.
Arbatsky,
Yury: Beating the Tupan in the Central Balkans,
The Newberry Library, Chicago Illinois 1953. Burnazovski,
Boris & Branislav Trajkovski: Panche
Peshev revolucioner i muzichar. Uchilishte
za osnovno obrazovanie “Panche Peshev” – Kumanovo
1984. Dzimrevski,
Borivoje: Gradska instrumentalna muzichka
tradicija vo Makedonija 1900–1941. Institut
za folklor “Marko Cepenkov” – Skopje 2005. Izgrej zora na
slobodata. Wikipedia,
http://mk.wikipedia.org/wiki/Изгреј_зора_на_слободата,
February 26, 2012. Karakash,
Branko: Muzichkite tvorci vo Makedonija.
Makedonska kniga, Skopje 1970. Kitan
Ivanovska, Margarita: Zhivoten i tvorechki
letopis. In: Todor Skalovski: zhivotot i
deloto. MANU, Fondacija Trifun Kostovski,
Skopje 2003, 11–86. Kitan
Ivanovska, Margarita, Denko Skalovski & Tome
Manchev: Todor Skalovski: zhivotot i deloto.
MANU, Fondacija Trifun Kostovski, Skopje 2003. Kolovski,
Marko: Sojuz na kompozitorite na Makedonija
1947–1992 – Makedonski kompozitori i muzikolozi.
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Kostadin: Trajko Prokopiev – zhivot i delo.
Makedonski naroden teatar, Skopje 1983. Kostić,
Suzana: Partiture – ogledalo Horskih
svecanosti. Nishki kulturni centar 2010. Marinković,
Sonja: Muzichko shkolstvo. In: Istorija srpske
muzike: srpska muzika i evropsko muzichko
nasledje. Zavod za udzbenike, Beograd 2007,
627–638. Nikolovski,
Janko (ed.): Petre Bogdanov-Kochko – eden
znachaen zhivot. Pavlina Apostolova
Bogdanova (privatno izdanie), Skopje 2002. Nikolovski,
Vlastimir: Muziciranjeto i angazhiranata tvorechka
muzichka misla za vreme na NOB vo Vardarska
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Dragoslav: Makedonskata revolucionerna pesna od
periodot na NOV. In: Makedonska muzika 1,
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Dragoslav: Muzichkata umetnost vo Makedonija.
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Mirjana:
Danka Firfova: zhivot posveten na muzikata.
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Denko. Reproduktivnoto tvoreshtvo na Todor
Skalovski; prilozi. In: Todor Skalovski:
zhivotot i deloto. MANU, Fondacija Trifun
Kostovski, Skopje 2003, 153–183; 187–257. Skalovski,
Denko. Sedum makedonski kompozitori: mala
istoriska prolegomena za edna makedonska
estetika. BIGOSS, Skopje 2010. Terzioski,
Rastislav: Denacionalizatorskata dejnost na
bugarskite kulturno-prosvetni institucii vo
Makedonija (Skopska i Bitolska okupaciona oblast
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Skopje 1974. Todorchevska,
Jelica: Petre Bogdanov-Kochko (1913–1998). In:
Stardelov, Georgi, Dragoslav Ortakov &
Dimitrije Buzarovski (eds.), Muzikata na
pochvata na Makedonija od Atanas Badev do denes,
MANU, Skopje 2004a, 41–46. Todorchevska,
Jelica: Stefan Gajdov (1905–1992). In: Stardelov,
Georgi, Dragoslav Ortakov & Dimitrije
Buzarovski (eds.), Muzikata na pochvata na
Makedonija od Atanas Badev do denes, MANU,
Skopje 2004b, 33–39. Zorikj,
Ivica: Digitalen katalog za makedonskoto
horsko tvoreshtvo. Dissertation submited at
UKIM FM Skopje as a partial fulfillment of the
requirements of the degree Doctor of Musical
Arts (Conducting) 2007. ↑ Back to top |
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