Tamburitza — Croatian Import Product on the Turn of the 19th into the 20th Century Cover Image

Tamburica — hrvatski izvozni proizvod na prijelazu 19. u 20. stoljeće
Tamburitza — Croatian Import Product on the Turn of the 19th into the 20th Century

Author(s): Nada Bezić
Subject(s): Cultural Essay, Political Essay, Societal Essay
Published by: Institut za etnologiju i folkloristiku
Keywords: tamburitza; history; Croatian urban population

Summary/Abstract: Playing the tamburitza had been a part of the Croatian urban population's musical lives from the year 1880, when the first tamburitza concert took place in Zagreb, until 1918. This is documented in so-far not well researched sources: the journal Tamburica (published in Sisak from 1903 to 1914 by Janko Stjepuπin, the owner of a tamburitza factory) as well as in the legacy of Milan Stahuljak (kept the Archive of HGZ ‡ Croatian Music Institute). In the cities, the tamburitza was played by amateurs, who were the members of the intelligentsia, and who considered the playing the tamburitza to be their contribution to the fight against the Habsburg dominance. During that period, the tamburitza music was a mode to present Croatia to the foreign visitors (such as tourists and eminent politicians). The urban circles were soon joined by both foreign and Croatian aristocracy. The promotion of Croatia through the tamburitza music was conducted by amateur and professional societies who used to travel through European east and west. However, the tamburitza was not automatically accepted as a Croatian instrument, for which were the musicians and the texts about them (advertising, printed media) to blame, and which resulted in the non-satisfaction of the Croatian public. Already known history of the tamburitza ensembles in the United States the author enriches by the data on the tamburitza scores ‡ arrangements of the American songs published in the journal Tamburica. The emigrant tamburitza ensembles that should also be taken into consideration are the ones founded around the year 1900 in South Africa (Johannesburg) and Indochina (today's Vietnam).

  • Issue Year: 38/2001
  • Issue No: 2
  • Page Range: 97-116
  • Page Count: 19
  • Language: Croatian