Echoes of Forgotten Time: Professional Folk Musical Ensembles in Cafes of Bosnia and Herzegovina (1878–1918)

Abstract

Traditional folk music of Bosnia and Herzegovina can be best understood in light of the multicultural heritage of Bosniaks, Serbs and Croats, as well as many ethnic minority groups. But in the period 1878–1918, traditional music became open to Western European influences. Openness, as well as exposure, to the “new” becomes one of the characteristic signs of the Austro-Hungarian empire, whose new system of governance brought the unknown Western European cultural spirit to the population of Bosnia and Herzegovina. In the mentioned period, new musical instruments appeared, which were previously unknown (e.g. clarinet, accordion), as well as professional musical ensembles which were not common in Bosnian tradition. These and similar appearances made the period of Austro-Hungarian empire a unique turning point in the development of urban traditional music which was developed within the Bosnian and Herzegovinian cafes.