Polish Music in Zagreb Between the Two World Wars (as exemplified by the Croatian Music Institute)

Abstract

Bilateral diplomatic and economic relations between Poland and the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes (from 1929 the Kingdom of Yugoslavia) between the two world wars have been presented quite comprehensively in numerous studies. The same cannot be said, however, about research into cultural relations between the two states. This may be attributable partly to the fact that cultural cooperation is harder to trace, since most of the projects during that period were ‘grassroots’ initiatives undertaken for the benefit of eminent individual artists and academics, and on their responsibility. It was only gradually that institutionalised forms and mechanisms of cooperation familiar from later decades were implemented. There are no synthetic or even fragmentary studies concerning cooperation in the field of music.
 This report, based on my archive research to date, is intended as a contribution to gradually filling the gaps in our knowledge about the reception of Polish music, starting with Croatia’s main city of Zagreb. I analyse the music presented by the main concert organiser in Zagreb at that time, the Croatian Music Institute, with regard to the presence of Polish works. The appendix contains all the decipherable surnames of Polish composers, with a list of works performed – mainly from the nineteenth century or rather conservative more recent compositions. The music of Karol Szymanowski, Poland’s pre-eminent contemporary composer, was performed throughout this twenty-year period, but neither the composer himself nor the more discerning local music lovers were satisfied with how it was represented in Zagreb. Apart from discussing Polish works presented at the Institute, the author also mentions outstanding Polish musicians who performed in Croatia’s biggest city between 1918 and 1939, promoting Polish repertoire.