Conference Agenda

This paper examines the emergence and development of jazz in the Socialist Republic of Macedonia (then a constituent republic of the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia) between 1944 and 1970, a period marked by substantial cultural transformation and ideological negotiation. Combining musicological analysis with extensive documentary research, the study reconstructs the structures through which jazz entered and circulated within musical life: radio institutions, amateur cultural societies, visiting international ensembles, concert activities, and the early media sphere.

Drawing on a wide range of primary sources preserved in the National and University Library “St. Clement of Ohrid” in Skopje — including newspapers (Nova Makedonija), cultural magazines (Razgledi, Kulturen Život, Makedonka), concert programmes, radio schedules, institutional chronicles, and oral interviews — the paper demonstrates how jazz was mediated, debated and framed within public discourse. These materials reveal a complex interplay between official cultural policy, which alternated between suspicion, regulation and selective support, and the creative agency of musicians who adapted jazz idioms to local artistic, educational and social contexts.

Key figures such as Dragan Gjakonovski–Špato and the ensembles of Radio Skopje illustrate how jazz developed despite ideological constraints, gradually becoming a marker of cultural modernity. By integrating documentary evidence with contextual musicological interpretation, the study offers a new understanding of jazz in Southeastern Europe and highlights its role in shaping cultural identity during the socialist period.

The significance of a library focusing on jazz, rock, and pop music was doubted during the socialist period, just as the value of this music was questioned. Private collectors took over the role of state institutions. Paradoxically, socialist culture planned for the existence of a triple model—library, cinema, and cultural hall—in every town and village. Jazz, rock, and pop music, in the form of SP and LP records, began to be collected in state libraries at the turn of the 1980s, particularly in public-popularizing libraries (such as the Municipal Library of Bratislava), unlike the academically focused libraries. Although music departments in libraries concentrated on classical music, enlightened employees occasionally ordered jazz, rock, and pop music records as well. After the creation of the independent Slovak Republic (1993), the national wealth in this area was also highlighted. Based on existing private collector's archives, the project 10 CD Anthology of Slovak Popular Music (Pavol Zelenay, editor, SF00572331, 2008) was created, documenting archives from the years 1934–1963. Before 1989, the legislative obligation to submit 1–2 copies of editions applied to print publications, but was less explicit for records. After 1989, publishers are obliged to submit LP and CD records to libraries. The unavailability of modern popular music CDs in libraries and distribution issues became key for organizing the Aurel – Academy of Modern Popular Music (2001–2007) under the auspices of the Slovak National Group of IFPI. The activity was terminated in 2007 because the Academy members could not access the CDs to vote seriously.

Greater Poland is a region of Poland renowned for its singing traditions for over 150 years. Singing societies began to emerge around the mid-19th century, not only in Poznań but also in smaller urban centers of the Grand Duchy of Posen. From the very beginning, their activities were guided by patriotic ideals—initially linked to independence sentiments and anti-Germanization efforts, and later to the shaping of Polish statehood. Some ensembles continue to operate to this day. The development of choral and singing traditions was accompanied by an increased production of works composed and arranged for vocal ensembles, as well as a flourishing publishing movement. The demand for choral works was met by directors of choirs such as Bolesław Dembiński as composer, and Kazimierz Barwicki, one of the most active publishers of choral music in the first half of the 20th century. Choral traditions were continued by such Poznań composers as Andrzej Koszewski and Stanisław Bolesław Poradowski.

University Library in Poznań keeps a rich collection of both autographs of the aforementioned composers and printed music related to the activity of choirs in the region. In this paper, I would like to present an overview of this collection. The final part of the paper will be devoted to discussing the collection of the St. Cecilia Singing Society in Połajewo, donated to the University Library in Poznań by the local Cultural Center, which will serve as a starting point for a discussion on the state of preservation of the heritage associated with the Greater Poland Singing Movement.