Maksa Popov and tamburitza practice in Belgrade in the mid-20th century

Abstract

Ethnomusicological research is often focused on the study of individuals recognised as prominent musical innovators of their time, and fieldwork, as a fundamental method, is a meeting point of individuals and researchers. Direct encounters lead to interaction between interlocutors, that is, the selected individual, and ethnomusicologists, while indirect contacts include temporal and / or spatial distance, and are reduced to the study of certain biographical data, scores, transcriptions, audio / video recordings and other resources. In that sense, the study of the material legacy of Maksa Popov (1910-1973), published materials, as well as verbal statements of people who were in direct contact with him, sheds light not only on his biography, but also the potential reconstruction of tamburitza practice in Belgrade in the mid-20th century. The period of his activity was marked by significant socio-historical upheavals on the global and local level alike. All these circumstances inevitably affected the life and creative reach of Maksa Popov. Since he spent most of his professional career in Radio Belgrade (first as a musician in the Tamburitza Orchestra conducted by Aleksandar Aranicki, then as Artistic Director of the Radio Belgrade Tamburitza Orchestra, and finally, as a music producer and important figure in institutionalising show business networks), Maksa Popov's musical ethnography opens the possibility of perceiving a broader picture of tamburitza in the context of Belgrade before and after the Second World War.