Bosnian Discography before World War I : Recording artists, repertoire, and politics

Abstract

This chapter uses new discographic research to give an overview of the politics of the early recording industry in Bosnia before World War I, when it was under Habsburg rule. Three phonographic companies made commercial recording trips to Bosnia between 1907 and 1912, including DGAG (a subsidiary of the Gramophone Company), ITMC, and Lyrophonwerke. Focusing on the selection of artistes and repertoire, the chapter scrutinizes artistes’ professional status, ethnic background, and gender. The repertoires raise several questions. What were the original performance contexts? Could some recordings be utilized as propaganda for the anti-Habsburg opposition, Greater Serbia, or Habsburg rule? How did the changing political situation affect the records’ repertoire and shelf life? The chapter also examines the competition between record companies, cross-marketing from Bosnia to Serbia and Croatia-Slavonia, and the shift of recording activity away from Bosnia and Bosnian music after the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand in Sarajevo and the beginning of the war.