KULTURA / CULTURE
SOUND OF THE SERBIAN SOUL When the trumpet blows between Guča and Nišville An entire nation resounds in its tones - its sorrows and joys, memories and celebrations, travels and welcoming champions...
It isn’t unusual that the trumpet appears at both festivals. While at Guča it sounds like a sob from bygone times and joy from the vestibule of the soul, at Nišville the trumpet flies freely, in the jazz style, filled with harmony, sumptuous and cos- mopolitan. And between those two ex- tremes lies Serbia as a whole – torn be- tween east and west, past and future, tradition and modernity. The trumpet is perhaps the most accurate expression of that Serbian paradox - that pain and happiness, silence and loudness, sadness and ecstasy can be one and the same. When it blows in Guča, the body dances even as the soul weeps. When it blows in Nišville, the soul dances even as the body suffers. And the heart recognis- es its own language in both cases. That’s why, when the trumpet blows – whether on the square in Guča or on the stage be- side the Nišava – everything else stops. Only the trumpet remains. And we are stripped bare in the face of a sound that knows us better than we know ourselves. Dragačevska truba će u Guči grmeti od 8. do 10. avgusta The Dragačevo trumpets will thunder in Guča from 8 th to 10 th August
T he trumpet isn’t just a musi- cal instrument. For Serbs, it is an invitation – to joy, to bat- tle, to dance, to tears. Perhaps that’s why it has – more than any other instrument – come to symbol- ise the Serbian soul. The trumpet’s history in Serbia begins with the army. Already during the 19 th century, it was used as a means of trans- mitting commands – its sound gathered soldiers and announced attacks, retreats and the changing of the guard. And once it found its way among the people, it no longer wanted to leave the songs and cus- toms. Trumpeters accompanied wedding parties and departing soldiers, as well as playing at celebrations, fairs and funerals. Its versatility has made it an indispensa- ble element of every important moment. And then came Guča. This small moun- tain town in the Dragačevo district be- came the home of the most famous con- gregation of trumpeters in 1961. The first Guča event was modest, with only a few
orchestras performing. But that ignited a fire that continues to burn to this day. That’s because the Congress in Guča isn’t just a festival. It is soft emotions, improv- isation, togetherness and passion. Tens of thousands of people come each August to listen, dance, cry and laugh to sounds that come from trumpeters’ hearts and lungs. They don’t play notes. They play the very rhythm of life. The same emotions can be felt on the other side of Serbia, in Nišville. Born out of jazz, but open to everything that breathes, the Nišville Jazz Festival has been bringing together internation- al and local artists since 1981. Just like the trumpet, jazz also has a military past, but also an insatiable need for free ex- pression. And paradoxically, that’s pre- cisely where Guča and Nišville collide: in the trumpet. Because, in both Guča and Nišville, the trumpet doesn’t merely play notes. It opens a discussion of roots, of the mixing of cultures, improvisation, the soul of a nation.
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