Dragutin Gostuški’s Television Narrative

The selection of music combined with the text about music is very important for the effect on the viewer of the television music programs. The interaction between music and text turns into an action towards the viewer, and that action is, in fact, the essence of the television medium. The words about music hold great importance, almost like the music itself, and their mutual influence leads to a new quality – to a new television music form. To achieve the most suitable effect and the highest range from that combination requires great erudition, skilful use of various elements and their connection during the presentation of a certain topic or idea. Dragutin Gostuški indeed possessed all these qualities, so his television performances were always true spectacles – regardless of whether he created an introduction to a music event or designed a programme or an entire series. In each of his performances he demonstrated his impeccable sense of time in the television medium, noticing the exact quantity of information that should be presented, and choosing the manner, vocabulary, sentence structure, and rhythm of the text that should be used. We could systematize Gostuški’s presence on several levels; this text analyses music program in which he gave the introduction before the music piece that will be performed or before the content that will be presented, as well as the music programmes and the musical series in which he was the scriptwriter and presenter. He started his engagement with the Belgrade television in the late 1970s and early 1980s, mostly collaborating with the editor Gordana Djurdjević, The selection of music combined with the text about music is very important for the effect on the viewer of the television music programs. The interaction between music and text turns into an action towards the viewer, and that action is, in fact, the essence of the television medium. The words about music hold great importance, almost like the music itself, and their mutual influence leads to a new quality – to a new television music form. To achieve the most suitable effect and the highest range from that combination requires great erudition, skilful use of various elements and their connection during the presentation of a certain topic or idea. Dragutin Gostuški indeed possessed all these qualities, so his television performances were always true spectacles – regardless of whether he created an introduction to a music event or designed a programme or an entire series. In each of his performances he demonstrated his impeccable sense of time in the television medium, noticing the exact quantity of information that should be presented, and choosing the manner, vocabulary, sentence structure, and rhythm of the text that should be used. We could systematize Gostuški’s presence on several levels; this text analyses music program in which he gave the introduction before the music piece that will be performed or before the content that will be presented, as well as the music programmes and the musical series in which he was the scriptwriter and presenter. He started his engagement with the Belgrade television in the late 1970s and early 1980s, mostly collaborating with the editor Gordana Djurdjević, giving comments on the occasion before and during the broadcast of certain events. Those introductions are good examples of an outstanding text that would attract viewers and provide them the necessary information. After those interesting, but sporadic appearances in the television field, Gostuški established a fruitful cooperation with the Educational Programme of the Belgrade Television, and left a significant mark on the creativity of our television. He started with a small introduction to the Pianist series, and then continued with the program Profession: Musicians, where he wrote the script for the programme about the musicologist profession and, of course, was the host. The most significant work in the field of television Gostuški achieved with the series The Birth of Serbian Musical Culture. He combined media and historiographical elements and the abundant use of documents on the visual level, connecting music and text. The series contains many aspects of social and historical movements and the description of Belgrade and Serbia state until the beginning of the World War I. In that way, Dragutin Gostuški made an outstanding contribution to Serbian historical and musicological research in the television domain. This series is the best and the most complete example of his television narrative.