The ethnomusicological endeavors of Danica and Ljubica Jankovic

The pioneering efforts of Ljubica (1894-1974) and Danica (1898-1960) Jankovic consisted of their systematic research and collecting of traditional dance practice (folk dances), the methodological transcription, analysis and systematizing of dances, as well as the theoretical interpretations of numerous aspects of traditional dance. Their work resulted in the establishment of Serbian ethnochoreology in the first half of the twentieth century. As the extent of their activity in terms of transcribing musical material in the form of the accompaniment to folk dances has not yet been fully grasped by ethnomusicologists so far, the goal of this paper is to present the results and to stress the contributions of Danica and Ljubica Jankovic to the processes of the foundation and subsequent development of ethnomusicology in Serbia. These contributions are to be seen in eight public volumes of Folk Dances (1934-1964), whose methodological frame follows several important empirical and theoretical scientific approaches: firstly, analytical descriptive methodology of research, based on intense fieldwork (resulting in 800 transcribed dances and melodies from former Yugoslavia); secondly, excellent acquaintance with international trends in the field of ethno-musicology, as well as with concepts of research concerning Serbian folk culture; lastly, their inter-textual and interdisciplinary approach that essentially looks for correlates between dance, music and the context of performance. In this paper I shall elaborate in detail on the comments and significant interpretations of vocal and instrumental melodies that accompany folk dances made by the Jankovic sisters. These comments refer to stylistic and genre characteristics, melodic and metro-rhythmic attributes, the features of rural and urban melodies, the local characteristics of songs and instruments, changes in the diachronic flow, and to the characteristic relations of choreological and musical structural elements.