IMMEDIATE REFLECTION OF THE TASKS OF THE 11th PLENUM In a workshop, the peripheral industry facilities in the field of wood [?]. 25 million lek from the upper wage bonuses during the first six months will be made available to workers. Under the conditions of implementing the plenum's decisions, the collectives are studying possibilities for a fairer use of the wage fund and for improving living conditions. Enterprise leaders have stated that this measure will influence the growth of interest in work and the strengthening of discipline. — Durrës — 350 thousand lek will be used to increase the incentive fund for workers at the Mechanical Plant. Of this, 180 thousand lek will be for the plant employees, while 35 thousand will be for maintenance workers. The management has planned that the distribution will be made according to the contribution to the fulfillment of the plan. — Tirana — At the textiles combine, the amount saved from better production organization and lower expenses has been calculated. Workers will benefit from additional payments and better working conditions. At collective meetings it was emphasized that the measure is an incentive to increase productivity and fully accomplish the tasks of the second half-year. — Shkodër — In several enterprises, new forms of incentive are being considered. The aim is for the distinguished worker to be rewarded in a fairer and more visible way. In addition, measures are being taken for social services and improvements in canteens and transport. (To be continued on page 2)

The involved a in a radio “Benefits that we have felt already today!” — Lushnjë — In every branch of the agricultural cooperative, discussions have been held to clarify and internalize the spirit of the latest decisions. The leadership has set concrete tasks for increasing production, saving food supplies, and improving the lives of the cooperative members. — Lezhë — From the very first days, funds have been mobilized to help families with low incomes, several consumer goods have been increased, and bread supply has been improved. Residents say the changes are already being felt. — Tirana — In several trade and service units, extended working hours are being implemented and measures are being taken for more correct behavior toward citizens. A review has also begun of several waiting lists for housing and services. — Lezhë — The implementation of the decisions is being accompanied by broad political explanations. In meetings with employees, cadres emphasize that every initiative must turn into a concrete, measurable, and useful result for people. (To be continued on page 2)

No. 8, No. 1 Dairy, Korça, worker Nako Vavaf Gajta (photo N. Xhixha) In recent days we are closing the half-year with satisfactory results. In various sectors of our economy, growth in production, improvement in quality, and better implementation of plan tasks are being observed. No. 8, No. 1 Dairy, Korça, worker Nako Vavaf Gajta (photo N. Xhixha)

AROUND THE ROUND TABLE IN THE EDITORIAL OFFICE Although with certain polemical tones, and with a feeling of justified concern, many letters that have arrived at our editorial office from different parts of the country express the opinion that recent musical creation is encountering phenomena that do not align with our artistic and national tradition. The authors of the letters point out manifestations of alienation, unmerited imitation, and the exaggeration of external elements at the expense of folk motifs and our melodic simplicity. These remarks and opinions, however much they come from music lovers, cannot be set aside. On the contrary, they call for serious attention, careful examination, and creative responsibility from composers, singers, conductors, instrumentalists, and the entire network of artistic institutions. What, then, is the national spirit in music? How is it preserved without falling into schema, without closing oneself into poor repetition, but developing it creatively? This was one of the main questions in our discussion in the editorial office with several musicians and field researchers. Today, more than ever, a clear attitude toward the folk source is required. The folk source is not a dead reservoir, nor an external decoration. It is living emotional material, rhythm, and intonation; it is the long experience of the people in song, dance, and melody; it is an aesthetic taste embedded in our collective consciousness. The musician who turns to this source with respect and professional culture finds inexhaustible creative possibilities there. Preserving the national spirit does not mean closing oneself off from innovation. On the contrary, in music too development requires inquiry, courage, enrichment of expressive means, and knowledge of contemporary processes. But every innovation must pass through the sieve of our culture, must not sound alien to our audience, must not create distance from it, but deeper and more natural communication. During the discussion it was pointed out that sometimes certain works fall into rhythmic ease, unnecessary noise, and orchestrations that overload the song and dim its message. Elsewhere the opposite occurs: the name of the “national” is used as an excuse for poverty of thought, for schematism, for lack of imagination. Both of these extremes damage our music. The true creator copies neither the foreign nor himself. He consciously assimilates useful experiences, but transforms them according to our artistic nature. This is also the meaning of the call to preserve the popular and national spirit: not a dry formula, but a living duty, an aesthetic and moral requirement. Within this framework, the activity of institutions is also of particular importance: art schools, ensembles, theaters, radio and television, and cultural houses. They must encourage serious creativity, educate taste, fight borrowed manifestations without criteria, and support talents that know how to speak with a modern language, but with an Albanian soul. Our discussion on this topic does not aim to provide closed conclusions. It wishes to encourage reflection, useful debate, and above all responsibility. Because preserving the popular and national spirit in music is not the work of a day, nor of a single person. It is the common duty of creators, performers, critics, and the public. (To be continued on page 6)

The comprehensive revolutionary transformation of the country's life, its further democratization, are a sure means for stable development and an incentive to move the economy, culture, and the entire political and social life forward.