A short music and choral history of Serbia

A name of the first historically known Serbian composer Kir Stefan the Serbian appears at the end of 14 and in early 15 century. Some authors believe that Stefan the Serbian lived in the period between 1360 and 1430, among Greek monks in one of the Athos monasteries, perhaps in Hilandar, which is the only Serbian monastery today at the Mount Athos in Greece.

Serbian monastery Hilandar – Mount Athos (Greece, 12th century)

Liturgical hymns (songs) recorded in manuscripts without notations were transmitted orally. Compositions of Kir Stefan the Serbian are recorded in late Byzantine neumatic notation. Stefan’s most significant and longest hymn is „Ninja sili nebesnije s nami nevidimo sluzet". It is sung instead of a Cherubic hymn at the Liturgy of the Presanctified Gifts on the weekdays of Great Lent. The only record of this musically and artistically very valuable hymn was in the collection from 15 century at the National Library in Belgrade (number 93), also known as “psaltiki”. A composer and music writer, Kosta P. Manojlovic, made twelve photographs from this manuscript in 1937 including this hymn called “tvorenije domestika kir Stefana Srbina” (Archive of the Serbian Academy of Science and Art, VII/433), which turned to be precious, bearing in mind that the manuscript was burnt down in 1941, during German bombing of Belgrade. Below and above the Church Slavic text in Serbian recension, there is a Greek text of this hymn written in red. This proves that the hymn was sung in two languages. This hymn sung in unison was first performed at the St. Sophia Church in Ohrid, on the occasion of the Twelfth International Byzantologists Congress (1961).

There were other Serbian and Byzantine musicians at the time of Kir Stefan the Serbian. Works of hieromonks Isaia the Srbian and Nikola the Serbian can be found in the anthology from the end of 15th century, assumed to originate from the monastery Matejce in the mountain Skopska Crna Gora (manuscript number 928 of the National Library in Athens). A few Byzantine authors were in a way linked with Serbia. These are famous John Koukouzeles, John the Monk – both from Harsianitian Monastery in Constantinople, Manuil Raul and Manuil Chrisafis. This is how the full picture on liturgical music life of medieval Serbia has gradually completed by adding the series of hymns of Serbian and Byzantine musicians, which recorded their works in neumatic alphabet. These music recordings are testimonials on monks – artists, which gave their contribution to enrichment of liturgical and spiritual life in monasteries (mostly on Athos) at the time of Turkish invasion on the Balkans. In broad context, these ancient melodies are beautiful and powerful testimonials of our old music and culture.

Contemporary Serbian composers (Vojin Komadina, Dusan Radic, Vuk Kulenovic) used in their instrumental works motives from songs of Stefan the Serbian. Stefan the Serbian has recently got his earned place in the leading music encyclopedia of the world The Grove's Dictionary of Music, vol. 18, London 1980, page 93.

Reference: “a Hundred most prominent Serbs“ (Princip, Belgrade, 1993, page. 74-76), Dr Dimitrije Stefanovic

Choral History of Serbia of recent time

The first Serbian composers for mixed choir were Kornelije Stankovic and Stevan Mokranjac. The first published works for choir were Stankovic's Liturgy of St. John Chrysostom for mixed four-voice choir, published in Vienna in 1863. Somewhat later, Mokranjac’s Liturgy for mixed choir and his famous Rukoveti.
Stevan Stojanovic Mokranjac was born in Negotin in 1856 and is considered as the most significant Serbian composer. After his studies in Munich, Rome and Leipzig, 32-year old Mokranjac became a conductor of the Belgrade choir, turning it into extraordinary ensemble that had successful performances in Serbia, Montenegro, Austro-Hungarian Empire, Turkey, Bulgaria, Russia and Germany. Since the musical creative life of Serbia at the time was mostly choral, Mokranjac adapted to such circumstances, making exquisite creative accomplishments. Being exclusively vocal composer, he created in the area of sacral and church choral music.

Famous fifteen Rukoveti, composed in the period from 1883 to 1909, are among top achievements of Serbian music. The name “Rukoveti” (literally – Handful) symbolizes a type of choral composition based on motives of folk music of Serbia, Kosovo, Montenegro, Macedonia and Bosnia. Most prominent is the tenth Rukovet, called Ohridska, with a theme “Biljana platno belese”, which would later serve as inspiration for a Serbian composer, Jovan Hristic, to write a ballet “The Legend of Ohrid”.
Beside sacral choral works, Mokranjac was also interested in Orthodox Church music, which he recorded and then used it to compose a series of works that are performed even today. Mokranjac is the founder of the first String quartet (1889), where he himself performed, and ten years later, he founded a Serbian Music School in Belgrade together with Cvetko Maojlovic and Stanislav Binicki (today this school bears his name).

Being a typical representative of Romanticism – one of founding fathers of this movement, Mokranjac recorded over 300 folk melodies from different parts of the country, setting the foundation of ethnomusicology in Serbia. Thus, his role in Serbian music development can be paralleled with the vital role of Vuk Karadzic for Serbian language and literature. Since Mokranjac made a synthesis of previous experiences of Serbian composers, he traced the path for further development of Serbian music in his works, via merging of folklore with European artistic experience.
He died in Skopje in 1914.
Kornelije Stankovic (1831-1865) was a Serbian composer, melographer, music writer and performer presenting a symbol of an early Serbian romanticism.

He was born on 18 August by Julian calendar and on 30 August 1831 by Gregorian calendar in Taban, a Serbian quarter of Budim area. He went to school in Arad, Segedin, Pesta and Vienna. He started with the pioneer work on recording and harmonising sacral music soon after he came to Vienna. His first church works, two Liturgies, were written while studying with the Viennese professor, composer and organist, Simon Sechter. He went to Sremski Karlovci (1855-1857) and to Monastery Ravanica in Fruska Gora (1861), where he recorded chants of a large number of church songs. Soon after that, he harmonised church chants for mixed choir, which caused opposing, even negative reactions. He died on 5th April 1865. His remains were transferred from Budapest and buried at the New Cemetery in Belgrade, at the Alley of the Greats on 25 February 1949.