Stevan Mokranjac

Stevan Mokranjac (Stevan Stojanović) (1856–1914) was a Serbian composer and music educator, оften called the "father of Serbian music" and the "most important figure of Serbian musical romanticism". He was born in Negotin in 1856. In his twenties, Mokranjac was subjected to conservative musical training and first studied in Belgrade. Later he went on to study in Munich with Josef Rheinberger from 1880 to 1883, and in Rome with Alessandro Parisotti in 1884–1885. Afterwards, he studied for two years in the city of Leipzig under Salomon Jadassohn and Carl Reinecke. In 1887, Mokranjac made a permanent move to Belgrade, where he became the conductor of the Belgrade Choir Society, a position he would hold until his death. The choir was successful both in Serbia and abroad and under his leadership it became respected and well known throughout Central Europe and Russia because of its high performance standard and repertoire, which was made up of many Serbian folk songs, as well as pieces composed by Mokranjac himself. It toured Bulgaria, Croatia, Montenegro, Ottoman Turkey, and Russia. In 1899, the choir toured Berlin, Dresden, and Leipzig. Mokranjac founded the Serbian School of Music in 1899, as well as the first Serbian string quartet, in which he played the cello. Although his most famous works date from the late 19th century, Mokranjac continued composing during the 1900s. In mid-1914, he left Belgrade and moved to Skopje to escape World War I. He is buried in the New Cemetery of Belgrade.