Music of Serbia
Encyclopedia
Serbs
and Serbia
has a variety of traditional music, which is part of the wider Balkan tradition
, with its own distinctive sound and characteristics.
by choirs or individual singers. The songs performed at the time were derived from the Osmoglasnik, a collection of religious songs dedicated to Jesus
. These songs were repeated over the course of eight weeks in a cyclical fashion. Composers from this era include Stefan Srbin, Isaija Srbin, and Nikola Srbin.
Aside from church music, the medieval era in Serbia included traditional music
, about which little is known, and court music. During the rule of the House of Nemanjić
musicians played an important role in the royal court, and were known as sviralnici, glumci and praskavnici. The rulers known for the musical patronage included Stefan Dušan
and Đurađ Branković.
With the fall of Serbia
under the Ottoman
rule came instruments that would further cause Serbian music to flourish.
Medieval musical instruments included horns
, trumpet
s, lute
s, psalteries, drum
s and cymbal
s. Traditional folk instruments include the gajde, kaval
, dajre, diple
, tamburitza
, gusle
, tapan (davul
), sargija
, ćemane (kemenche), zurla (zurna
), and frula
among others.
Composer and musicologist
Stevan Stojanović Mokranjac
is considered one of the most important founders of modern Serbian music. Born in 1856, Mokranjac taught music, collected Serbian traditional
songs and did the first scholarly research on Serbian music. He was also the director of the first Serbian School of Music
and one of the founders of the Union of Singing Societies. His most famous works are the Song Wreaths.
During the nineteenth and twentieth centuries numerous bands, both military and civilian, contributed to the development of music culture in Belgrade and other Serbian cities and towns. Prior to Mokranjac's era, Serbia's representatives of the romantic period were world-renowned violinist Dragomir Krancevic (1847–1929), pianist Sidonija Ilic, Pianist and composer Jovanka Stojkovic and opera singer Sofija Sedmakov who achieved success performing in opera houses of Germany in the 1890s. For example, the promenade concert tradition was first established by The Serbian Prince Band founded in 1831, and its first conductor was Joseph Shlezinger, who composed music for the band based on traditional Serbian songs. This was a period when the first choiral societies, then mostly sung in German
and Italian language
, were being organized. Later, the first Serbian language
works for choirs were written by Kornelije Stanković
.
The Serbian composers Petar Konjović
, Stevan Hristić
and Miloje Milojević
, all born in the 1880s, were the most eminent composers of their generation. They maintained the national expression and modernized the romanticism into the direction of impressionism.
The best-known composers born around 1910 studied in Europe, mostly in Prague. Ljubica Marić
, Stanojlo Rajicić, Milan Ristić took influence from Schoenberg, Hindemith and Haba, rejecting the "conservative" work of prior Serbian composers, seeing it as outdated and the wish for national expression was outside their interest.
Other famous classical Serbian composers include Isidor Bajić
, Stanislav Binički
, and Josif Marinković
.
Traditional Serbian music include various kinds of bagpipes
, flutes, horns
, trumpets, lutes, psalteries, drums and cymbals such as:
The genre encompasses both vocal and non-vocal (instrumental).
Balkanika, Balkanopolis, Dvig, Slobodan Trkulja, Belo Platno, Teodulija, Kulin Ban are known Serbian musical groups that use traditional Balkan musical instruments and perform traditional songs and songs based on traditional music elements.
Sung epic poetry
has been an integral part of Serbian and Balkan music for centuries.
In the highlands of Serbia and Montenegro
these long poems are typically accompanied on a one-string fiddle called the gusle
, and concern themselves with themes from history and mythology.
(izvorna muzika) and urban
(starogradska muzika
) and includes a two-beat dance called kolo
, which is a circle dance
with almost no movement above the waist, accompanied by instrumental music made most often with an accordion
, but also with other instruments: frula
(traditional kind of a recorder
), tamburica, or accordion. The Kolos usually last for about 5–13 minutes. Modern accordionists include Mirko Kodić and Ljubiša Pavković. Some kolos are similar to the Hungarian
csárdás
in that they are slow at the onset and gradually increase their speed until reaching a climax towards the end.
The Banat
region in northern Serbia and western Romania
(Timiş County
) is a culture zone of Serbs
and Romanians
which can be seen in the culture (folk attire
, dance, music) of the region.
and clarinet
and typically included love songs or other simple lyrics (though there have long been royalist and anti-Communist lyrical themes persisting underground). Many of the genre's best performers also play forms imported from even further abroad. These include Šaban Šaulić
, Toma Zdravković
, Silvana Armenulic
and. At a later stage, the popular performers such as Lepa Brena
, Vesna Zmijanac
and Dragana Mirković
used more influences from pop music
, oriental music, and other genres, which led to the emergence of turbo folk.
s, known as "trubači" (трубачи, the trumpeters) are extremely popular, especially in Central and Southern Serbia where Balkan Brass Band originated. The music has its tradition from the First Serbian Uprising
. The trumpet
was used as a military instrument to wake and gather soldiers and announce battles, the trumpet took on the role of entertainment during downtime, as soldiers used it to transpose popular folk songs. When the war ended and the soldiers returned to the rural life, the music entered civilian life and eventually became a music style, accompanying births, baptisms, weddings, slava
s, farewell parties for those joining military service, state and church festivals, harvesting, reaping, and funerals. In 1831 the first official military band was formed by Prince Miloš Obrenović
. Roma пеопле have adopted the tradition and enhanced the music, and today most of the best performers are Roma.
The best known Serbian Brass musicians are Goran Bregović
, Fejat Sejdić, and Boban Marković
and are also the biggest names in the world of modern brass band bandleaders. Guča trumpet festival
is one of the most popular and biggest music festivals in Serbia is a 5-day annual festival with 300 000 visitors.
(a term coined by rock
musician Rambo Amadeus
) music emerged during the Yugoslav wars
and the breakup of Yugoslavia. Turbo-folk used Serbian folk music and "novokomponovana" as the basis, and added influences from rock, pop
and electronic dance music
. In the 2000s turbo-folk featured even more pop music elements, and some of the performers were labeled as pop-folk. Some of the best known turbo-folk performers include Seka Aleksić
, Jelena Karleuša
, Aca Lukas
, Ceca Ražnatović, Dragana Mirković
, Indira Radić
and others.
, of which Serbia was a part, was not an Eastern Bloc
country, but a member of the Non-Aligned Movement
and as such, was far more open to western influences compared to the other socialist states (the West
to some extent even supported Yugoslavia as a "buffer zone" to the Warsaw Pact
). The western-influenced pop and rock music was socially accepted, the Yugoslav rock scene was well developed and covered in the media, which included numerous magazines, radio and TV shows. Paralleling the breakup of Yugoslavia
due to civil war, its rock scene also ceased to exist. During the 1990s the popularity of rock music declined in Serbia, and although several major mainstream acts managed to sustain their popularity, an underground
and independent music scene developed. The 2000s saw the revival of the mainstream scene.
The most notable Serbian rock acts include Bajaga i Instruktori
, Ekatarina Velika
, Električni Orgazam
, Galija
, Idoli, Korni Grupa
, Orthodox Celts
, Partibrejkers
, Pekinška Patka
, Rambo Amadeus
, Riblja Čorba
, Smak
, Šarlo Akrobata
, YU grupa
, Van Gogh
, and others.
Some of the most popular Serbian pop music
performers are Aleksandra Kovač
, Aleksandra Radović
, Ana Stanić
, Jelena Tomašević
, Željko Joksimović
.
Marija Šerifović
won the first place at the 2007 Eurovision Song Contest, and Serbia was the host of the 2008 contest.
, which was released by Jugoton
in 1984. But the Hip Hop Scene in Serbia was not open and popularized until the Demo of the Badvajzer (Budweiser) crew who became extremely popular in 1987.
In the late 1980s and early 1990s, bands such as Green Kool Posse, Who Is The Best and Robin Hood came into being all together starting the first Hip Hop scene in Serbia and former Yugoslavia.
The music spread slowly until 1995, until Da li imaš pravo? by Gru was released, marking the beginning of the first wave of Serbian hip hop, which reached its peak in 1997-98, when many new groups started to break out from the underground: Ding Dong
, Voodoo Popeye, Straight Jackin, Sunshine, Bad Copy
, Belgrade Ghetto, CYA, 187.
In 2002 the Bassivity label was formed, which made Serbian, Bosnian
and Croatian hip hop widely available in record stores. Their first release, V.I.P. - Ekipa Stigla, was one of the two albums which marked the beginning of the second wave of Serbian hip hop. The other was BSSST...Tišinčina
by the Belgrade group Beogradski sindikat
. In 2003 Marčelo
's debut album De Facto, also released on the Bassivity label, came out to both public and critical acclaim, and he was branded as the voice of a new generation.
Serbs
The Serbs are a South Slavic ethnic group of the Balkans and southern Central Europe. Serbs are located mainly in Serbia, Montenegro and Bosnia and Herzegovina, and form a sizable minority in Croatia, the Republic of Macedonia and Slovenia. Likewise, Serbs are an officially recognized minority in...
and Serbia
Serbia
Serbia , officially the Republic of Serbia , is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central and Southeast Europe, covering the southern part of the Carpathian basin and the central part of the Balkans...
has a variety of traditional music, which is part of the wider Balkan tradition
Music of Southeastern Europe
The music of Southeastern Europe or Balkan music is a type of music distinct from others in Europe. This is mainly because it was influenced by traditional music of Southeastern European ethnic groups and mutual music influences of these ethnic groups in the period of the Ottoman Empire...
, with its own distinctive sound and characteristics.
History
The documented musical history of the Serbs can be traced back to the medieval era. Church music was performed throughout SerbiaSerbia
Serbia , officially the Republic of Serbia , is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central and Southeast Europe, covering the southern part of the Carpathian basin and the central part of the Balkans...
by choirs or individual singers. The songs performed at the time were derived from the Osmoglasnik, a collection of religious songs dedicated to Jesus
Jesus
Jesus of Nazareth , commonly referred to as Jesus Christ or simply as Jesus or Christ, is the central figure of Christianity...
. These songs were repeated over the course of eight weeks in a cyclical fashion. Composers from this era include Stefan Srbin, Isaija Srbin, and Nikola Srbin.
Aside from church music, the medieval era in Serbia included traditional music
Traditional music
Traditional music is the term increasingly used for folk music that is not contemporary folk music. More on this is at the terminology section of the World music article...
, about which little is known, and court music. During the rule of the House of Nemanjić
House of Nemanjic
The Nemanjić was the most important dynasty of Serbia in the Middle Ages, and one of the most important in Southeastern Europe. The royal house produced eleven Serbian monarchs between 1166 and 1371. It's progenitor was Stephen Nemanja, who descended from a cadet line of the Vukanović dynasty...
musicians played an important role in the royal court, and were known as sviralnici, glumci and praskavnici. The rulers known for the musical patronage included Stefan Dušan
Stefan Uroš IV Dušan of Serbia
Stephen Uroš IV Dušan the Mighty , was the King of Serbia and Emperor of the Serbs and Greeks until his death on 20 December 1355. Dušan managed to conquer a large part of Southeast Europe, becoming one of the most powerful monarchs in his time...
and Đurađ Branković.
With the fall of Serbia
Serbia
Serbia , officially the Republic of Serbia , is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central and Southeast Europe, covering the southern part of the Carpathian basin and the central part of the Balkans...
under the Ottoman
Ottoman Empire
The Ottoman EmpireIt was usually referred to as the "Ottoman Empire", the "Turkish Empire", the "Ottoman Caliphate" or more commonly "Turkey" by its contemporaries...
rule came instruments that would further cause Serbian music to flourish.
Medieval musical instruments included horns
Horn (instrument)
The horn is a brass instrument consisting of about of tubing wrapped into a coil with a flared bell. A musician who plays the horn is called a horn player ....
, trumpet
Trumpet
The trumpet is the musical instrument with the highest register in the brass family. Trumpets are among the oldest musical instruments, dating back to at least 1500 BCE. They are played by blowing air through closed lips, producing a "buzzing" sound which starts a standing wave vibration in the air...
s, lute
Lute
Lute can refer generally to any plucked string instrument with a neck and a deep round back, or more specifically to an instrument from the family of European lutes....
s, psalteries, drum
Drum
The drum is a member of the percussion group of musical instruments, which is technically classified as the membranophones. Drums consist of at least one membrane, called a drumhead or drum skin, that is stretched over a shell and struck, either directly with the player's hands, or with a...
s and cymbal
Cymbal
Cymbals are a common percussion instrument. Cymbals consist of thin, normally round plates of various alloys; see cymbal making for a discussion of their manufacture. The greater majority of cymbals are of indefinite pitch, although small disc-shaped cymbals based on ancient designs sound a...
s. Traditional folk instruments include the gajde, kaval
Kaval
The kaval is a chromatic end-blown flute traditionally played throughout Azerbaijan, Turkey, Hungary, Bulgaria, Macedonia, Albania, Kosovo, southern Serbia , northern Greece , Romania , and Armenia...
, dajre, diple
Diple
Diple, dvojnice, or dvojanke are a traditional woodwind musical instrument in Croatian, Montenegrin and Serbian music.-The flute:...
, tamburitza
Tamburitza
Tamburica or Tamboura refers to any member of a family of long-necked lutes popular in Eastern and Southern Europe, particularly Croatia , Serbia and Hungary. It is also known in southern Slovenia and Burgenland...
, gusle
Gusle
The Gusle is a single-stringed musical instrument traditionally used in the Dinarides region of the Balkans ....
, tapan (davul
Davul
The davul or tupan is a large double-headed drum that is played with sticks. It has many names depending on the country and region.-Names:Some names of davuls include:*tupan *davul...
), sargija
Šargija
The šargija is a plucked, fretted long necked chordophone used in the folk music of various Balkan countries, including Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Albania and Serbia....
, ćemane (kemenche), zurla (zurna
Zurna
The zurna , is a multinational outdoor wind instrument, usually accompanied by a davul in Anatolian folk music. The name is from Turkish zurna, itself derived from Persian سرنای surnāy, composed of sūr “banquet, feast” and nāy “reed, pipe”...
), and frula
Frula
A frula is the Serbian name for a musical instrument which resembles a small recorder or flute. It is an end-blown aerophone. Similar instruments are played throughout Eastern Europe and the Balkans...
among others.
Classical music
Musicology
Musicology is the scholarly study of music. The word is used in narrow, broad and intermediate senses. In the narrow sense, musicology is confined to the music history of Western culture...
Stevan Stojanović Mokranjac
Stevan Stojanovic Mokranjac
Stevan Stojanović Mokranjac was a Serbian composer and music educator. His work was essential in bringing the spirit of Valach Serbian unwritten folk poems into organized art.-Biography:He was born in Negotin...
is considered one of the most important founders of modern Serbian music. Born in 1856, Mokranjac taught music, collected Serbian traditional
Traditional music
Traditional music is the term increasingly used for folk music that is not contemporary folk music. More on this is at the terminology section of the World music article...
songs and did the first scholarly research on Serbian music. He was also the director of the first Serbian School of Music
Music schools in Serbia
In Serbia, there are 70 primary music schools, 30 secondary music schools and 6 university music departments.-Primary music schools:Primary music schools are attended by pupils up to 14 years old...
and one of the founders of the Union of Singing Societies. His most famous works are the Song Wreaths.
During the nineteenth and twentieth centuries numerous bands, both military and civilian, contributed to the development of music culture in Belgrade and other Serbian cities and towns. Prior to Mokranjac's era, Serbia's representatives of the romantic period were world-renowned violinist Dragomir Krancevic (1847–1929), pianist Sidonija Ilic, Pianist and composer Jovanka Stojkovic and opera singer Sofija Sedmakov who achieved success performing in opera houses of Germany in the 1890s. For example, the promenade concert tradition was first established by The Serbian Prince Band founded in 1831, and its first conductor was Joseph Shlezinger, who composed music for the band based on traditional Serbian songs. This was a period when the first choiral societies, then mostly sung in German
German language
German is a West Germanic language, related to and classified alongside English and Dutch. With an estimated 90 – 98 million native speakers, German is one of the world's major languages and is the most widely-spoken first language in the European Union....
and Italian language
Italian language
Italian is a Romance language spoken mainly in Europe: Italy, Switzerland, San Marino, Vatican City, by minorities in Malta, Monaco, Croatia, Slovenia, France, Libya, Eritrea, and Somalia, and by immigrant communities in the Americas and Australia...
, were being organized. Later, the first Serbian language
Serbian language
Serbian is a form of Serbo-Croatian, a South Slavic language, spoken by Serbs in Serbia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Montenegro, Croatia and neighbouring countries....
works for choirs were written by Kornelije Stanković
Kornelije Stankovic
Kornelije Stanković was a Serbian composer, said to have marked an era not only in Serbian, but also in South Slavic musical art.-External links:***...
.
The Serbian composers Petar Konjović
Petar Konjovic
Petar Konjović was a Serbian composer. He was born in Čurug . While a pedagogy student in Sombor, Konjovic self-taught himself the art of compositure and conducting. He finished his education at the Prague Conservatorium in 1906...
, Stevan Hristić
Stevan Hristic
Stevan Hristić , , was the most popular Serbian composer of the first half of the 20th century, remembered best for his technically cultivated compositions in the Neoromanticist, veristic, and Romanticist-Impressionist styles.-Biography:He conducted his primary studies in Leipzig, but also in...
and Miloje Milojević
Miloje Milojevic
Miloje Milojević was a famous Serbian composer, conductor, pianist, pedagogue, music critic, and musical writer, considered by his contemporaries as a true man of letters....
, all born in the 1880s, were the most eminent composers of their generation. They maintained the national expression and modernized the romanticism into the direction of impressionism.
The best-known composers born around 1910 studied in Europe, mostly in Prague. Ljubica Marić
Ljubica Maric
Ljubica Marić was considered to be one of the most original composers to emerge from Yugoslavia. She was a pupil of Josip Štolcer-Slavenski. She was known for being inspired by Byzantine Orthodox church music...
, Stanojlo Rajicić, Milan Ristić took influence from Schoenberg, Hindemith and Haba, rejecting the "conservative" work of prior Serbian composers, seeing it as outdated and the wish for national expression was outside their interest.
Other famous classical Serbian composers include Isidor Bajić
Isidor Bajic
Isidor Bajic was a Serbian composer, pedagogue, and publisher.He was born in Kula...
, Stanislav Binički
Stanislav Binicki
Stanislav Binički , was a Serbian composer, conductor, and pedagogue.Binički, who was born in Jasika, Kruševac, is considered to be one of the most famous representatives of Serbian classical music...
, and Josif Marinković
Josif Marinkovic
Josif Marinkovic was one of the most important Serbian composers of the nineteenth century.-External links:* *...
.
Traditional music
Bagpipes
Bagpipes are a class of musical instrument, aerophones, using enclosed reeds fed from a constant reservoir of air in the form of a bag. Though the Scottish Great Highland Bagpipe and Irish uilleann pipes have the greatest international visibility, bagpipes of many different types come from...
, flutes, horns
Blowing horn
The blowing horn or winding horn is a sound device by and large shaped like a horn or actually a cattle or other animal horn arranged to blow from a hole in the pointed end of it...
, trumpets, lutes, psalteries, drums and cymbals such as:
- FrulaFrulaA frula is the Serbian name for a musical instrument which resembles a small recorder or flute. It is an end-blown aerophone. Similar instruments are played throughout Eastern Europe and the Balkans...
(woodwind) - DipleDipleDiple, dvojnice, or dvojanke are a traditional woodwind musical instrument in Croatian, Montenegrin and Serbian music.-The flute:...
(dvojanka, woodwind) - GajdeGaidaThe gaida is a musical instrument, aerophone, using enclosed reeds fed from a constant reservoir of air in the form of a bag.The gaida, and its variations, is a traditional musical instrument for entire Europe, Northern Africa and the Middle East....
(bagpipe) - ZurnaZurnaThe zurna , is a multinational outdoor wind instrument, usually accompanied by a davul in Anatolian folk music. The name is from Turkish zurna, itself derived from Persian سرنای surnāy, composed of sūr “banquet, feast” and nāy “reed, pipe”...
(woodwind) - DudukDudukThe duduk , traditionally known since antiquity as a Ծիրանափող is a traditional woodwind instrument indigenous to Armenia. Variations of it are popular in the Middle East and Central Asia...
(woodwind) - TamburaTamburaThe tambura, tanpura, or tambora is a long-necked plucked lute . The body shape of the tambura somewhat resembles that of the sitar, but it has no frets – only the open strings are played to accompany other musicians...
(lute) - TamburitzaTamburitzaTamburica or Tamboura refers to any member of a family of long-necked lutes popular in Eastern and Southern Europe, particularly Croatia , Serbia and Hungary. It is also known in southern Slovenia and Burgenland...
(lute) - GusleGusleThe Gusle is a single-stringed musical instrument traditionally used in the Dinarides region of the Balkans ....
(lute) - KavalKavalThe kaval is a chromatic end-blown flute traditionally played throughout Azerbaijan, Turkey, Hungary, Bulgaria, Macedonia, Albania, Kosovo, southern Serbia , northern Greece , Romania , and Armenia...
(šupeljka, lute) - DavulDavulThe davul or tupan is a large double-headed drum that is played with sticks. It has many names depending on the country and region.-Names:Some names of davuls include:*tupan *davul...
(tapanTapanTapan can refer to:* Tapan, Azerbaijan* Tapan , an administrative district in West Bengal, India* Tapan, Homalin, Burma* Geghasar, Armenia, formerly known as Tapan...
, goč, drum) - BouzoukiBouzoukiThe bouzouki , is a musical instrument with Greek origin in the lute family. A mainstay of modern Greek music, the front of the body is flat and is usually heavily inlaid with mother-of-pearl. The instrument is played with a plectrum and has a sharp metallic sound, reminiscent of a mandolin but...
(šargijaŠargijaThe šargija is a plucked, fretted long necked chordophone used in the folk music of various Balkan countries, including Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Albania and Serbia....
, lute) - Tarambuke (drum)
The genre encompasses both vocal and non-vocal (instrumental).
Balkanika, Balkanopolis, Dvig, Slobodan Trkulja, Belo Platno, Teodulija, Kulin Ban are known Serbian musical groups that use traditional Balkan musical instruments and perform traditional songs and songs based on traditional music elements.
Epic poetry
Epic poetry
An epic is a lengthy narrative poem, ordinarily concerning a serious subject containing details of heroic deeds and events significant to a culture or nation. Oral poetry may qualify as an epic, and Albert Lord and Milman Parry have argued that classical epics were fundamentally an oral poetic form...
has been an integral part of Serbian and Balkan music for centuries.
In the highlands of Serbia and Montenegro
Montenegro
Montenegro Montenegrin: Crna Gora Црна Гора , meaning "Black Mountain") is a country located in Southeastern Europe. It has a coast on the Adriatic Sea to the south-west and is bordered by Croatia to the west, Bosnia and Herzegovina to the northwest, Serbia to the northeast and Albania to the...
these long poems are typically accompanied on a one-string fiddle called the gusle
Gusle
The Gusle is a single-stringed musical instrument traditionally used in the Dinarides region of the Balkans ....
, and concern themselves with themes from history and mythology.
Serbian folk music
Today the Serbian folk music is both ruralRural
Rural areas or the country or countryside are areas that are not urbanized, though when large areas are described, country towns and smaller cities will be included. They have a low population density, and typically much of the land is devoted to agriculture...
(izvorna muzika) and urban
Urban area
An urban area is characterized by higher population density and vast human features in comparison to areas surrounding it. Urban areas may be cities, towns or conurbations, but the term is not commonly extended to rural settlements such as villages and hamlets.Urban areas are created and further...
(starogradska muzika
Starogradska muzika
Starogradska muzika is an urban traditional folk music of Macedonia and Serbia.-In Serbia:...
) and includes a two-beat dance called kolo
Kolo (dance)
Kolo , is a collective folk dance, danced primarily by people from Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Macedonia, Montenegro, and Serbia. It is performed amongst groups of people holding each other's having their hands around each other's waists...
, which is a circle dance
Circle dance
"Circle dance" is the most common name for a style of traditional dance usually done in a circle without partners to musical accompaniment.-Description:...
with almost no movement above the waist, accompanied by instrumental music made most often with an accordion
Accordion
The accordion is a box-shaped musical instrument of the bellows-driven free-reed aerophone family, sometimes referred to as a squeezebox. A person who plays the accordion is called an accordionist....
, but also with other instruments: frula
Frula
A frula is the Serbian name for a musical instrument which resembles a small recorder or flute. It is an end-blown aerophone. Similar instruments are played throughout Eastern Europe and the Balkans...
(traditional kind of a recorder
Recorder
The recorder is a woodwind musical instrument of the family known as fipple flutes or internal duct flutes—whistle-like instruments which include the tin whistle. The recorder is end-blown and the mouth of the instrument is constricted by a wooden plug, known as a block or fipple...
), tamburica, or accordion. The Kolos usually last for about 5–13 minutes. Modern accordionists include Mirko Kodić and Ljubiša Pavković. Some kolos are similar to the Hungarian
Music of Hungary
Hungary has made many contributions to the fields of folk, popular and classical music. Hungarian folk music is a prominent part of the national identity and continues to play a major part in Hungarian music...
csárdás
Csárdás
Csárdás is a traditional Hungarian folk dance, the name derived from csárda . It originated in Hungary and was popularized by Roma music bands in Hungary and neighboring lands of Serbia, Slovakia, Slovenia, Burgenland, Croatia, Ukraine, Transylvania and Moravia, as well as among the Banat...
in that they are slow at the onset and gradually increase their speed until reaching a climax towards the end.
The Banat
Banat
The Banat is a geographical and historical region in Central Europe currently divided between three countries: the eastern part lies in western Romania , the western part in northeastern Serbia , and a small...
region in northern Serbia and western Romania
Geography of Romania
With an area of 238,400 square kilometers, Romania is the twelfth largest country in Europe. Situated in the northeastern portion of the Balkan Peninsula, the country is halfway between the equator and the North Pole and equidistant from the westernmost part of Europe—the Atlantic Coast—and the...
(Timiş County
Timis County
Timiș , , Banat Bulgarian: ) is a county of western Romania, in the historical region Banat, with the county seat at Timișoara. It is the largest county in Romania in terms of land area....
) is a culture zone of Serbs
Serbs
The Serbs are a South Slavic ethnic group of the Balkans and southern Central Europe. Serbs are located mainly in Serbia, Montenegro and Bosnia and Herzegovina, and form a sizable minority in Croatia, the Republic of Macedonia and Slovenia. Likewise, Serbs are an officially recognized minority in...
and Romanians
Romanians
The Romanians are an ethnic group native to Romania, who speak Romanian; they are the majority inhabitants of Romania....
which can be seen in the culture (folk attire
Serbian dress
Serbian folk costumes, like any traditional dress of a nation or culture, has been lost to the advent of urbanization, industrialization, and the growing market of international clothing trends...
, dance, music) of the region.
Novokomponovana
The so called "novokomponovana muzika" (newly composed music) can be seen as a result of the urbanization of folk music. In its early times, it had a professional approach to performance, used accordionAccordion
The accordion is a box-shaped musical instrument of the bellows-driven free-reed aerophone family, sometimes referred to as a squeezebox. A person who plays the accordion is called an accordionist....
and clarinet
Clarinet
The clarinet is a musical instrument of woodwind type. The name derives from adding the suffix -et to the Italian word clarino , as the first clarinets had a strident tone similar to that of a trumpet. The instrument has an approximately cylindrical bore, and uses a single reed...
and typically included love songs or other simple lyrics (though there have long been royalist and anti-Communist lyrical themes persisting underground). Many of the genre's best performers also play forms imported from even further abroad. These include Šaban Šaulić
Šaban Šaulic
Šaban Šaulić is a Serbian singer He released his debut EP Dajte mi utjehu in 1969 when he was 18 years old. In 1970, he served the mandatory Yugoslav army service in Bitola, now in the Republic of Macedonia...
, Toma Zdravković
Toma Zdravkovic
Toma Zdravković was a famous Yugoslav folk singer from Serbia.Toma Zdravković was an outstanding figure on Serbian folk scene; a bohemian and a poet, he lived up to his sad songs. The songs, although having the form of Serbian folk music, had spirit of chansons...
, Silvana Armenulic
Silvana Armenulic
Silvana Armenulić was one of the most prominent commercial folk music and traditional sevdalinka singers in former Yugoslavia...
and. At a later stage, the popular performers such as Lepa Brena
Lepa Brena
Fahreta Jahić Živojinović is Yugoslavian pop-folk singer, better known as Lepa Brena , . Born in Tuzla and raised in Brčko, Bosnia and Herzegovina , she moved to Novi Sad in 1980 to pursue her career in singing. In 1982...
, Vesna Zmijanac
Vesna Zmijanac
Vesna Zmijanac is a Serbian folk singer.She released 13 albums, 6 singles and several compilations. Her singing career started back in 1979 with the single "Thank You for All", and after that came a few popular singles and first album in 1981...
and Dragana Mirković
Dragana Mirkovic
Dragana Mirković is a Serbian pop-folk singer.She is very popular in Ex-Yugoslavia, Bulgaria, Romania, Greece and Turkey...
used more influences from pop music
Pop music
Pop music is usually understood to be commercially recorded music, often oriented toward a youth market, usually consisting of relatively short, simple songs utilizing technological innovations to produce new variations on existing themes.- Definitions :David Hatch and Stephen Millward define pop...
, oriental music, and other genres, which led to the emergence of turbo folk.
Balkan brass
Brass bandBrass band
A brass band is a musical ensemble generally consisting entirely of brass instruments, most often with a percussion section. Ensembles that include brass and woodwind instruments can in certain traditions also be termed brass bands , but are usually more correctly termed military bands, concert...
s, known as "trubači" (трубачи, the trumpeters) are extremely popular, especially in Central and Southern Serbia where Balkan Brass Band originated. The music has its tradition from the First Serbian Uprising
First Serbian Uprising
The First Serbian Uprising was the first stage of the Serbian Revolution , the successful wars of independence that lasted for 9 years and approximately 9 months , during which Serbia perceived itself as an independent state for the first time after more than three centuries of Ottoman rule and...
. The trumpet
Trumpet
The trumpet is the musical instrument with the highest register in the brass family. Trumpets are among the oldest musical instruments, dating back to at least 1500 BCE. They are played by blowing air through closed lips, producing a "buzzing" sound which starts a standing wave vibration in the air...
was used as a military instrument to wake and gather soldiers and announce battles, the trumpet took on the role of entertainment during downtime, as soldiers used it to transpose popular folk songs. When the war ended and the soldiers returned to the rural life, the music entered civilian life and eventually became a music style, accompanying births, baptisms, weddings, slava
Slava
The Slava , also called Krsna Slava and Krsno ime , is the Serbian Orthodox tradition of the ritual celebration and veneration of a family's own patron saint. The family celebrates the Slava annually on the patron saint's feast day...
s, farewell parties for those joining military service, state and church festivals, harvesting, reaping, and funerals. In 1831 the first official military band was formed by Prince Miloš Obrenović
Miloš Obrenovic I, Prince of Serbia
Miloš Obrenović was Prince of Serbia from 1815 to 1839, and again from 1858 to 1860. He participated in the First Serbian Uprising, led Serbs in the Second Serbian Uprising, and founded the House of Obrenović...
. Roma пеопле have adopted the tradition and enhanced the music, and today most of the best performers are Roma.
The best known Serbian Brass musicians are Goran Bregović
Goran Bregovic
Goran Bregović is one of the most internationally known modern musicians and composers of the Balkans. He currently splits his time between Paris and Belgrade, where he settled down during the Yugoslav Wars.Bregović has composed for such varied artists as Iggy Pop and Cesária Évora...
, Fejat Sejdić, and Boban Marković
Boban Markovic
Boban Marković is a Serbian Romani trumpet player and brass ensemble leader from Vladičin Han, frequently recognized as the greatest trumpet player to emerge from the Balkans...
and are also the biggest names in the world of modern brass band bandleaders. Guča trumpet festival
Guca trumpet festival
The Guča trumpet festival, also known as the Dragačevo Assembly , is an annual brass band festival held in the town of Guča, near the city of Čačak , in the Dragačevo region of western Serbia. Guča is a three-hour bus journey from Belgrade....
is one of the most popular and biggest music festivals in Serbia is a 5-day annual festival with 300 000 visitors.
Čoček
Čoček is a musical genre and belly dance that emerged in the Balkans during the early 19th century. Čoček originated from Ottoman military bands, which at that time were scattered across the region, mostly throughout Bulgaria, Serbia, Macedonia and Romania. That led to the eventual segmentation and wide range of ethnic sub-styles in čoček. The Serbian čoček is more popular in south Serbia and differs slightly to Bulgarian čoček, which has more oriental sound.Turbo-folk
Turbo-folkTurbo-folk
Turbo-folk is a popular musical sub-genre that originated in Serbia, the Balkans. Having mainstream popularity in Serbia, although closely associated with Serbian performers, its sound is as popular in Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia and Montenegro...
(a term coined by rock
Rock music
Rock music is a genre of popular music that developed during and after the 1960s, particularly in the United Kingdom and the United States. It has its roots in 1940s and 1950s rock and roll, itself heavily influenced by rhythm and blues and country music...
musician Rambo Amadeus
Rambo Amadeus
Rambo Amadeus is the stage name of the Belgrade-based Montenegrin singer-songwriter Antonije Pušić, popular all over the former Yugoslavia...
) music emerged during the Yugoslav wars
Yugoslav wars
The Yugoslav Wars were a series of wars, fought throughout the former Yugoslavia between 1991 and 1995. The wars were complex: characterized by bitter ethnic conflicts among the peoples of the former Yugoslavia, mostly between Serbs on the one side and Croats and Bosniaks on the other; but also...
and the breakup of Yugoslavia. Turbo-folk used Serbian folk music and "novokomponovana" as the basis, and added influences from rock, pop
Pop music
Pop music is usually understood to be commercially recorded music, often oriented toward a youth market, usually consisting of relatively short, simple songs utilizing technological innovations to produce new variations on existing themes.- Definitions :David Hatch and Stephen Millward define pop...
and electronic dance music
Electronic dance music
Electronic dance music is electronic music produced primarily for the purposes of use within a nightclub setting, or in an environment that is centered upon dance-based entertainment...
. In the 2000s turbo-folk featured even more pop music elements, and some of the performers were labeled as pop-folk. Some of the best known turbo-folk performers include Seka Aleksić
Seka Aleksic
Svetlana "Seka" Aleksić is a Bosnian pop-folk and techno folk singer.-Biography:...
, Jelena Karleuša
Jelena Karleuša
Jelena Karleuša Tošić , professionally known under her maiden name Jelena Karleuša and initials JK, is a Serbian pop singer, fashion designer and former columnist. She rose to fame with her debut turbo-folk album Ogledalce , and has since been a popular Serbian female singer...
, Aca Lukas
Aca Lukas
Aleksandar Vuksanović , most known as Aca Lukas is a popular Serbian folk singer.-Biography:Aca Lukas was born in as Aleksandar Vuksanović...
, Ceca Ražnatović, Dragana Mirković
Dragana Mirkovic
Dragana Mirković is a Serbian pop-folk singer.She is very popular in Ex-Yugoslavia, Bulgaria, Romania, Greece and Turkey...
, Indira Radić
Indira Radic
Indira Radić is a Serbian folk, turbo-folk, pop-folk and pop singer. She has established herself on the Balkan music scene without creating controversy in the mass media.-Early life:...
and others.
Rock
The Socialist Federal Republic of YugoslaviaSocialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia
The Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia was the Yugoslav state that existed from the abolition of the Yugoslav monarchy until it was dissolved in 1992 amid the Yugoslav Wars. It was a socialist state and a federation made up of six socialist republics: Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia,...
, of which Serbia was a part, was not an Eastern Bloc
Eastern bloc
The term Eastern Bloc or Communist Bloc refers to the former communist states of Eastern and Central Europe, generally the Soviet Union and the countries of the Warsaw Pact...
country, but a member of the Non-Aligned Movement
Non-Aligned Movement
The Non-Aligned Movement is a group of states considering themselves not aligned formally with or against any major power bloc. As of 2011, the movement had 120 members and 17 observer countries...
and as such, was far more open to western influences compared to the other socialist states (the West
Western Bloc
The Western Bloc or Capitalist Bloc during the Cold War refers to the powers allied with the United States and NATO against the Soviet Union and the Warsaw Pact...
to some extent even supported Yugoslavia as a "buffer zone" to the Warsaw Pact
Warsaw Pact
The Warsaw Treaty Organization of Friendship, Cooperation, and Mutual Assistance , or more commonly referred to as the Warsaw Pact, was a mutual defense treaty subscribed to by eight communist states in Eastern Europe...
). The western-influenced pop and rock music was socially accepted, the Yugoslav rock scene was well developed and covered in the media, which included numerous magazines, radio and TV shows. Paralleling the breakup of Yugoslavia
Yugoslavia
Yugoslavia refers to three political entities that existed successively on the western part of the Balkans during most of the 20th century....
due to civil war, its rock scene also ceased to exist. During the 1990s the popularity of rock music declined in Serbia, and although several major mainstream acts managed to sustain their popularity, an underground
Underground music
Underground music comprises a range of different musical genres that operate outside of mainstream culture. Such music can typically share common values, such as the valuing of sincerity and intimacy; an emphasis on freedom of creative expression; an appreciation of artistic creativity...
and independent music scene developed. The 2000s saw the revival of the mainstream scene.
The most notable Serbian rock acts include Bajaga i Instruktori
Bajaga i Instruktori
Bajaga i Instruktori are a highly popular Serbian and former Yugoslav rock band...
, Ekatarina Velika
Ekatarina Velika
Ekatarina Velika , sometimes referred to as EKV for short, was a Serbian and former Yugoslav rock group from Belgrade, being one of the most successful and influential music acts coming out of former Yugoslavia....
, Električni Orgazam
Električni Orgazam
Električni Orgazam is a Serbian rock band from Belgrade. Originally starting as a combination of New Wave, punk rock and post-punk, the band later slowly changed their style, becoming a mainstream rock act.- New Wave years :...
, Galija
Galija
Galija is a Serbian and former Yugoslav rock band from Niš. The central figures of the band are brothers Nenad Milosavljević and Predrag Milosavljević...
, Idoli, Korni Grupa
Korni Grupa
Korni Grupa was a former Yugoslav rock band from Belgrade. Korni Grupa was one of the first former Yugoslav rock bands to achieve major mainstream popularity. The band's first releases were commercial pop-oriented songs. Korni Grupa later turned towards progressive rock, continuing, however, to...
, Orthodox Celts
Orthodox Celts
Orthodox Celts is a Serbian band which plays Irish folk music combined with rock elements. Despite their unusual sound the band is one of the top acts of the Serbian rock scene and has influenced several younger bands, most notably Tir na n'Og and Irish Stew of Sindidun.The band started their...
, Partibrejkers
Partibrejkers
Partibrejkers is a prominent Serbian rock band from Belgrade, as well as an acclaimed act of the former Yugoslav rock scene....
, Pekinška Patka
Pekinška Patka
Pekinška Patka is an eminent Serbian and former Yugoslav punk rock band from Novi Sad. Their debut album, Plitka poezija, released in 1980, is considered the first punk rock album by a band coming from Serbia...
, Rambo Amadeus
Rambo Amadeus
Rambo Amadeus is the stage name of the Belgrade-based Montenegrin singer-songwriter Antonije Pušić, popular all over the former Yugoslavia...
, Riblja Čorba
Riblja Corba
Riblja Čorba is a Serbian and former Yugoslav rock band. Their presence on the scene has lasted from 1978 to today. They reached their peak of popularity in the 1980s, but it has declined in the 1990s, partly due to controversial political attitudes of the band's leader Bora Đorđević...
, Smak
Smak
Smak is a Serbian and former Yugoslav rock band. The group reached the peak of popularity in the 1970s when it was one of the top acts of the former Yugoslav rock scene...
, Šarlo Akrobata
Šarlo Akrobata
Šarlo Akrobata were a seminal Yugoslav rock band often categorized as late punk or New Wave, particularly art-oriented. Short-lived but extremely influential, in addition to being one of the most important acts of the Yugoslav New Wave scene, the three piece left an indelible mark on the entire...
, YU grupa
YU grupa
YU grupa is a Serbian and former Yugoslav rock band. One of the pioneers in combining rock music with the elements of the traditional music of the Balkans, YU grupa is considered the longest-lasting rock band to come from Serbia....
, Van Gogh
Van Gogh (band)
Van Gogh is a Serbian and former Yugoslav rock band from Belgrade. The band was formed in 1986, and released their debut alternative rock-oriented self-titled album the same year...
, and others.
Pop
Pop music
Pop music is usually understood to be commercially recorded music, often oriented toward a youth market, usually consisting of relatively short, simple songs utilizing technological innovations to produce new variations on existing themes.- Definitions :David Hatch and Stephen Millward define pop...
performers are Aleksandra Kovač
Aleksandra Kovac
Aleksandra Kovač is a Serbian singer-songwriter. She is the eldest daughter of eminent composer Kornelije Kovač and the elder sister of singer Kristina Kovač. Alongside her sister Kristina, Kovač came to media prominence as a part of girl group K2, and then launched a successful solo career in 2001...
, Aleksandra Radović
Aleksandra Radovic
Aleksandra Radović is a Serbian singer and songwriter, one of the most popular pop and R&B singers in Serbia.- Early life :...
, Ana Stanić
Ana Stanic
Ana Stanić is a Serbian singer, songwriter, composer and film producer.-Music:...
, Jelena Tomašević
Jelena Tomaševic
Jelena Tomašević is a Serbian pop singer famed for her strong vocal performances. She has won numerous awards for her songs and represented Serbia at 2008 Eurovision Song Contest, coming sixth with the song "Oro".- Music career :Jelena started her way to stardom at the young age of 8 when she won...
, Željko Joksimović
Željko Joksimovic
Željko Joksimović or often credited Zeljko Joksimovic is a popular Serbian singer, songwriter and producer. He is also well known in Bulgaria, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Montenegro, Macedonia, Croatia, Slovenia, Greece, Germany, Austria and other European countries...
.
Marija Šerifović
Marija Šerifovic
Marija Šerifović is a singer from Serbia. She won the Eurovision Song Contest 2007 with the song "Molitva". Šerifović was born in Kragujevac, Socialist Republic of Serbia, Yugoslavia and is the daughter of Verica Šerifović, also a notable singer...
won the first place at the 2007 Eurovision Song Contest, and Serbia was the host of the 2008 contest.
Hip-hop
Serbian hip hop emerged in the early 1980s, with the birth of b-boy crews. The first Serbian Hip Hop record release was the Degout EP by The Master Scratch BandThe Master Scratch Band
The Master Scratch Band are a group considered to have started Serbian hip hop in the early 1980s with their Degout EP, which was released through Jugoton in the year 1984. The release had five electro-breakbeat tracks with rap in English and Serbian...
, which was released by Jugoton
Jugoton
Jugoton was the largest record label and chain record store in the former Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia based in Zagreb, Socialist Republic of Croatia. After the breakup of Yugoslavia the company continued to work in independent Republic of Croatia under the name Croatia...
in 1984. But the Hip Hop Scene in Serbia was not open and popularized until the Demo of the Badvajzer (Budweiser) crew who became extremely popular in 1987.
In the late 1980s and early 1990s, bands such as Green Kool Posse, Who Is The Best and Robin Hood came into being all together starting the first Hip Hop scene in Serbia and former Yugoslavia.
The music spread slowly until 1995, until Da li imaš pravo? by Gru was released, marking the beginning of the first wave of Serbian hip hop, which reached its peak in 1997-98, when many new groups started to break out from the underground: Ding Dong
Ding Dong
A Ding Dong is a chocolate cake that is sold by Hostess Brands. It is round with a flat top and bottom, about three inches in diameter and a little more than an inch high, similar in shape to a hockey puck. A white creamy filling is injected into the center, and a thin coating of chocolate glaze...
, Voodoo Popeye, Straight Jackin, Sunshine, Bad Copy
Bad Copy
Bad Copy are a popular hip-hop group from Belgrade, Serbia known for their humorous lyrics and slang. The members are Ajs Nigrutin , Timbe and Wikluh Sky...
, Belgrade Ghetto, CYA, 187.
In 2002 the Bassivity label was formed, which made Serbian, Bosnian
Bosnian and Herzegovinan hip hop
Hip hop is quite a new style of music for Bosnia and Herzegovina, but it has nevertheless proven very popular. The scene has coalesced around several major portals on the Internet...
and Croatian hip hop widely available in record stores. Their first release, V.I.P. - Ekipa Stigla, was one of the two albums which marked the beginning of the second wave of Serbian hip hop. The other was BSSST...Tišinčina
BSSST...Tišincina
BSSST...Tišinčina! is the title of an album released by the Serbian hip-hop collective Beogradski Sindikat in early 2002...
by the Belgrade group Beogradski sindikat
Beogradski sindikat
Beogradski Sindikat is a Serbian hip-hop group from Belgrade formed in 1999. It currently consists of eleven members. They have released three albums,first one highly acclaimed and marked the beginning of second wave of Serbian hip hop.-Group members:* Žobla - MC * Ogi - MC Beogradski Sindikat...
. In 2003 Marčelo
Marcelo
Marcelo Vieira da Silva Júnior is a Brazilian footballer who plays for Real Madrid and the Brazil national football team. Mainly a left defender, he can also operate as a left winger.-Fluminense:...
's debut album De Facto, also released on the Bassivity label, came out to both public and critical acclaim, and he was branded as the voice of a new generation.
External links
- Project Rastko category (some text in English, RealAudio church choirs)
- The History Serbian Culture - Some facts about medieval Serbian music