Music of Serbia represents themusical heritage ofSerbia, both historical and modern. It has a variety of traditionalmusic styles, which are part of the widerBalkan musical tradition, with its own distinctive sound and characteristics.[1]
Church music was performed throughout medieval Serbia by choirs or individual singers. The songs performed at the time were derived from theOctoechos (Osmoglasnik), a collection of religious songs dedicated toJesus. Composers from this era include nunJefimija, monksKir Stefan the Serb,Isaiah the Serb, andNikola the Serb, who together belong to the "Serbo-Byzantine school".[2][3][4]
Aside from church music, the medieval era in Serbia includedtraditional music, about which little is known, and court music. During theNemanjić dynasty era musicians played an important role at the royal court, and were known assviralnici,glumci andpraskavnici. The rulers known for the musical patronage included EmperorStefan Dušan and DespotĐurađ Branković. Medieval musical instruments includedhorns,trumpets,lutes,psalteries,drums andcymbals. Traditional folk instruments include thegajde,kaval,dajre,diple,tamburitza,gusle, tapan (davul),šargija, ćemane (kemenche), zurla (zurna), andfrula among others.[5]
SungSerbian epic poetry has been an integral part of Serbian and Balkan music for centuries. In the highlands of Serbia andMontenegro these long poems are typically accompanied on a one-string fiddle called thegusle, and concern themselves with themes from history and mythology. After theOttoman conquest of Serbia, music was enriched with oriental influences at the expense of Serbian folk music. During Ottoman rule, Serbian faith and folk music went underground so to speak since the people were forbidden to own their property, to learn to write and read and were also denied the use of musical instruments. The Serbs however were stubbornly tenacious enough to maintain an oral history through folk poems and songs recited with the accompaniment of theGusle. These brave defenders of Serbian art and culture in these arduous and treacherous times were the peasants who played the Gusle, a one-stringed instrument in the shape of alute. As their punishment for playing a musical instrument, many of these musicians were blinded by their oppressors. Denied music or dance, the Serbs invented a silentkolo in which thesyncopation of the pounding of the feet became an instantaneous musical accompaniment to the folk dancers. This particular dance is still being performed today. The German poetGoethe so admired Serbian poetry and folklore that he learned to speakSlavonic-Serbian, the common language then spoken by Slavs in theBalkans and northern regions of theAustrian Empire. Goethe andGrimm's works were also the major inspiration in encouragingBrahms,Carl Loewe,Tor Aulin,Anton Dvorak,Leos Janacek,Josef Suk,Peter Tchaikovsky and Josef Maria Wolfram (1789–1839) to create compositions based on Serbian folk poetry and literature. Brahms' famous lullaby is derived from a Serbian folk poem. When the Jews fled Spain the Serbs provided a hospitable environment in which they could resettle and prosper, particularly inSarajevo inBosnia and Herzegovina andSerbia. The oldest Jewish Choir in the modern world is located inBelgrade. The formation of thePančevo Church Choral Society in 1838 and the Belgrade Choral Society in 1853 resulted in each becoming centers for nurturing young talent. The first music schools were founded through the efforts of these choral societies.[6][7]
From theHabsburg rule, Serbia was enriched by Western music.
Composer andmusicologistStevan Stojanović Mokranjac is considered one of the most important founders of modern Serbian music.[8] Born in 1856, Mokranjac taught music, collected Serbiantraditional songs and did the first scholarly research on Serbian music. He was also the director of the firstSerbian music school and one of the founders of theUnion of Singing Societies. His most famous works are theSong Wreaths, also known asGarlands.
During the 19th and 20th 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 violinistDragomir Krančević, pianistSidonija Ilić, pianist and composerJovanka Stojković and opera singerSofija 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 choral societies, then mostly sung inGerman andItalian language, were being organized. Later, the firstSerbian language works for choirs were written byKornelije Stanković.
The Serbian composersPetar Konjović,Stevan Hristić andMiloje Milojević, all born in the 1880s, were the most eminent composers of their generation. They maintained the national expression and modernized romanticism in the direction ofimpressionism.
The best-known composers born around 1910 studied in Europe, mostly in Prague.Ljubica Marić,Stanojlo Rajičić,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.[9]
Other famousclassical Serbian composers includeIsidor Bajić,Stanislav Binički andJosif Marinković.
Several notable composers used motifs from Serbian folk music and composed works inspired by Serbian history or culture, such as:Johannes Brahms,Franz Liszt,Arthur Rubinstein,Antonín Dvořák,Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky,Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov,Franz Schubert,Hans Huber and others.[10] In 1788, just before the start of theHabsburg–Ottoman War, aclassical period composerWolfgang Amadeus Mozart composed theLa Bataille K. 535 (also known as “Die Belagerung Belgrads” – “The Siege of Belgrade”), which was most likely inspired by previous sieges of Belgrade, while some scholars state that the composition was used to support the war effort.[11] Thanks toMiloš Obrenović's good contacts during his stay inVienna,Johann Strauss II composed theSerben-Quadrille intended for Serbian balls.[12] During theSerbian–Turkish Wars, Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky composed theMarche slave, which was based on several Serbian folk songs.[13][14] Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov used some Serbian folk tunes to compose theFantasy on Serbian Themes (1867).[15]
The ethno genre encompasses both vocal and non-vocal (instrumental) music. Instruments includebagpipes,flutes,horns,trumpets,lutes,psalteries,drums andcymbals such as:Frula (woodwind),Diple (dvojanka, woodwind),Gajde (bagpipe),Zurna (woodwind),Duduk (woodwind),Tambura (lute),Tamburitza (lute),Gusle (lute),Kaval (šupeljka, lute),Davul (tapan,goč, drum),Bouzouki (šargija, lute),Tarambuke (drum). 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.
The Serbian folk music is bothrural (izvorna muzika) andurban (starogradska muzika) and includes a two-beat dance calledkolo, which is acircle dance with almost no movement above the waist, accompanied by instrumental music made most often with anaccordion, but also with other instruments:frula (traditional kind of arecorder),tamburica, or accordion. The Kolos usually last for about 5–13 minutes. Modern accordionists includeMirko Kodić andLjubiša Pavković. Some kolos are similar to theHungariancsárdás in that they are slow at the onset and gradually increase their speed until reaching a climax towards the end.
Famous performers of Serbian folk music arePredrag Gojković Cune,Predrag Živković Tozovac,Miroslav Ilić,Lepa Lukić,Vasilija Radojčić,Šaban Bajramović,Staniša Stošić,Toma Zdravković and others. Yugoslav singer, actress and writer,Olivera Katarina, has performed music of various genres, varying from Serbian traditional to pop music, and in numerous languages. She held 72 consecutive concerts inParis Olympia.
During the 70s Serbian folk music started to use elements fromoriental music, distancing from the original sound, style that is titlednovokomponovana muzika ("newly composed music"). Soon manyneo-folk singers emerged:Šaban Šaulić,Jašar Ahmedovski,Mitar Mirić,Nada Topčagić,Šeki Turković,Ipče Ahmedovski,Ljuba Aličić,Zorica Brunclik,Marinko Rokvić and others. Serbian folk scene was not homogeneous nor uniform. On one hand, following Western models,Vesna Zmijanac was creating a star-image, being sex-symbol,fashionista andgay icon as well. On the other hand, singers likeVera Matović, for example, have created folk subgenre, sort of rural folk, singing about works in field, domestic animals and themes from Serbian village.Louis was combining Serbian folk music withjazz. Their albums were sponsored and songs were broadcast on theRadio Television of Serbia, which led to domination of this genre.
Brass bands, known astrubači (Serbian Cyrillic:трубачи, "the trumpeters") are extremely popular, especially in Central and Southern Serbia where Balkan Brass Band originated. Thetrumpet was initially used as a military instrument to wake and gather soldiers and announce battles duringFirst Serbian Uprising in the 19th century, but later 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 special occasions such asslavas, baptisms, harvests, births and funerals. In 1831 the first official military band was formed byPrince Miloš Obrenović.Roma people have also adopted the tradition and enhanced the music, and today most of the best performers are Roma. The best known Serbian Brass musicians areFejat Sejdić, andBoban 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[16] is a five-day annual festival with 300 000 visitors.
Various sources suggest thatpop music existed in Serbia before theSecond World War, including the claims of French entertainerJosephine Baker, who stated that she encounteredgramophone records of this style of music during her trip to Serbia. Pop music grew in popularity during the following decades, especially during the late 1950s and 1960s with performers ofschlager, such asLola Novaković,Đorđe Marjanović andDušan Jakšić. Some of the best known songs from this era include "Zvižduk u osam" by Marjanović and "Devojko mala", which was performed by actorVlastimir Đuza Stojiljković in the popular movieLjubav i moda (1960). Despite the fact that pop partially lost its popularity in Serbia torock music during the 1970s and 1980s, it continued to stay relevant withdisco-influenced artists such asZdravko Čolić, who is recognized as one of the most prominent performers from the entireYugoslavia. The 1980s also saw popularity ofnew wave music with acts likeZana andBebi Dol. During the following decades however, pop music was significantly overshadowed bypop-folk. The 1990s pop was also marked by the influence ofEuropop with groups such asTap 011 andK2.
Some of the best-known Serbian pop singers who have gained prominence in the 2000s areVlado Georgiev,Marija Šerifović,Željko Joksimović,Aleksandra Radović,Tijana Dapčević,Jelena Tomašević,Nataša Bekvalac,Emina Jahović,Ana Nikolić andSaša Kovačević. Šerifović is also noted for winning the2007 Eurovision Song Contest withMolitva, making her the only SerbianEurovision winner.
Most prominent pop artists from the 2010s include:Sara Jo,Nikolija,Edita Aradinović,Teodora Džehverović,Anastasija Ražnatović,Elena Kitić,Angellina,Breskvica andHurricane (Serbian band).
As a member of theNon-Aligned Movement,Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, of which Serbia was a part, was far more open towestern influences compared to theother socialist states. The western-influenced pop and rock music was socially accepted, theYugoslav rock scene was well developed and covered in the media, which included numerous magazines, radio and TV shows. Following the breakup ofYugoslavia due to civil war, its rock scene also ceased to exist, but saw moderate revival in the 2000s. The most notable Serbian rock acts areBajaga i Instruktori,Đorđe Balašević,Disciplina Kičme,Ekatarina Velika,Električni Orgazam,Galija,Idoli,Kerber,Korni Grupa,Laboratorija Zvuka,Partibrejkers,Pekinška Patka,Piloti,Pop Mašina,Rambo Amadeus,Riblja Čorba,Smak,Šarlo Akrobata,YU Grupa,Van Gogh, and others.
Popular folk music, or simply pop-folk, gained in popularity during the 1980s when elements ofSerbian folk music were combined withrock andpop music, as well as with elements of folk music from otherBalkan cultures. During this decade two of the arguably biggest performers wereLepa Brena, who has sold over 40 million records and is recognized as one of the greatest symbols ofYugoslavia, andVesna Zmijanac, who was noted as thesex symbol and fashion icon of the 1980s. In the following decade, pop-folk only grew in popularity as a result of the regime ofSlobodan Milošević,Yugoslav wars,inflation and political isolation. Because of it, pop-folk gained a bad reputation, becoming colloquially known as "turbo-folk", a term that was coined by musicianRambo Amadeus because of the influenceelectronic dance music had on this crossover genre during the 1990s. It was during this period when some of the best known names in pop-folk music, and Serbian commercial music in general, emerged, includingDragana Mirković,Stoja,Dragan Kojic Keba,Ceca,Aca Lukas andJelena Karleuša.
Even after the downfall of Milošević, pop-folk continued to stay popular. In the 2000s Serbian record labelGrand Production gathered most of the country's pop-folk performers, such asIndira Radić,Saša Matić,Seka Aleksić,Đani andDara Bubamara. Their televised singing contest, calledZvezde Granda, also brought a new generation of singers, which includesTanja Savić,Milica Todorović,Rada Manojlović,Milan Stanković,Milica Pavlović,Aleksandra Prijović andTea Tairović.
Jazz in Serbia appears in the 1920s when Markus Blam formed first jazz orchestraStudentski Micky Jazz. Jazz music was played mostly in salons and clubs, but it is also known that jazz orchestras toured inspas over Serbia. This style of music has been present on the radio as well as in specialized magazines.Radio Belgrade started to work in 1929, every night after 22:30h Radio Jazz Orchestra played popular songs. First jazz society in Serbia was set up in 1953, but to the development of jazz the most contributed hosting famous musicians, among whom wasLouis Armstrong in 1959 and 1960. The first Serbian musicians to rise to international fame wereMladen Guteša who worked for famous musicians such asLee Konitz,Benny Goodman and others andDuško Gojković. These two enteredThe 1956 Encyclopedia Yearbook of Jazz ofLeonard Feather. Other prominent names of Serbian jazz includeBora Roković who composed jazz suiteThe Human Piano,Mihailo Živanović,Branislav Kovačev,Branko Pejaković,Milan Lulić,Boris Jojić,Jovan Miković and others.[17] Among the most popular singers of jazz and blues in Serbia wasŠaban Bajramović known asKing of Romani music, who was included in theTime magazines list of top 10 blues singers in the world.[18] Vladan Mijatovic (Jazz pianist) is the young ambassador of the Serbian Jazz music in North America.
Serbian hip hop emerged in the early 80s among theb-boy crews. The first Serbian Hip Hop record release was theDegout EP byThe Master Scratch Band, which was released byJugoton in 1984. However, Serbian hip-hop scene wasn't developed until the late 90s when hip-hop groups started to break out from the underground. Best known rappers and hip-hop collectives includeGru,Sunshine,Bad Copy,Beogradski sindikat andMarčelo. Artists such asElitni Odredi,Rasta andCoby reached mainstream success by switching to more commercial sound and appealing to the wider audience. Some of the more prominent female performers includeMimi Mercedez andSajsi MC. Bassivity and laterBassivity Digital have been the biggest regional hip-hop recording labels.
In a review ofKonstrakta's song "In corpore sano", Petar Popović considered her a performer that "is rising above the existing genres and offering a different universe".[19] Her musical work earned her the title of the "Nedeljnik Person of the Year".[20]
Exit is a summer music festival which is held at thePetrovaradin Fortress in the city ofNovi Sad, officially proclaimed as the "Best Major European Festival" at the EU Festival Awards. Other festivals includeBelgrade Beer Fest in Belgrade,Gitarijada in Zaječar,Nišville in Niš andGuča Trumpet Festival in Guča.
In the town of Guča, near the city ofČačak is an annually held brass band festival calledGuča trumpet festival in the Dragačevo region of western Serbia with 600,000 visitors per year. Other popular festivals include Rock festivalsBelgrade Beer Fest andGitarijada, and Jazz festivalNišville.
Serbia debuted at Eurovision as an independent country in2007, being represented byMarija Šerifović with the song "Molitva", winning on its first ever appearance. Other notable results include a 3rd place in2012, being represented byŽeljko Joksimović with the song "Nije ljubav stvar" and 5th in2022, being represented byKonstrakta with the song "In corpore sano". Luke Black represented Serbia with the song "Samo mi se spava" in 2023, after that he became one of the most productive artists among other Eurovision contestants this year releasing an album "Chainsaws in Paradise" in 2024.
Even though many say that the stimulus Mokranjac gave to Serbian music was more important than his compositions, many musicians who sing or listen to his works state that the true Mokranjac is exemplified in the Song Wreaths. ... From the moment they were composed, Mokranjac's Song Wreaths played an important role in singing societies.
