Davorin Jenko (born Martin Jenko; 9 November 1835 – 25 November 1914) was a Slovene and Serbian

composer A composer is a person who writes music. The term is especially used to indicate composers of Western classical music, or those who are composers by occupation. Many composers are, or were, also skilled performers of music. Etymology and def ...

. He is sometimes considered the father of Slovenian national Romantic music. Among other songs, he composed the melody for the

Serbia , image_flag = Flag of Serbia.svg , national_motto = , image_coat = Coat of arms of Serbia.svg , national_anthem = () , image_map = , map_caption = Location of Serbia (gree ...

national anthem A national anthem is a patriotic musical composition symbolizing and evoking eulogies of the history and traditions of a country or nation. The majority of national anthems are marches or hymns in style. American, Central Asian, and European ...

Bože pravde "" (, ; 'O God of Justice') is the national anthem of Serbia, as defined by the Article 7 of the Constitution of Serbia. "Bože pravde" was adopted in 1882 and had been the national anthem of the Kingdom of Serbia until 1919 when Serbia became a ...

" ("God of Justice"), the former

Slovenia Slovenia, officially the Republic of Slovenia, is a country in Central Europe. It borders Italy to the west, Austria to the north, Hungary to the northeast, Croatia to the south and southeast, and a short (46.6 km) coastline within the Adriati ...

n national anthem " Naprej, zastava Slave" ("Forward, Flag of Glory!"), and the popular Serbian and Montenegrin song " Serbian Marseillaise".

Biography

Jenko was born in the

Upper Carniola Upper Carniola ( ; ; ) is a traditional region of Slovenia, the northern mountainous part of the larger Carniola region. The largest town in the region is Kranj, and other urban centers include Kamnik, Jesenice, Jesenice, Jesenice, Domžale and ...

n village of Dvorje, in what was then the

Austrian Empire The Austrian Empire, officially known as the Empire of Austria, was a Multinational state, multinational European Great Powers, great power from 1804 to 1867, created by proclamation out of the Habsburg monarchy, realms of the Habsburgs. Duri ...

, and baptized ''Martinus Jenko''. After graduating from high school in

Trieste Trieste ( , ; ) is a city and seaport in northeastern Italy. It is the capital and largest city of the Regions of Italy#Autonomous regions with special statute, autonomous region of Friuli-Venezia Giulia, as well as of the Province of Trieste, ...

, he went to

Vienna Vienna ( ; ; ) is the capital city, capital, List of largest cities in Austria, most populous city, and one of Federal states of Austria, nine federal states of Austria. It is Austria's primate city, with just over two million inhabitants. ...

, where he studied law. During his Viennese stay, he founded the Slovene Choir Society in Vienna, which was sponsored by the national liberal politician Valentin Zarnik. In 1862, he moved to the town of

Pančevo Pančevo (Serbian Cyrillic: Панчево, ; ; ; ; ) is a list of cities in Serbia, city and the administrative center of the South Banat District in the autonomous province of Vojvodina, Serbia. It is located on the shores of rivers Timiș (ri ...

in southern Vojvodina, now in

Serbia , image_flag = Flag of Serbia.svg , national_motto = , image_coat = Coat of arms of Serbia.svg , national_anthem = () , image_map = , map_caption = Location of Serbia (gree ...

, but then in the Hungarian part of the

Danube monarchy The Habsburg monarchy, also known as Habsburg Empire, or Habsburg Realm (), was the collection of empires, kingdoms, duchies, counties and other polities (composite monarchy) that were ruled by the House of Habsburg. From the 18th century it is ...

, where he worked as the choirmaster of the local

Serbian Orthodox Church The Serbian Orthodox Church ( sr-Cyrl-Latn, Српска православна црква, Srpska pravoslavna crkva) is one of the autocephalous (ecclesiastically independent) Eastern Orthodoxy, Eastern Orthodox Eastern Orthodox Church#Constit ...

. He later moved on the other side of the border to

Belgrade Belgrade is the Capital city, capital and List of cities in Serbia, largest city of Serbia. It is located at the confluence of the Sava and Danube rivers and at the crossroads of the Pannonian Basin, Pannonian Plain and the Balkan Peninsula. T ...

, where he worked as a composer in the Serbian National Theatre. Jenko was named among the first four members of the Academy of Arts of the Royal Serbian Academy of Sciences, named by King Milan I of Serbia on 5 April 1887. He lived in Serbia until 1897, when he moved to

Ljubljana {{Infobox settlement , name = Ljubljana , official_name = , settlement_type = Capital city , image_skyline = {{multiple image , border = infobox , perrow = 1/2/2/1 , total_widt ...

in his native

Carniola Carniola ( ; ; ; ) is a historical region that comprised parts of present-day Slovenia. Although as a whole it does not exist anymore, Slovenes living within the former borders of the region still tend to identify with its traditional parts Upp ...

. He died in Ljubljana, and was buried in the

Žale Žale Central Cemetery (), often simply Žale, is the largest and the central cemetery in Ljubljana and Slovenia. It is located in the Bežigrad District and operated by the Žale Public Company. History The cemetery was built in 1906 behin ...

cemetery in the Bežigrad district. In Belgrade, an international music competition is dedicated to Davorin Jenko.

Works

During his life, Jenko composed several pieces both in Slovene and Serbian. He wrote the first Serbian operetta (The Sorceress, ''Врачара'' 1882)Donald Jay Grout, Hermine Weigel Williams ''A short history of opera'' p. 539 "Among opera composers of importance in Serbia were Davorin Jenko (1835–1914), whose many works for the theater include ''Vračara'' (''The Sorceress'', 1882), the first Serbian operetta ..." and composed the music for the Serbian national anthem, based on the lyrics of Jovan Đorđević. Most of his Slovene pieces were composed during his stay in Vienna. In 1860, he composed the music for the patriotic song ''Naprej, zastava Slave'' for the lyrics written by his cousin Simon Jenko. He also composed several other Slovene patriotic poems, which later became a crucial part of the Slovenian national canon.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Jenko, Davorin 1835 births 1914 deaths Composers from Austria-Hungary 19th-century composers 19th-century male musicians 20th-century Slovenian composers 20th-century male composers Burials at Žale Slovenian male composers National anthem writers Members of the Serbian Academy of Sciences and Arts People from the Kingdom of Serbia People from the Municipality of Cerklje na Gorenjskem University of Vienna alumni

Biography

Works

See also

References

External links