![Evstafiev-bosnia-cello](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/de/Evstafiev-bosnia-cello.jpg)
Vedran Smailović (born 11 November 1956), known as the "Cellist of Sarajevo", is a
musician
A musician is a person who composes, conducts, or performs music. According to the United States Employment Service, "musician" is a general term used to designate one who follows music as a profession. Musicians include songwriters who wri ...
from
Bosnia and Herzegovina
Bosnia and Herzegovina ( sh, / , ), abbreviated BiH () or B&H, sometimes called Bosnia–Herzegovina and often known informally as Bosnia, is a country at the crossroads of south and southeast Europe, located in the Balkans. Bosnia and H ...
. During the
siege of Sarajevo
The Siege of Sarajevo ( sh, Opsada Sarajeva) was a prolonged blockade of Sarajevo, the capital of Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bosnia and Herzegovina, during the Bosnian War. After it was initially besieged by the forces of the Yugoslav ...
, he played
Albinoni
Tomaso Giovanni Albinoni (8 June 1671 – 17 January 1751) was an Italian composer of the Baroque era. His output includes operas, concertos, sonatas for one to six instruments, sinfonias, and solo cantatas. While famous in his day as an opera comp ...
's ''
Adagio in G Minor
Adagio in G minor for strings and organ, also known as Adagio in Sol minore per archi e organo su due spunti tematici e su un basso numerato di Tomaso Albinoni (Mi 26), is a neo-Baroque composition commonly attributed to the 18th-century Veneti ...
'' in ruined buildings, and, often under the threat of snipers, he played during funerals. His bravery inspired musical numbers and a novel. He moved to Northern Ireland and is a composer, conductor, and performer. His G minor masterpiece was introduced in a book called "A Story Like the Wind".
Background
He played in the Sarajevo Opera, the
Sarajevo Philharmonic Orchestra
The Sarajevo Philharmonic Orchestra ( Bosnian, Croatian and Serbian: ''Sarajevska filharmonija'' / Сарајевска филхармонија) is an orchestra in Sarajevo.National Theatre of Sarajevo
The Sarajevo National Theatre (Bosnian language, Bosnian and Serbian language, Serbian: ''Narodno pozorište Sarajevo'', Народно позориште Сарајево, Croatian language, Croatian: ''Narodno kazalište Sarajevo'') was founded ...
.
The Cellist of Sarajevo
Smailović caught the imagination of people around the world by playing his cello, most notably performing Albinoni's "Adagio in G Minor" for twenty-two days, in the ruined square of a downtown Sarajevo marketplace after a mortar round had killed twenty-two people waiting for food there. He managed to leave Sarajevo in 1993, during the second year of the siege that lasted from 5 April 1992 to 29 February 1996 (1,425 days) and is often mistakenly identified as a member of the Sarajevo String Quartet, which played on throughout the siege.
In Smailović's honour, composer
David Wilde
David Wilde (born 1935 in Manchester) is an English pianist and composer. As a boy he studied with Solomon and his pupil Franz Reizenstein, who had also studied composition with Hindemith and Vaughan Williams.
A frequent soloist at the Henry W ...
wrote a piece for solo cello, "The Cellist of Sarajevo", which was recorded by
Yo-Yo Ma
Yo-Yo Ma (''Chinese'': 馬友友 ''Ma Yo Yo''; born October 7, 1955) is an American cellist. Born in Paris to Chinese parents and educated in New York City, he was a child prodigy, performing from the age of four and a half. He graduated from ...
.
Paul O'Neill described Smailović's performances as the inspiration for "
Christmas Eve/Sarajevo 12/24
"Christmas Eve/Sarajevo 12/24" is an instrumental medley of "God Rest Ye Merry, Gentlemen" and " Shchedryk", first released on the Savatage album ''Dead Winter Dead'' in 1995 as "Christmas Eve (Sarajevo 12/24)." It was re-released by the Trans-Sib ...
" by
Savatage
Savatage () was an American heavy metal band founded by brothers Jon and Criss Oliva in 1979 in Tarpon Springs, Florida. The band was first called Avatar, but, shortly before the release of their debut album ''Sirens'' (1983), they changed thei ...
and the
Trans-Siberian Orchestra
Trans-Siberian Orchestra (TSO) is an American rock band founded in 1996 by producer, composer, and lyricist Paul O'Neill, who brought together Jon Oliva and Al Pitrelli (both members of Savatage) and keyboardist and co-producer Robert Kinkel to ...
. Folk singer
John McCutcheon
John McCutcheon (born August 14, 1952) is an American folk music singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist who has produced 41 albums since the 1970s. He is regarded as a master of the hammered dulcimer, and is also proficient on many other i ...
also penned a song in his honour, "In the Streets of Sarajevo." The South African singer and songwriter Coenie de Villiers wrote a song in Afrikaans, called "Die tjeiis van Sarajevo (The cellist of Sarajevo)", which was included in his 2011 album ''Hart van glas (Heart of glass).''
Canadian author
Elizabeth Wellburn
Elizabeth Wellburn is a Canadian author. Her writing has been in the areas of fiction for children and educational technology.
In 1998, Wellburn's book ''Echoes From the Square'' () was published. It tells a fictionalized story based on the rea ...
worked with Smailović to create the children's book ''Echoes from the Square'' (1998). Another Canadian author,
Steven Galloway, based a character on Smailović in his bestselling 2008 novel, ''The Cellist of Sarajevo''. In the book, an unnamed cellist plays every day at 4:00 pm for 22 days, always at the same time and location, to honour the 22 people killed by a mortar bomb while they queued for bread on May 26, 1992. The account, including the time of the mortar attack, is fictional.
Smailović publicly expressed outrage over the book's publication. He said, "They steal my name and identity," and added that he expected damages, an apology, and compensation.
In 2012, a meeting between Smailović and Galloway took place during which the latter assured he meant no harm in telling a fictional representation of the events.
Continued career
Smailović escaped the city in late 1993 and has since been involved in numerous music projects as a performer, composer, and conductor. He now lives in
Warrenpoint
Warrenpoint ( ga, An Pointe) is a small port town and civil parish in County Down, Northern Ireland. It sits at the head of Carlingford Lough, south of Newry, and is separated from the Republic of Ireland by a narrow strait. The town is beside t ...
, Northern Ireland.
Smailović was named a Hero's hero by
The My Hero Project The My Hero Project is a U.S.-based nonprofit organization established in 1995 by philanthropist Karen Pritzker, Jeanne Meyers and Rita Stern Milch that promotes the sharing of positive role models from around the world for the online digital storyt ...
.
See also
*
Inela Nogić
Inela Nogić (born 1976) became world-famous during the Siege of Sarajevo when she won the 1993 Miss Besieged Sarajevo, which was held in a basement in an effort to avoid the barrage of sniper attacks from Serb militias. Nogić and the other co ...
,
Miss Sarajevo
"Miss Sarajevo" is a song by U2 and Brian Eno, credited to the pseudonym "Passengers". It was released on 20 November 1995 as the only single from their album ''Original Soundtracks 1''. Luciano Pavarotti makes a vocal appearance, singing the ...
1993
* ''
Romeo and Juliet in Sarajevo
''Romeo and Juliet in Sarajevo'' was an international documentary about the deaths of Admira Ismić (born May 13, 1968) and Boško Brkić (Cyrillic: Бошко Бркић; born August 11, 1968). The couple were natives of Bosnia and Herzegovina l ...
'', a documentary film about a couple killed trying to escape from Sarajevo
References
External links
Articlein the ''
Times
Time is the continued sequence of existence and events, and a fundamental quantity of measuring systems.
Time or times may also refer to:
Temporal measurement
* Time in physics, defined by its measurement
* Time standard, civil time specific ...
'' newspaper - "A musician who risked his life playing a lament for 22 massacre victims is incensed by a novel capitalising on his act"
*
* Beer and Tears (1994), a documentary film about Smailović's first visit to Northern Ireland where he played in public places in Belfast, Derry and Enniskillen.
You Tube
{{DEFAULTSORT:Smailovic, Vedran
1956 births
Living people
Bosnia and Herzegovina classical musicians
Bosnia and Herzegovina emigrants to Northern Ireland
Siege of Sarajevo
Musicians from Sarajevo
Serbs of Bosnia and Herzegovina