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

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 Romantic nationalism (also national romanticism, organic nationalism, identity nationalism) is the form of nationalism in which the state claims its political legitimacy as an organic consequence of the unity of those it governs. This includes ...

music. Among other songs, he composed the melody for the

Serbia Serbia (, ; Serbian: , , ), officially the Republic of Serbia ( Serbian: , , ), is a landlocked country in Southeastern and Central Europe, situated at the crossroads of the Pannonian Basin and the Balkans. It shares land borders with Hu ...

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 Europea ...

Bože pravde "" ( sr-Cyrl, Боже правде, , "God of Justice") is the national anthem of Serbia, as defined by the Article 7 of the Constitution of Serbia. "Bože pravde" was the state anthem of the Kingdom of Serbia until 1919 when Serbia became a pa ...

" ("God of Justice"), the former

Slovenia Slovenia ( ; sl, Slovenija ), officially the Republic of Slovenia (Slovene: , abbr.: ''RS''), is a country in Central Europe. It is bordered by Italy to the west, Austria to the north, Hungary to the northeast, Croatia to the southeast, and ...

n national anthem "

Naprej, zastava Slave "" or "" () is a former national anthem of Slovenia, used from 1860 to 1989. It is now used as the official service song of the Slovenian Armed Forces. Lyrics and music It tells about a boy who goes to defend his homeland, meaning him more than h ...

" ("Forward, Flag of Glory!"), and the popular Serbian and Montenegrin song " Serbian Marseillaise".

Biography

Jenko was born as Martin Jenko in the

Upper Carniola Upper Carniola ( sl, Gorenjska; it, Alta Carniola; german: Oberkrain) is a traditional region of Slovenia, the northern mountainous part of the larger Carniola region. The centre of the region is Kranj, while other urban centers include Jeseni ...

n village of Dvorje, in what was then the

Austrian Empire The Austrian Empire (german: link=no, Kaiserthum Oesterreich, modern spelling , ) was a Central- Eastern European multinational great power from 1804 to 1867, created by proclamation out of the realms of the Habsburgs. During its existence, ...

. After graduating from high school in

Trieste Trieste ( , ; sl, Trst ; german: Triest ) is a city and seaport in northeastern Italy. It is the capital city, and largest city, of the autonomous region of Friuli Venezia Giulia, one of two autonomous regions which are not subdivided into pr ...

, he went to

Vienna en, Viennese , iso_code = AT-9 , registration_plate = W , postal_code_type = Postal code , postal_code = , timezone = CET , utc_offset = +1 , timezone_DST ...

, where he studied law. During his Viennese stay, he founded the Slovene Choir Society in Vienna, which was sponsored by the

national liberal National liberalism is a variant of liberalism, combining liberal policies and issues with elements of nationalism. Historically, national liberalism has also been used in the same meaning as conservative liberalism (right-liberalism). A seri ...

politician Valentin Zarnik. In 1862, he moved to the town of

Pančevo Pančevo (Serbian Cyrillic: Панчево, ; german: Pantschowa; hu, Pancsova; ro, Panciova; sk, Pánčevo) is a list of cities in Serbia, city and the administrative center of the South Banat District in the autonomous province of Vojvodina, ...

in southern Vojvodina,

, where he worked as the choirmaster of the local

Serbian Orthodox Church The Serbian Orthodox Church ( sr-Cyrl, Српска православна црква, Srpska pravoslavna crkva) is one of the autocephalous (ecclesiastically independent) Eastern Orthodox Christian denomination, Christian churches. The majori ...

. He later moved on the other side of the Austrian-Serbian border to

Belgrade Belgrade ( , ;, ; names in other languages) is the capital and largest city in Serbia. It is located at the confluence of the Sava and Danube rivers and the crossroads of the Pannonian Plain and the Balkan Peninsula. Nearly 1,166,763 mi ...

, 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 Milan Obrenović ( sr-cyr, Милан Обреновић, Milan Obrenović; 22 August 1854 – 11 February 1901) reigned as the prince of Serbia from 1868 to 1882 and subsequently as king from 1882 to 1889. Milan I unexpectedly abdicated in ...

on 5 April 1887. He lived in Serbia until 1897, when he moved to

Ljubljana Ljubljana (also known by other historical names) is the capital and largest city of Slovenia. It is the country's cultural, educational, economic, political and administrative center. During antiquity, a Roman city called Emona stood in the ar ...

in his native

Carniola Carniola ( sl, Kranjska; , german: Krain; it, Carniola; hu, Krajna) 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 s ...

. He died in Ljubljana, and was buried in the

Žale Žale Central Cemetery ( sl, Centralno pokopališče Žale), 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 ce ...

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 Serbian may refer to: * someone or something related to Serbia, a country in Southeastern Europe * someone or something related to the Serbs, a South Slavic people * Serbian language * Serbian names See also * * * Old Serbian (disambiguation ...

. 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 Simon Jenko (October 27, 1835 – October 18, 1869) was a Slovene poet, lyricist and writer. Jenko was born in Podreča in the Sora Plain (''Sorško polje'') in Upper Carniola, then part of the Austrian Empire, now in Slovenia, as an illegit ...

. 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 19th-century composers 19th-century male musicians 20th-century composers 20th-century male musicians Burials at Žale 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 Serbian people of Slovenian descent Slovenian composers University of Vienna alumni