Kornelije "Bata" Kovač ( sr-Cyrl, Корнелије "Бата" Ковач, ; ; 1 January 1942 – 13 September 2022) was a 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 ...
.
Early life
Born in
Niš
Niš (; sr-Cyrl, Ниш, ; names of European cities in different languages (M–P)#N, names in other languages), less often spelled in English as Nish, is the list of cities in Serbia, third largest city in Serbia and the administrative cente ...
during
World War II
World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...
in the
Nazi-occupied Serbia to a
Hungarian father and a Serbian mother, Kovač grew up in a prominent artistic family - his grandfather was a conductor, his father a music professor and a violinist, his mother a singer in the opera choir.
Kovač received his early music education at the College of Music in
Subotica
Subotica (, ; , , ) is a List of cities in Serbia, city in Central Europe and the administrative center of the North Bačka District in the autonomous province of Vojvodina, Serbia. Formerly the largest city of Vojvodina region, contemporary Sub ...
, after which he attempted to enroll in the
Belgrade Music Academy. He did not pass the entrance exam so he entered the
Sarajevo Music Academy
The Sarajevo Music Academy or Music Academy , University of Sarajevo ( or MAS) is a Faculty of Music of University of Sarajevo in Bosnia and Herzegovina.
History
Sarajevo Music Academy was founded by the Decision of the National Assembly of ...
of
University of Sarajevo
The University of Sarajevo (Bosnian language, Bosnian, Croatian language, Croatian and Serbian language, Serbian: ''Univerzitet u Sarajevu'' / Sveučilište u Sarajevu / Универзитет у Сарајеву) is a List of universities in Bo ...
where he graduated from the Theory And Piano Department.
Career
A composer, pianist, keyboard player, producer and arranger, Kovač's career as a professional musician started in 1961, when he formed his first band, BKB, which became a prominent jazz trio at the time. In 1963 they entered The Yu Jazz Festival, that took place in Bled (Slovenia).
After conducting the various orchestras in Bosnia, he finally joined Sarajevo's most popular pop band
Indeksi. With them he had a two-month-long tour in Russia. In 1968, he moved to the Yugoslav capital, Belgrade, where he founded
Korni Grupa
Korni Grupa ( sr-cyr, Корни Група, trans. ''Korni Group'') was a Yugoslav rock band formed in Belgrade in 1968. Launched and led by, as well as named after, the keyboardist Kornelije Kovač, the band was one of the first Yugoslav ro ...
. As a composer and a musician, he won many music contests that took place in former Yugoslavia. With Korni Grupa he entered following music festivals in Europe:
*1969 - Singing Europe (Netherlands), voted the most original entry
*1970 - Rock Festival Katowice (Poland)
*1972 - Montreux (Switzerland)
*1974 -
Eurovision Song Festival (Brighton, United Kingdom)
In 1978, Kovač moved to England where he collaborated in various projects, such as: the 1978 Reading Rock Festival as the keyboardist of the
Jenny Darren Band. Among the prominent British musicians with whom Kovač worked while in the UK, included:
* Bernie Marsden, guitar player of "White Snake"
* Hans Zimmer, composer
* Paul Jones, ex-singer of Manfred Mann
*
Andy Pask, bass player of Landscape
Later projects
Kovač wrote music for theatre, movies and television. His songs were released on LP-s in Yugoslavia, Spain, France, the United States, the Netherlands, Sweden, Finland, Norway etc. Many of them were Golden or Platinum Records. From 1979, he participated in projects in Spain, as a producer, composer or arranger.
Personal life and death
Until her death in 2005, he was married to Spomenka Stojanović, with whom he had three daughters:
Aleksandra,
Kristina (both of whom are also involved with music) and Anja.
On 19 January 2011, Serbian broadcaster RTS announced that Kovač and his two daughters, Aleksandra and Kristina, would each compose a song and present a singer, who would seek to represent Serbia in the
Eurovision Song Contest 2011.
Kovač died in Belgrade on 13 September 2022, at the age of 80.
Preminuo kompozitor Kornelije Kovač
References
External links
*
*
Interview
'' Blic''
Prva pesma slučajni plagijat
'' Blic''
{{DEFAULTSORT:Kovac, Kornelije
1942 births
2022 deaths
20th-century Serbian people
Golden Arena winners
Male television composers
Musicians from Niš
Serbian composers
Serbian people of Hungarian descent
Serbian record producers
Serbian rock keyboardists
Serbian television composers