Biography
Josip Štolcer-Slavenski(Serbian Cyrillic: Јосип штолцер-Славенски, 11 May 1896 - 30 November 1955) was a Croatian composer - one of the most important in southeastern Europe during the first half of the 20th century-. Born in Čakovec in 1896, he entered the Budapest Conservatory in 1913, his studies were interrupted in 1916 by military service and World War I. After the end of the war he returned to his father's bakery in Čakovec, but in 1921 he went to study at the Prague Conservatory. He returned to Croatia and taught for a year at the music school of the Zagreb Academy of Music. In 1924 he moved to Belgrade, where he stayed for the rest of his life (except for a period in 1925-1926 which he spent in Paris). He first taught at the Stankovi.'S Music School and then at the Belgrade Academy's Music School, where he became a composition teacher in 1945.
Slavenski had a great success in 1924 with his First String Quartet presented at the Donaueschingen Festival and soon became the first Yugoslav composer of the 20th century to gain international fame. The rich folk music of his birthplace in northwestern Croatia had a decisive influence on his music, one of his most important works is the "Symphony of the Orient", 1934. In his homeland, after his first success in 1920, he faced the cautiousness of the conservative audiences and critics. His works were rarely played between 1940 and 1955. He died in Belgrade in 1955; after his death, he was recognized as a major composer.