Nastasijevic, Svetomir

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Nastasijević, Svetomir

Nastasijević, Svetomir, Serbian composer; b. Gornje Milanovec, April 1, 1902; d. Belgrade, Aug. 17, 1979. He studied engineering and architecture, and at the same time learned to play the violin. He wrote music criticism and publ, two manuals on theory. His works include the music drama Medjuluško blago (The Treasure of the Medjuluzje; Belgrade, March 4, 1937), Durad Branković, national opera from medieval Serbian history (Belgrade, June 12, 1940), and several symphonic poems and choruses. In his operas, he adopted the Wagnerian system of leitmotifs.

—Nicolas Slonimsky/Laura Kuhn/Dennis Mclntire