Academician Dejan Despić passed away

It is with great sadness that the Serbian Academy of Sciences and Arts announces the passing of Academician Dejan Despić, at the age of 95 on 16 November 2024. Born in Belgrade on 11 May 1930, he was one of our most prominent composers of the 20th and 21st centuries.

He studied composition in the class of Marko Tajčević, whereas he learned conducting in the class of Mihailo Vukdragović at the Music Academy in Belgrade. He graduated in both fields in 1955. He began his educational career in Mokranjac Musical School, and from 1965 he held lectures at the Department of Theory of the Music Academy (nowadays the Faculty of Musical Art) in Belgrade. He was named a full professor in 1979.

In 1985 he was elected a corresponding member of SASA and in 1994 its full member. He carried out the duties of the deputy secretary of the Department of Visual Arts and Music in the period from 1986 to 1995 and the secretary of the Department from 1999 to 2011. With great dedication, he also spearheaded the concert activities of the SASA Gallery in the period from 2000 to 2011.

He was the author of one of the most prolific bodies of work in Serbian music history, comprising over 200 compositions across a wide range of genres and forms ─ such as symphonic and vocal-instrumental compositions, concertos, chamber and piano music, solo songs, choirs, music for children and others. Among his most celebrated works are: Symphony in D Minor, Dubrovnik Divertimento for symphony orchestra, Concerto for Natasha for piano and orchestra, Nocturne, Op. 5, Humoristic Etudes, Vignettes, Musical Dictionary, and Dubrovnik Canzonier, a cycle for female voice and harpsichord/piano. His notable works also include At the End of the Road, a composition for chamber orchestra, and his operatic debut, the comic opera Priests Ćira and Spira, performed in 2018 at the Serbian National Theater in Novi Sad.

In the field of music theory, he made significant contributions through his original research on tonality theories and university and high school textbooks on harmony and harmonic analysis, science on musical instruments, tonal chords, music theory, and fundamentals of music science.

For his work he received numerous recognitions and awards, some of which are the Labour Day Order with a Red Banner in 1987, Vuk’s Award in 2000, the Mokranjac Award in 2005 and the Special Award ‘Golden Ring’ of the Cultural-Educational Society of Belgrade in 2014.

With his extensive creative opus, theoretical studies and educational work he left an indelible mark on the history of Serbian music.

His passing represents a profound loss to the Serbian Academy of Sciences and Arts and to Serbian society and culture in general.