UNION IS STRENGTH – “A BALKAN HYMN” BY KALMAN ROTH-RONAY AT THE HAGUE PEACE CONFERENCE (1899) IN THE CONTEXT OF ANGLO-SERBIAN CULTURAL AND POLITICAL RELATIONS

Marijana Kokanović Marković

doi:10.5937/newso2260199K

Marijana Kokanović Marković University of Novi Sad, Academy of Arts

DOI: https://doi.org/10.5937/newso2260199K

Keywords: Balkan anthem, Kalman Roth-Ronay, Elodie L. Mijatović, Čedomilj Mijatović, Vojislav Veljković, Anglo-Serbian cultural and political ties

Abstract

The London-based Hungarian violinist and composer Kalman Roth-Ronay composed “A Balkan Hymn” Union is Strength, a setting of verses by Elodie L. Mijatović, the wife of the Serbian diplomat, historian, and writer Čedomilj Mijatović (Serbian Cyrillic: Чедомиљ Мијатовић). The piece is dedicated to the “Balkan nations”; it was published in London, where the Mijatović couple had been living since 1889. With their joint efforts in translating and journalism, they made a significant contribution to cultural exchange between England and Serbia. Čedomilj Mijatović advocated the idea of forging a “Balkan federation”, a view shared by Elodie, which is also evident in the lyrics of Union is Strength, “A Balkan Hymn”, which was probably performed at the First Peace Conference in The Hague (18 May–29 July 1899), which included a number of concerts staged for the delegates by The Hague City Council and the Société des Bains. The Kingdom of Serbia was represented by Čedomilj Mijatović, Dr Vojislav Veljković (Војислав Вељковић), and Colonel Aleksandar Mašin (Александар Машин). In The Hague, Elodie Mijatović presented Vojislav Veljković with a copy of Kalman Roth-Ronay’s Balkan hymn with her congratulations, no doubt for his well-noted address at the conference, which is borne out by the dedication on the title page. Several months after the conference was concluded, in January 1900, Roth-Ronay was decorated in Belgrade with the Order of Saint Sava, fourth class.

Author Biography

Marijana Kokanović Marković, University of Novi Sad, Academy of Arts

Marijana Kokanović Marković, Associate Professor in the Department of Musicology and Ethnomusicology of the Academy of Arts at the University of Novi Sad. She graduated both in Music Pedagogy and Musicology from the Academy of Arts in Novi Sad, where she also received her M.A. and Ph.D in Musicology. She has taken part in conferences in the country and abroad, and has published many papers as well as lexicography articles for the Serbian Biographical Dictionary, the Serbian Encyclopedia, Grove Music Online and Österreichisches Musiklexikon. She published a monograph The Social Role of Salon Music in the Lives and System of Values of the Serbian Citizens in the 19th Century (2014) and she is co-author with Lada Duraković on the book Franz Lehár ̶ Bandmaster of the Imperial and Royal Navy in Pula (1894‒1896) (2020). She co-edited Kornelije Stanković - Piano Music, Vol. 1 (with Danica Petrović, 2004), and the album of salon dances for piano- From Salons of Novi Sad (2010). She is co-author on the anthology 19th-Century Salon Music from the Balkans (2020). She has participated in projects in the country and abroad. The focus of her scientific interests is 19^th century music and especially popular genres (salon and military music, operetta) in Serbian, Balkan and European contexts. She completed specialization courses in Vienna and Leipzig.