Kosta P. Manojlović and Serbian Church Chanting

Abstract

Ecclesiastical singing was one of Manojlovic's principal interests. His works reveal that he was preoccupied with discovering the origins and historical development of singing that accompanies worship in the Serbian Church, and that he was also interested in melographic works. Due to his extensive experience with singing, acquired at the Belgrade Seminary, he developed an excellent method for redacting the unpublished works of Stevan Stojanovic Mokranjac. He truly admired Mokranjac, who introduced him to the knowledge of music, which is why he always subscribed to the manner of singing perpetuated by Mokranjac in his works (in singing practice, this manner was known as "Belgrade" variant). Manojlovic's efforts in searching for and preserving Serbian musical monuments were not without results; one can also mention his pioneering effort in the field of musical paleography. Each of these roles of Manojlovic's deserves separate study. This paper might be seen as a prolegomenon in that it envisions more complete reviews of Kosta P. Manojlovic's contributions in the future.