The Most Famous
COMPOSERS from Croatia
Top 7
The following people are considered by Pantheon to be the most legendary Croatian Composers of all time. This list of famous Croatian Composers is sorted by HPI (Historical Popularity Index), a metric that aggregates information on a biography’s online popularity.
1. Franz von Suppé (1819 - 1895)
With an HPI of 62.72, Franz von Suppé is the most famous Croatian Composer. His biography has been translated into 36 different languages on wikipedia.
Franz von Suppé, born Francesco Ezechiele Ermenegildo de Suppé (18 April 1819 – 21 May 1895) was an Austrian composer of light operas and other theatre music. He came from the Kingdom of Dalmatia, Austro-Hungarian Empire (now part of Croatia). A composer and conductor of the Romantic period, he is notable for his four dozen operettas, including the first operetta to a German libretto. Some of them remain in the repertory, particularly in German-speaking countries, and he composed a substantial quantity of church music, but he is now chiefly known for his overtures, which remain popular in the concert hall and on record. Among the best-known are Poet and Peasant, Light Cavalry, Morning, Noon, and Night in Vienna and Pique Dame.
2. Jakov Gotovac (1895 - 1982)
With an HPI of 58.30, Jakov Gotovac is the 2nd most famous Croatian Composer. His biography has been translated into 25 different languages.
Jakov Gotovac (Croatian pronunciation: [jâkoʋ gǒtovat͡s]; October 11, 1895 – October 16, 1982) was a Croatian composer and conductor of classical music. His comedic opera, Ero s onoga svijeta (Ero the Joker), Croatia's best-known opera, was first performed in Zagreb in 1935.
3. Luigi Dallapiccola (1904 - 1975)
With an HPI of 58.19, Luigi Dallapiccola is the 3rd most famous Croatian Composer. His biography has been translated into 32 different languages.
Luigi Dallapiccola (3 February 1904 – 19 February 1975) was an Italian composer known for his lyrical twelve-tone compositions.
4. Ivan Zajc (1832 - 1914)
With an HPI of 56.45, Ivan Zajc is the 4th most famous Croatian Composer. His biography has been translated into 26 different languages.
Ivan von Zajc (also Croatian: Ivan plemeniti Zajc, Italian: Giovanni de Zaytz; pronounced [ǐʋan zâjts]; August 3, 1832 – December 16, 1914), was a Croatian composer, conductor, director, and teacher who dominated Croatia's musical culture for over forty years. Through his artistic and institutional reform efforts, he is credited with its revitalization and refinement, paving the way for new and significant Croatian musical achievements in the 20th century. He is often called the Croatian Verdi.
5. Vatroslav Lisinski (1819 - 1854)
With an HPI of 53.82, Vatroslav Lisinski is the 5th most famous Croatian Composer. His biography has been translated into 20 different languages.
Vatroslav Lisinski (Croatian: [vâtroslaːv lisǐnskiː], 8 July 1819 – 31 May 1854) was a Croatian composer. Lisinski was born Ignatius Fuchs to a German Jewish family. He would later change his name to Vatroslav Lisinski, which is a Croatian calque of his original name. For a time he worked as a clerk at the Tabula Banalis in Zagreb. Lisinski composed the first Croatian opera, Love and Malice (1846), which he wrote at the urging of Alberto Ognjen Štriga, and Porin (1851) as well as numerous works for orchestra, choir and soloists. The Vatroslav Lisinski Concert Hall is named after him. He was also one of the founders of Illyrism, a movement that advocated the importance of Croatian and more generally South Slavic cultural heritage, as a reaction to Magyarisation during the Austro-Hungarian rule. Lisinski died in Zagreb on 31 May 1854 and was buried at the Mirogoj Cemetery. The international train EN 498/499 connecting Zagreb and Munich is named Lisinski.
6. Josip Runjanin (1821 - 1878)
With an HPI of 51.14, Josip Runjanin is the 6th most famous Croatian Composer. His biography has been translated into 19 different languages.
Josip Runjanin (8 December 1821 – 20 January 1878), born Josif Runjanin (Serbian Cyrillic: Јосиф Руњанин), was an Austrian career military officer, politician and composer of Serb origin best known for composing the melody of the Croatian national anthem, Lijepa naša domovino ("Our Beautiful Homeland"), in 1846. Runjanin received his education in Vinkovci and later in Sremski Karlovci. As a young man, he served in the Imperial Austrian Army as a cadet in the town of Glina, along the Military Frontier with the Ottoman Empire. While serving in Glina, Runjanin attained the rank of captain and became proficient in playing the piano. He is known to have composed only a handful of works, most famously the musical accompaniment to Antun Mihanović's patriotic poem Horvatska domovina ("Croatian Homeland"). The piece, under the title Lijepa naša domovino, was selected by popular acclaim as the anthem of the Croatian people at an economic exhibition in Zagreb in 1891. One of its stanzas was eventually integrated into the national anthem of the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes, and the piece later served as the national anthem of several Croatian polities, including that of modern-day Croatia. A veteran of the Second and Third Italian War of Independence, Runjanin ultimately attained the rank of colonel, and served for two years in the Croatian Parliament beginning in 1865. Following his retirement from military service in 1876, he relocated to Novi Sad, where he died, penniless, two years later at the age of 56. Several schools in Croatia bear his name, including the Elementary Music School of Josip Runjanin in Vinkovci.
7. Krešimir Baranović (1894 - 1975)
With an HPI of 49.29, Krešimir Baranović is the 7th most famous Croatian Composer. His biography has been translated into 15 different languages.
Krešimir Baranović (25 July 1894 – 17 September 1975) was a Croatian composer and conductor. He was director and conductor of the Zagreb Opera, Belgrade Opera and professor at the Belgrade Music Academy. In the spirit of a kind of Slavic expressionism, also seen in the works of Janáček and some of the 19th century Russian masters, Baranović was better than any other Croatian composer of his time in overcoming the discrepancy between the national and the universal to be seen in Croatian interwar music.
People
Pantheon has 7 people classified as Croatian composers born between 1819 and 1904. Of these 7, none of them are still alive today. The most famous deceased Croatian composers include Franz von Suppé, Jakov Gotovac, and Luigi Dallapiccola. As of April 2024, 1 new Croatian composers have been added to Pantheon including Krešimir Baranović.
Deceased Croatian Composers
Go to all Rankings
Franz von Suppé
1819 - 1895
HPI: 62.72
Jakov Gotovac
1895 - 1982
HPI: 58.30
Luigi Dallapiccola
1904 - 1975
HPI: 58.19
Ivan Zajc
1832 - 1914
HPI: 56.45
Vatroslav Lisinski
1819 - 1854
HPI: 53.82
Josip Runjanin
1821 - 1878
HPI: 51.14
Krešimir Baranović
1894 - 1975
HPI: 49.29
Newly Added Croatian Composers (2024)
Go to all RankingsOverlapping Lives
Which Composers were alive at the same time? This visualization shows the lifespans of the 7 most globally memorable Composers since 1700.
