Luka Sorkočević

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Bust of Luka Sorkočević in Dubrovnik

Luka Sorkočević , also Luca Sorgo , (born January 13, 1734 in Dubrovnik ( Ragusa) , then an independent republic; † September 11, 1789 in Dubrovnik) was a diplomat and composer . He is considered the first Croatian composer of symphonies .

Luka Sorkočević was born into a noble family in Dubrovnik. He received his first music lessons in the vicinity of the Jesuit college of the city and from Giuseppe Valenti , who was the cathedral music director from 1750 to 1761 . Then Sorkočević continued his music studies in Rome with Rinaldo di Capua .

In 1752 he was elected to the Great Council ( Latin Consilium Maius , Croatian Veliko vijeće ; Italian Maggior Consiglio ) of the Republic of Dubrovnik , in which office he remained until the end of his life. As a diplomat he represented Dubrovnik at the Viennese court for a few months in 1781 and became friends with Joseph Haydn and Christoph Willibald Gluck .

His compositions, of which only twelve have survived - including eight symphonies - were probably written between 1750 and 1770. His son Antun Sorkočević (1775–1841 in Paris) also worked as a diplomat and composer.

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