XI Garland

Entitled Songs of Old Serbia, the Eleventh Garland (1905, first performed on January 13,1906) is reminiscent of the Eighth in tempo, which follows the pattern Allegro – Adagio – Scherzo – Finale. This formal unity is supported by the tonal unity of the framing songs, both in F-major. The introductory song, They Wrote, Stana, flows in a constant alternation of male and female chorus, like a dialogue. The next one, profoundly sentimental, Bemoan, O Mountain, is one of Mokranjac’s finest slow movements; it was later used by Petar Konjović as the leitmotif of his opera Koštana. The highly rhythmic third song, Oh, Lenka, Lenka, is also conceived as a dialogue with interesting refrains by the female chorus (that Mokranjac probably added to the original folk song). Then after brief reminiscences of the Bemoan, O Mountain comes the sprightly dance, Monk, You Black-robed Man, which brings the cycle to a brilliant ending.