Milko Kelemen
Illustration — Milko Kelemen Milko Kelemen (30 March 1924 – 8 March 2018) was a Croatian composer.
Milko Kelemen

Muesse · CC BY 3.0
- Born
- 1924. · Slatina.
- Died
- 2018. · Stuttgart.
- Nationality
- Yugoslavia, Germany and Croatia.
- Occupation
- composer, conductor, draftsperson, music educator and music arranger.
- Fields
- music.
- Education
- Music Academy and Zagreb.
- Honours
- Chevalier des Arts et des Lettres, Commander's Cross of the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany, Order of Danica Hrvatska, Vladimir Nazor Award and Josip Štolcer Slavenski Award.
- Languages
- German and Croatian.
VALÉORINE Encyclopedia
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Illustration — Milko Kelemen Milko Kelemen (30 March 1924 – 8 March 2018) was a Croatian composer.
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wikipedia incomplete · checked 25 September 2026
- Identity
- resolved
- Independent source families
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Authority files
museum · e23b903d-fffc-48b2-9559-96c0d90fbb2b · wikidata · Q699272 · wikipedia · Milko Kelemen
In this article
Life
Life
Milko Kelemen studied at Music Academy, Zagreb. Ruben Radica and Adriana Hölszky are recorded as having studied under Milko Kelemen. The recorded working language is German and Croatian. The field of work recorded is music. Subjects and genres recorded for the work are opera. Employment is recorded with Robert Schumann Hochschule. Work by Milko Kelemen is recorded in the collections of Museum of Modern Art. Distinctions recorded are Chevalier des Arts et des Lettres, Commander's Cross of the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany, Order of Danica Hrvatska and Vladimir Nazor Award.
Milko Kelemen was born in Slatina, Croatia (then Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes). He studied under Stjepan Šulek in Zagreb, under Olivier Messiaen in Paris and Wolfgang Fortner in Freiburg amongst others. Kelemen founded the Music Biennale Zagreb, an international contemporary music festival and served as its president from 1961 to 1979. He also worked at the Electronic Siemens Studio in Munich and was invited to Berlin as composer in residence. Kelemen was a recipient of many awards, most notably the Federal Cross of Merit, the prize of the ISCM, the Great Yugoslav State Prize, and the French order Chevalier des Arts et des Lettres. Kelemen taught composition at many prestigious schools and universities, including Zagreb University, Academy of Music, Croatia (1955-58), The Robert Schumann Institute in Düsseldorf, Germany (1970-72), Stuttgart Academy of Music, Germany (1973-89), Yale University, USA (1975-77), and Montreal University, Canada (1977-78). Since 1973, he lived in Stuttgart, Germany, where he died. His works are published by Hans Sikorski Music Publishers.
Selected works
Selected works
• Koncertantne improvizacije for strings (1955) • Three Dances for viola and string orchestra (1958) • Études contrapuntiques for Wind Quintet (1959) • Composé for two pianos and orchestral groups (1967) • Der Belagerungszustant, opera, after Camus (1969-70) • Splintery for String Quartet (1977) • Apocalyptica - opéra bestial, multimedia ballet-opera, after Arrabal (1979) • Phantasmen for viola and orchestra (1985) • Requiem for Sarajevo for six cellos, narrator, and bass drum (1994) • Archetypon II – Für Anton for large orchestra (1995)

Samstag, 07.11.2009, Konzertsaal der Staatlichen Hochschule für Musik und Darstellende Kunst Stuttgart, Sinfoniekonzert des HSO, Milko
Muesse
Life and career
Dated record
Life and career
The full dated record · 1 entries
2018
Milko Kelemen died at Stuttgart.
Places
Named by the record
Places
Only places the record itself states, plotted where the house gazetteer settles their coordinates. Nothing is inferred from a name or a nationality.
Slatina.
Birth place
Stuttgart.
Death place
Primary material
Documents and archives
scholarly publication
- Kelemen, Milko (opera), Oxford Music Online, 2002
Scholarly · Crossref registry · 2002
- Kelemen, Milko, Oxford Music Online, 2001
Scholarly · Crossref registry · 2001
reference work
- Wikidata, structured authority record Q699272: Milko Kelemen
Reputable secondary · Wikidata
- “Milko Kelemen”, English Wikipedia, consulted as further reading
Reputable secondary · Wikipedia
Institutional database
- MusicBrainz artist record for Milko Kelemen
Scholarly · MetaBrainz Foundation
Notes from the source article
Cited by Wikipedia
Notes from the source article
These works are cited by the source article, in its own numbering. They are recorded as its citations, not as sources VALÉORINE has verified.
- 1.Fred K. Prieberg. Auf der Suche nach Sicherheit. Milko Kelemen oder: Wohin gehört man eigentlich?. Die Zeit. 1974-04-05.
- 2.Alen Legovi im Vorwort zu Milko Kelemens Buch Schreiben an Strawinsky. Kalke, 2001.
- 3.Milko Kelemen, Zitat in Hartmut Krones (Hrsg.): Multikulturelle und internationale Konzepte in der Neuen Musik. Böhlau, Wien 2008, S. 473 f.
- 4.Beate Kutschke: Wildes Denken in der Neuen Musik. 2002, S. 250.
- 5.Milko Kelemen: Klangwelten. F. Noetzel, 1997, S. 231.
- 6.Beate Kutschke: Wildes Denken in der Neuen Musik. 2002, S. 270.
- 7.Milko Kelemen: Klanglabyrinthe. Piper, München 1981.
- 8.Milko Kelemen: Klangwelten. Noetzel, Wilhelmshaven 1997.
- 9.Milko Kelemen: Schreiben an Strawinsky. Kalke, Stuttgart 2001.
- 10.Carl Dahlhaus u. a. (Hrsg.): Pipers Enzyklopädie des Musiktheaters. Oper, Operette, Musical, Ballett, Bd. 6. Piper, München 1997, S. 649 f.
References
Citations
References
Each reference names the institution holding it, so a reader may go to the document itself.
scholarly publication
Kelemen, Milko (opera), Oxford Music Online, 2002Crossref registry
Verifiedscholarly publication
Kelemen, Milko, Oxford Music Online, 2001Crossref registry
VerifiedInstitutional database
MusicBrainz artist record for Milko KelemenMetaBrainz Foundation
Verifiedreference work
Partially resolvedreference work
Partially resolved
The Encyclopedia exists whether or not anything is for sale. Corrections are recorded rather than overwritten, and every version of this record is kept. Published 14 August 2026.
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