s from history and mythology. There are records of gusle (гоусли) being played at the court of the 13th-century Serbian King Stefan Nemanjić.
Composer and musicologist Stevan Stojanović Mokranjac is considered one of the most important founders of modern Serbian music. The Serbian composers Petar Konjović, Stevan Hristić and Miloje Milojević, all born in the 1880s, were the most eminent composers of their generation. They maintained the national expression and modernized the romanticism into the direction of impressionism. The best-known composers born around 1910 studied in Europe, mostly in Prague; Ljubica Marić, Stanojlo Rajicić, Milan Ristić who took influence from Schoenberg, Hindemith and Haba. Other famous classical Serbian composers include Isidor Bajić, Stanislav Binički and Josif Marinković.
The former Yugoslav rock scene, which Serbian rock scene was a part of during the 1960s, 1970s and 1980s, was well developed and covered in the media, which included numerous magazines, radio and TV shows. With the breakout of Yugoslav wars, former Yugoslav rock scene ceased to exist. During the 1990s popularity of rock music declined in Serbia, and although several major mainstream acts managed to sustain their popularity, an underground and independent music scene developed. During the 1990s most of, both mainstream and underground, rock acts expressed their opposition towards the regime of Slobodan Milošević. The first decade of the 21st century saw the revival of the mainstream scene. The most notable Serbian rock acts include Bajaga i Instruktori, Đorđe Balašević, Disciplina Kičme, Ekatarina Velika, Električni Orgazam, Galija, Idoli, Korni Grupa, Partibrejkers, Pekinška Patka, Rambo Amadeus, Riblja Čorba, Smak, Šarlo Akrobata, YU grupa, Van Gogh, and others.
In the 1990s and the 2000s, many pop music performers rose to fame. Željko Joksimović won second place at the 2004 Eurovision Song Contest and Marija
