A number of national anthems are similar to some other compositions, and Alex Marshall, author of the book on the history of national anthems, wonders whether the reason for that are compositors taking other people’s songs or it speaks of the difficulties of writing an original melody, BBC reports.
The author then lists several countries whose anthem sparks controversies, and he also mentioned B&H in that text.
Marshall spoke to the compositor of the BH anthem Dusan Sestic, whose composition won at the contest in 1998. His anthem replaced the anthem Jedna si jedina, whose author is Dino Merlin.
Sestic explained that an arduous period has passed since his composition was elected as the anthem of B&H.
According to Marshall, some Serbs considered him a traitor, but Sestic did not give up. Ten years later, he also wrote the lyrics for the anthem, but the lyrics were not accepted due to political attitudes.
In 2009, Sestic was shocked when he was proclaimed a plagiarist by people who claimed that his composition strongly resembles the music from one film from 1978.
“I have listened to the music from the film, and I was very surprised as well. I even though that, as a young man, I might have watched the film or heard that music somewhere, so that music code remained somewhere in my head. It is very possible, but I cannot say it is plagiarism”, said Sestic.
Sestic also emphasized the differences between the two melodies and added that “not everyone in this country is a thief and corrupted”.
(Source: nap.ba)
