Iosif Ivanovici

Ion Ivanovici (Serbian Cyrillic: Јован Ивановић) (alternatively: Jovan Ivanović, Iosif Ivanovici, Josef Ivanovich) (1845 – 28 September [O.S. 16 September] 1902) was a Romanian military band conductor and composer of Banat Serbian origin, best remembered today for his waltz Waves of the Danube.

Ivanovici was born in Temeswar, Austrian Empire (today Timișoara, Romania). His interest in music began after he learned to play a flute given to him when he was a child.

Ivanovici moved to and lived most of his life in Galați in the Kingdom of Romania. Reaching the rank of officer in the Romanian army, his interest in military music culminates during his appointment as general inspector of military songs in 1900. In 1901 he settled in Bucharest where he died a year later.

Although today Ivanovici is chiefly remembered for his waltz "Waves of the Danube" ("Donauwellen" in German, "Flots du Danube", in French), in his lifetime he composed over 300 works (many of them lost today). Other notable compositions are Carol I March, dedicated to King Carol of Romania, "Carmen Sylva" waltz, dedicated to Queen Elisabeth of Romania, and "Romanian heart" waltz op 51 ("Inimă română" in Romanian, "Cordialité roumaine" in French).

His works were published by over sixty publishing houses throughout the world. In 1889, Ivanovici won the coveted march prize to mark the World Exhibition in Paris, out of 116 entries.

While some may dispute his nationality today, he is by all historical standards a Romanian composer of Serbian origin.

His great-grandson Andrei Ivanovitch is a successful international classical pianist.