Mirjana Živković (1935, Serbia), a composer and retired professor at the Faculty of Music in Belgrade; following her retirement, Živković has mostly pursued composition, producing a wide range of works: Dve balade (Two Ballads) for piano (2001 and 2009); Letnja noć (A Summer’s Night) for accordion (2004); Igra (Dance) for mezzo-soprano, flute, and percussion (2007); Kružna melodija (Circular Melody) for solo oboe (2010); Sonata for violoncello and piano (1996, revised in 2011); Mali pijac (The Little Market) for soprano, tenor, and a group of instruments (2011); Adagio and Allegro for oboe and string orchestra (2008, 2014); Dve romantične pesme (Two Romantic Songs) for mezzo-soprano and chamber orchestra (2012); Agitato for violin and harp (2014); Nove folklorne intonacije (New Folkloric Intonations) for two flutes (2013); Balada o polju (A Ballad about a Field) for violin and chamber orchestra (2015); Koncertni diptih (Concert Diptych) for string orchestra (2016–2017); Pesme o prolaznosti (Songs of Transience) for baritone, clarinet, and piano (2016); Balada o Dositeju (A Ballad about Dositej) for baritone and piano (2017); Mali kvartet za prijatelje (A Little Quartet for Frieds, 2018), etc.
Among her earlier works, especially noteworthy are her Sinfonia polifonica (Stevan Hristić Award and the Award of Radio Television Belgrade, 1964) and Basma (Incantation) for mezzo-soprano and four timpani (first prize of the Conservatoire at Fontainebleau, France, 1968). Works by Živković have been performed in Serbia and abroad. Her works in the domains of pedagogy and music theory are not included in this overview.

A Little Quartet for Friends for violin, violoncello, harp, and piano was written last year, 2018, on the occasion of a concert of my music titled Strune (‘Cords’), out of a simple wish to have the four soloists who had worked on the concert perform together. The whole ‘philosophy’ of Mali kvartet consists of transmitting the joy of music-making from the author via the performers to the listeners…