Gheorghe Ciobanu (February 4, 1909 — June 29, 1995) was a Romanian

ethnomusicologist Ethnomusicology is the study of music from the cultural and social aspects of the people who make it. It encompasses distinct theoretical and methodical approaches that emphasize cultural, social, material, cognitive, biological, and other dim ...

and

Byzantine The Byzantine Empire, also referred to as the Eastern Roman Empire or Byzantium, was the continuation of the Roman Empire primarily in its eastern provinces during Late Antiquity and the Middle Ages, when its capital city was Constantinopl ...

specialist. He published several important papers on early Romanian psalm music and Romanian folklore. The musicologist

Viorel Cosma Viorel Cosma (30 March 1923 – 15 August 2017) was a Romanian musician and teacher who came to wider prominence as an exceptionally prolific musicologist and a pioneering lexicographer. Through his scholarship he also achieved distinction as a ...

, wrote that Ciobanu's "studies of Romanian folklore did much to solve questions about popular modes and methods of versification, and contributed greatly to the history of folk collections and popular music." He was awarded the Romanian Composers' Union prize five times (1969, 1974, 1977, 1979, 1987), and was twice awarded the prize of the Romanian Academy (1957, 1978).

Life and career

Born in Pădureni village,

Ilfov County Ilfov () is the county that surrounds Bucharest, the capital of Romania. It used to be largely rural, but, after the fall of Communism, many of the county's villages and communes developed into high-income commuter towns, which act like suburbs ...

, Ciobanu was educated at the

National University of Music Bucharest The National University of Music Bucharest ( ro, Universitatea Naţională de Muzică București, UNMB) is a university-level school of music located in Bucharest, Romania. Established as a school of music in 1863 and reorganized as an academy in ...

where he was a student from 1931 through 1938, and later 1943 through 1945. He later earned a doctorate from the

Gheorghe Dima Music Academy Gheorghe Dima National Music Academy is an educational institution located in Cluj-Napoca, Romania. The institution was founded in 1919, and currently comprises various departments including composition, conducting, musicology, musical pedagogy, c ...

in Cluj in 1972 with his dissertation written on Clejani musicians. From 1939 through 1952 he worked as a music teacher, and from 1949 through 1968 he worked as an assistant in research at the

Bucharest Institute of Folklore Bucharest ( , ; ro, București ) is the capital and largest city of Romania, as well as its cultural, industrial, and financial centre. It is located in the southeast of the country, on the banks of the Dâmbovița River, less than north of ...

. He finished his career as a senior lecturer in folklore at the Iaşi Conservatory. Ciobanu died in Bucharest on June 29, 1995 at the age of 86.

References

1909 births 1995 deaths People from Giurgiu County Gheorghe Dima Music Academy alumni National University of Music Bucharest alumni Romanian ethnomusicologists Romanian Byzantinists 20th-century musicologists {{musicologist-stub