Ștefan Neaga ( – 30 May 1951) was a Moldovan and Soviet composer. He was the son of the Moldovan "Lautar" folk musician Timofei Neaga.

Biography

From an early age he was a pianist in his father's orchestra. At the age of 18, he graduated with high distinction the School of Music in Chișinău in the class of piano of the prominent teacher and pianist from

Odesa Odesa, also spelled Odessa, is the third most populous List of cities in Ukraine, city and List of hromadas of Ukraine, municipality in Ukraine and a major seaport and transport hub located in the south-west of the country, on the northwestern ...

Iuliu Guz. By that time he met the Romanian virtuoso Grigoraș Dinicu who invited him in his ensemble as a concert pianist, accompagnateur and arranger. In 1920 he entered the class of piano at the

National University of Music Bucharest The National University of Music Bucharest (, 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 1931, it has functioned as a public university since ...

. He did not finish his course in composition due to his concert tours as a virtuoso pianist whose repertoire included works of

Bach Johann Sebastian Bach (German: �joːhan zeˈbasti̯an baχ ( – 28 July 1750) was a German composer and musician of the late Baroque period. He is known for his prolific output across a variety of instruments and forms, including the or ...

Beethoven Ludwig van Beethoven (baptised 17 December 177026 March 1827) was a German composer and pianist. He is one of the most revered figures in the history of Western music; his works rank among the most performed of the classical music repertoire ...

Tchaikovsky Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky ( ; 7 May 1840 – 6 November 1893) was a Russian composer during the Romantic period. He was the first Russian composer whose music made a lasting impression internationally. Tchaikovsky wrote some of the most popular ...

, Chopin, Liszt, Debussy, Ravel, R. Strauss, etc. In 1926 he entered again the Academy of Music, Theater and Fine arts in the class of composition of

Dimitrie Cuclin Dimitrie Cuclin ( – February 7, 1978) was a Romanian classical music composer, musicologist, philosopher, translator, and writer. Biography Early life Dimitrie Cuclin was born in the city of Galaţi, a port on the left shore of the Dan ...

. There he was absorbed by the enthusiasm of composing, and, after graduating the Academy (in 1931), he decided to go to

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

where he met again

Grigoraș Dinicu Grigoraș Ionică Dinicu (; April 3, 1889 – March 28, 1949) was a Romanian violin virtuoso and composer of Roma ethnicity. He is most famous for his often-played virtuoso violin showpiece " Hora staccato" (1906) and for making popular the tune ...

. There he was advised to enter

École Normale de Musique de Paris The École Normale de Musique de Paris "Alfred Cortot" (ENMP) is a leading conservatoire located in the 17th arrondissement of Paris. The school was founded in 1919 by Auguste Mangeot and Alfred Cortot. The term ''école normale'' (English: no ...

in the class of composition of

Nadia Boulanger Juliette Nadia Boulanger (; 16 September 188722 October 1979) was a French music teacher, conductor and composer. She taught many of the leading composers and musicians of the 20th century, and also performed occasionally as a pianist and organis ...

, piano - with

Alfred Cortot Alfred Denis Cortot ( , ; 26 September 187715 June 1962) was a French pianist, conductor, and teacher who was one of the most renowned classical musicians of the 20th century. A pianist of massive repertory, he was especially valued for his po ...

, and conducting - with Charles Munch.

Awards

Stalin Prize (1950) * SU Order of Lenin ribbon

Order of Lenin The Order of Lenin (, ) was an award named after Vladimir Lenin, the leader of the October Revolution. It was established by the Central Executive Committee on 6 April 1930. The order was the highest civilian decoration bestowed by the Soviet ...

Honored Worker of the Moldavian SSR

Legacy

The

Chișinău Chișinău ( , , ; formerly known as Kishinev) is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Moldova, largest city of Moldova. The city is Moldova's main industrial and commercial centre, and is located in the middle of the coun ...

College of Music (which has a monument in his honor) is named for him. In 1952, a street was named after him in the

Sectorul Buiucani Sectorul Buiucani () is one of the five sectors in Chişinău, the capital of Moldova, and the most affluent. The local administration is managed by a pretor appointed by the city administration. It governs over a portion of the city of Chişină ...

of the capital. His son Gheorghe was also a composer. The following is a list of his more famous works: *

Anthem of the Moldavian Soviet Socialist Republic The State Anthem of the Moldavian Soviet Socialist Republic was the anthem of Moldova when it was a Moldavian Soviet Socialist Republic, constituent republic of the Soviet Union. Adopted in 1945, the music was composed by the composer Ștefan ...

(1945) * Stefan cel Mare (1945) * Bessarabians (1947) *Jubilee Cantata (1949) *The Song of Revival (1951) In regards to the melody for the MSSR anthem, Neaga said that he wanted to represent with his work "the creativity and love of Great Stalin, the certainty of the victory of

communism Communism () is a political sociology, sociopolitical, political philosophy, philosophical, and economic ideology, economic ideology within the history of socialism, socialist movement, whose goal is the creation of a communist society, a ...

, and his desire to give all his forces in this unique case" and that he wanted to "create the symbol of these historic victories, in which the

Moldovan people Moldovans, sometimes referred to as Moldavians (, , ), are an ethnic group native to Moldova, who mostly speak the Romanian language, also referred to locally as Moldovan. Moldovans form significant communities in Romania, Italy, Ukraine and R ...

regained their freedom."MS 1945

References

1900 births 1951 deaths Musicians from Chișinău Moldovan composers Male composers 20th-century classical musicians 20th-century composers National anthem writers Romanian people of Moldovan descent {{moldova-composer-stub