Pjetër Dungu (1908–1989) was an

Albania Albania ( ; or ), officially the Republic of Albania (), is a country in Southeast Europe. It is located in the Balkans, on the Adriatic Sea, Adriatic and Ionian Seas within the Mediterranean Sea, and shares land borders with Montenegro to ...

n piano accompanist and composer-arranger of urban

folk music Folk music is a music genre that includes #Traditional folk music, traditional folk music and the Contemporary folk music, contemporary genre that evolved from the former during the 20th-century folk revival. Some types of folk music may be ca ...

. He is known in the history of the

music of Albania The music of Albania () is associated with the country of Albania and Albanian communities. Music has a long tradition in the country and is known for its regional diversity, from the Ghegs in the North to the Tosks in the South. It is an inte ...

as the first compiler of Albanian folk songs. Dungu was born in

Shkodër Shkodër ( , ; sq-definite, Shkodra; historically known as Scodra or Scutari) is the List of cities and towns in Albania, fifth-most-populous city of Albania and the seat of Shkodër County and Shkodër Municipality. Shkodër has been List of o ...

, where he took music lessons from composer Martin Gjoka. He played oboe and trumpet, while studying piano and harmony. In the 1930s, Dungu gained a reputation as a piano accompanist for urban lyric song, reaching a height around the end of the decade. In 1940, Dungu published ''Lyra Shqiptare'' (Albanian Lyra), the first collection of 50 folk melodies. The compilation was published by Instituto Geografico De Agostini,

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, in

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. This volume, with the preface by Prof. Kristaq Antoniu, contains; 19 folk songs from Shkodra, 15 folk songs from Korça, 7 folk songs from Kosovo, 5 folk songs from Berat, 2 folk songs from Elbasan, 1 folk song from Durres and 1 folk song from Vlorë. In 1942, he accompanied tenor Kristaq Antoniu on the piano for eight songs recorded for the Columbia Recording Company in Italy. Dungu also conducted an orchestra for seven of Antoniu's recordings."Albanian urban lyric song in the 1930s Volumes 1-2 p84-85"
by Eno Koço, Scarecrow Press 2004 Other composer-arrangers in Albanian lyric folk music in this period, include Lola Gjoka and Kristo Kono.

References

1908 births 1989 deaths Musicians from Shkodër Albanian musicians Accompanists 20th-century pianists 20th-century Albanian musicians {{Albania-bio-stub