Anthem of the Moldavian Soviet Socialist Republic

In 1945 Ștefan Neaga wrote the melody for the Anthem of Moldova SSR, for which the poets Emil Bukov and Bogdan Istru created the lyrics. Thanks to this work, the composer and the writers won the first prize of a great national musical contest in the Soviet Union, where composers from Moldova and other Soviet republics presented their works.[4]

"E. Bukov remembered how demanding and self-critic was Ștefan Neaga. For this anthem, he made dozens of variants, each time being dissatisfied. The Anthem -said the composer-, had to be composed so when a person hears it, he would stand up filled by a deep patriotic sentiment.[5]

The anthem that they created, was highly appreciated by musicians, becoming for over 45 years the main song of the country. Through this musical work, Neaga became the eternal pride and joy of the Moldavian people. (Moldova socialistă, 1951)"Moldavian SSR's anthem is one of the best creations of this genre. Adopted in 1945, it entered for three and half decades in our republic's symbolism".[6]

It was very melodic and it had some ties with folk music. The musicologist Leonid Răilean testified: "In the years of the "greater country" (USSR), one day, the anthem ceased to like. When Stalin died in 1953, during the De-Stalinization, the State Anthems were muted by Nikita Khrushchev and the Moldovian SSR anthem was like a long melody it supposed that they were 25 years of a anthem without lyrics. In 1977, the Soviet Union adopted a new constitution and lyrics of the National Anthem, all its Socialist Republics followed the same path. Bodiul, who took over in 1961, got bored with the long anthem without lyrics and decided to make it shorter and simpler, keeping the original idea. And, as its author was no longer alive, Ivan Bodiul authorized Eduard Lazarev "to renovate" the anthem. The task was given to the composer who maintained the music of the verses, added an introduction, an intermezzo, and in the end a variation of the old Chorus. This renovation deformed and damaged the music structure and thus, its sonority. One way or another, in the early 90s, this anthem was thrown to the garbage dump of history, as well as other signs of the past times".[7]

Ștefan Neaga said that he wanted to represent with his work "the creativity and love of Great Stalin, the certainty of the victory of communism, and his desire to give all his forces in this unique case".[8]

"I wanted to play in this gratifying music event, to create the symbol of these historic victories, in which the Moldovan people regained their freedom."[9]

Neaga was an artist who supervised under his own magnifying glass the weaknesses of his art. French writer Claude Roy said that there is a type of character in which one can see a creation as "an art to shine for yourself and for others, a little more than one can really live your life."

In the only instrumental recording of the Moldavian SSR National Anthem, made by the Brass Band of the USSR Ministry of Defence in 1968, the original version made by Neaga in 1945 can be heard. It is a "typical" Soviet Anthem with three stanzas and three choruses.

In February 2016, a recreated version of Neaga's original composition (with instrumentation and lyrics) was recorded by the self-titled "Ștefan Neaga Commission" and uploaded to YouTube by anthem enthusiasts like DeroVolk and Kingworld30.

Stalin in 1945

Moldovan politician and historian Valeriu Passat (ro), stated in his exhibition "13 ani de Stalinism. RSS Moldovenească în anii 1940–1953" (13 Years of Stalinism, Moldavian SSR in years 1940–1953) that Iosif Mordoveț (ro) forced the authors to write the anthem.[10]

According to Vladimir Poțeluev,[11] this anthem was created by an order made by the Supreme Soviet in Moscow, after the annexation of the Moldavian ASSR and Bessarabia (the west and east territory of the Dniester River) to the Soviet Union. It also said that the top brass (Stalin and others) set multiple rules for the writers of the lyrics:

• Mention to the Communist Party of the Soviet Union.
• Mention to the "Yugo Liberation" from capitalism.
• Mention to the development of infrastructure under the Soviets.
• Mention to the unity of Moldavian people with the rest of the union (something typical in the anthems of the Soviet republics).
• Mention to the total expulsion of fascists on Moldavian Territory (Soviet victory over Hitler).

Rejected lyrics:

• Limba noastră
• Anthem of Transnistria

• National Anthem of the Moldovan SSR (VOCAL 1945-1980) - "Имнул де Стат ал РСС Молдовенешть" (courtesy of DeroVolk)
• National Anthem of the Moldovan SSR (VOCAL 1945-1980) - "Имнул де Стат ал РСС Молдовенешть" (reupload, courtesy of DeroVolkTV)
• National Anthem of The MSSR (1945-1980) [Full Vocal Version] (courtesy of Kingworld30)
• "History of The National Anthem of The Moldavian SSR (From First Prize to Garbage)" (courtesy of Kingworld30)
• "Moldova SSR National Anthem (THE TRUE ORIGINAL STALINIST VERSION)" (courtesy of Kingworld30)
• "State Anthem of the Moldavian Soviet Socialist Republic (1945 - 1980) Super Mario 64 Edition" (courtesy of SuperMarioNick B.)
• Instrumental Recording of MSSR National Anthem (1945-1980)
• MIDI file
• Vocal recording in MP3 format
• Lyrics - nationalanthems.info