| Romanian; Moldavian; Moldovan: Молдова Советикэ | |
| Transcription: | Romanian; Moldavian; Moldovan: italic=no|Moldova Sovietică |
| English Title: | 'Soviet Moldavia' |
| Prefix: | Former regional |
| Country: | the Moldavian Soviet Socialist Republic |
| Author: | Emilian Bukov and Bogdan Istru |
| Lyrics Date: | 1945 |
| Composer: | Ștefan Neaga (1945) Eduard Lazarev (1980) |
| Predecessor: | "Deșteaptă-te, române!" |
| Successor: | "Deșteaptă-te, române!" "Limba noastra" |
| Adopted: | 1945 1980 |
| Until: | 1980 1991 |
| Sound: | Anthem of the Moldavian SSR, instrumental version (1945-1980).ogg |
| Sound Title: | Instrumental rendition in B-flat/E major |
The State Anthem of the Moldavian Soviet Socialist Republic was the anthem of Moldova whem it was a constituent republic of the Soviet Union.[1] Adopted in 1945, the music was composed by the composer Ștefan Neaga, and the original lyrics were written by the poets Emilian Bukov and Bogdan Istru.[2]
In 1989, the music and the lyrics of the anthem were modified by First Secretary of the Communist Party of Moldavia Ivan Bodiul and composer Eduard Lazarev.[3] As with other anthems of Soviet Socialist Republics after de-Stalinization, the lyrics removed references to Joseph Stalin. However, unlike the other anthems, the music for "Moldova Sovietică" was also altered, removing the original three-stanza structure in favour of a single-stanza three-part structure.[1]
In 1945, the Soviet Moldavian composer Ștefan Neaga composed the melody to "Moldova Sovietică", and the poets Emil Bukov and Bogdan Istru wrote the lyrics. Their works won national musical contest in their region,[4] and they were selected to be the Moldavian anthem. Through this musical work, Neaga became well-respected among the Moldavian people.[5]
Moldovan politician and historian Valeriu Passat [<nowiki/>[[:ro:Valeriu Pasat|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 [<nowiki/>[[:ro:Iosif Mordoveț|ro]]] forced the authors to write the anthem.[6]
According to Vladimir Poțeluev,[7] the anthem was created by an order made by the Supreme Soviet of the Soviet Union in Moscow, after the annexation of the Moldavian Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic and the Bessarabian Soviet Socialist Republic. The Supreme Soviet also said that the top brass (e.g. Stalin et al.) set multiple rules for the writers of the lyrics:
When Stalin died in 1953, the state anthems were muted by Nikita Khrushchev and his nation-wide de-Stalinization policy. For around two decades, the Moldavian SSR anthem did not officially contain lyrics, as it contained mentions of Stalin.
In 1977, the Soviet Union adopted a new constitution, which allowed the replacement of the lyrics of the national anthem and the anthems of the constituent republics, including Moldavia. Ivan Bodiul decided to shorten the anthem, so he, along with composer Eduard Lazarev, modified the original musical composition made by Neaga. The new composition maintained the music of the verses, added an introduction, an intermezzo, and in the end a variation of the original refrain. However, this new composition was not well-received by others.[8]
Moldovan historian Valeriu Pasat stated that the authors of the anthem were ordered to write then by General Iosif Mordoveț,[9] likely due to dictator Ivan Bodiul and de-Stalinization.
There had been no proper full recordings of the original Stalin-era lyrics to the anthem; the only recordings intended for the original anthem contained discrepancies between the recording of the original lyrics recorded by the Brass Band of the USSR Ministry of Defense in 1968, and the recording of the post-Stalinist lyrics recorded by the Choir of the State Television and Radio Broadcasting Company of the Moldavian SSR. It had three verses—each with a refrain (which was the traditional scheme for writing Soviet regional anthems), though they had never been rendered properly.[10]
In January 2016, it was discovered that the advertisement for the exhibition "13 Years of Stalinism", organized by historian and politician Valeriu Pasat, featured the beginning of the anthem, albeit with slightly modified lyrics.[9] Later, the first sheet music page of the anthem – dating back to 1947 – was discovered in the catalog of the National Library of the Republic of Moldova.[11]
The full proper recording of the original version of the anthem was subsequently uploaded to YouTube, after uses that belonged to the so-called "Ştefan Neaga Commission" found recordings of the original lyrics.[12]
The Cyrillic script was used officially for the Romanian language (also called Moldovan)[13] [14] during Soviet times. However, after 1989, the Romanian language in modern-day Moldova now officially uses the Latin script; only the breakaway state of Transnistria (internationally recognized as a part of Moldova) still officially uses the Cyrillic alphabet.
After Stalin's death in 1953, like other SSR anthems, any mentions of the former leader have been removed; however, a new version of the anthem was not adopted until 1980. The anthem was rewritten from the typical three verses with choruses—like other SSR anthems—to a three-part single verse without choruses, which was used until the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991.[1]
The music was composed by Ștefan Neaga and was arranged by Eduard Lazarev, and the lyrics were written by Emilian Bucov and Bogdan Istru.[1]