Gavriil Muzicescu

Gavriil Muzicescu, born Gavriil Vakulovich Muzychenko, was a Russian and Romanian composer, choirmaster, musicologist, teacher, and musical public figure of Ukrainian origin. He was born on March 20, 1847, in Izmail, then in the Bessarabia Governorate of the Russian Empire, and died on December 8, 1903, in Iași, Romania. In Moldova he is regarded as a national Moldavian composer, although he never worked on the territory of the modern Republic of Moldova.

Muzicescu was born in Izmail, now in Odesa Region, Ukraine. In 1856, after the Crimean War, the city passed to the Principality of Moldavia. In 1866 he graduated from the Iași Conservatory and for some time taught music and conducted a choir in his native Izmail.

In 1871 and 1872 he worked at the Court Singing Chapel and trained at the conservatory in St. Petersburg. After returning from St. Petersburg, he settled in Iași. From 1872 to 1903 he worked at the conservatory as a professor, and shortly before his death he became its director.

In Iași, Muzicescu conducted the metropolitan choir from 1876 to 1903. Thanks to his work, the choir became a major performing ensemble. He was active as a musical educator and conductor throughout his career, which lasted from the 1860s until his death.

Muzicescu was the author of piano arrangements of folk melodies, and he harmonized and transcribed old church chants into modern notation. His musical legacy is varied and includes choral works, romances, arrangements of folk melodies, and musicological articles. He also adapted Moldavian folk songs for choral performance. His works are performed by the Doina choral chapel.

His daughter was the pianist and music teacher Florica Muzicescu. He was buried at Eternitatea Cemetery in Iași. His memory was later honored in Moldova: in 1957 the Chișinău Conservatory was named after him, and streets in Chișinău, Bălți, Călărași, Fălești, Florești, Rîșcani, Strășeni, and Izmail also bear his name.