Semyon Lungul
Semyon Vasilyevich Lungul (16 February 1927 – 7 November 2002) was a Soviet and Moldovan composer and pedagogue. He was born in the village of Glinoe in the Slobodzeya District of the Moldavian Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic, then part of the Odesa Region of the Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic. He was named Honored Art Worker of the Moldavian SSR in 1974.
Lungul received his first musical impressions within his family, where music-making was a common practice. In 1939 he began studying at a music school. From April 1944 he served in the army and fought with the rank of senior sailor. After the war he continued his musical education in Izmail while still serving in the armed forces. He took part in amateur naval artistic activities, where he began composing music and also started directing an ensemble.
In 1951 Lungul was admitted to the Chisinau Conservatory, bypassing study at a music college. He graduated in 1958 from the composition class of Leonid Gurov and Solomon Lobel. From 1958 he taught and worked as head of the theoretical department at the Yevgeny Coca Secondary Specialized Music School. From 1973 he served as deputy chairman of the board of the Union of Composers of the Moldavian SSR. He also worked for many years as chairman of the Artistic Council of Moldovan State Television and Radio.
Vocal music formed the basis of Lungul's output, and he was especially drawn to choral works. In the late 1960s and early 1970s, during the height of his creative activity, he wrote several large-scale choral poems conceived as multi-movement vocal-orchestral compositions. His legacy also includes arrangements of Moldovan folk songs and songs to texts by poets of the Soviet Union.
At the same time, Lungul composed notable chamber and instrumental works, including the piano pieces Maski and Capriccio. His instrumental style shows a strong influence from Impressionist art. His works are characterized by a love for the nature of Moldova, as well as for the history and folk creativity of his people.
Among his principal compositions are the oratorio Dmitry Cantemir (1974), the cantatas Native Expanse (1958) and My Homeland (1974), the poem Lenin – Peace – Life (1970), and orchestral works including Ballad (1956), Scherzo (1957), and Waltz (1965). He also wrote the vocal cycle Songs of the Dniester for voice and chamber orchestra (1970), Two Novellas for voice and chamber orchestra (1968), Melody for cello and piano (1955), Scherzino for clarinet and piano (1961), Four Fugues for piano (1956), Hora for piano (1957), Three Children's Pieces for piano (1959), Four Preludes for piano (1960), Prelude and Fugue for piano (1961), the sonatina Masks for piano (1972), the vocal cycle Pictures of My Homeland for voice and piano (1971), the choral poem Autumn in Moldova (1962), Memory of the Ages for choir (1969), music for dramatic performances, and arrangements of Moldovan folk songs.
His honors included the title Honored Art Worker of the Moldavian SSR in 1974, the State Prize of the Moldavian SSR in 1984 for his recent choral poems, and the Order of the Badge of Honor in 1987.