thumb|"Imnul de Stat al RSS Moldovenești" (original version)

The State Anthem of the Moldavian Soviet Socialist Republic was the anthem of Moldova when it was a constituent republic of the Soviet Union. 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.

In 1980, 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. 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. and they were selected to be the Moldavian anthem. Through this musical work, Neaga became well-respected among the Moldavian people.

thumb|Stalin in 1945

Moldovan politician and historian Valeriu Passat [<nowiki/>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] forced the authors to write the anthem.

According to Vladimir Poțeluev, 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:

  • Mention to the Communist Party of the Soviet Union.
  • Mention to the "liberation from the yoke of 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 Adolf Hitler).

De-Stalinization

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.

Lyrics

Moldovan historian Valeriu Pasat stated that the authors of the anthem were ordered to write then by General Iosif Mordoveț, likely due to dictator Ivan Bodiul and de-Stalinization.

Recordings of Stalinist version

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.

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.

The full proper recording of the original version of the anthem was subsequently uploaded to YouTube, after users that belonged to the so-called "Ștefan Neaga Commission" found recordings of the original lyrics.

Rejected verses

{|

!Variant by Emil Samoilă

!Variant by Leonid Cornenanu

!Variant by Liviu Deleanu<br>

|- style="white-space:nowrap"

|<poem>Cotropitorii fasciști au cutezat

Să înrobească al nostru sfânt pământ.

Din piepturi zid de oțel am ridicat.

Dușmanului noi i-am săpat mormânt!

Republică-suroră, în vecii să fii slăvită!

În armonie noroadele trăiesc!

Puterea lor îi astăzi însutită

și din izbândă, izbândă făuresc!</poem>

|<poem>Noi veacuri întregi am zăcut în robir,

La Nistru și Prut ne doineam versul trist.

Dar Lenin și Stalin ne-au dat bucurie,

Ne-a dat-o iubitul partid comunist.</poem>

|<poem>Crescută sub spada lui Ștefan cel Mare

și slova înțeleptului Domn Cantemir,

Moldova renaște din noi în hotare,

călită în lupte și mari izbândiri.</poem>

|}

Orthography

The Cyrillic script was used officially for the Romanian language (called Moldovan) 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.

Original version

{|class="wikitable"

!Cyrillic script<br>

!Latin script<br>

!IPA transcription<br>

|- style="vertical-align:top;text-align:center;white-space:nowrap;"

|<poem>I

Молдова ку дойне стрэбуне пе плаюрь,

Ку поамэ ши пыне пе дялурь ши вэй.

Луптынд ку-ажуторул Русией мэреце,

А врут неатырнаря пэмынтулуй ей.

Славэ ын вякурь, Молдовэ Советикэ,

Креште ку алте републичь сурорь,

Ши ку драпелул Советик ыналцэ-те,

Каля сэ-ць фие авынт креатор.

II

Пе друмул луминий ку Ленин ши Сталин,

Робия боерилор крунць ам ынвинс.

Пе ной дин избындэ-н избындэ ынаинте,

Не дуче слэвитул партид комунист.

III

Ын армия ноастрэ, луптынд витежеште,

Пе душманий цэрий ый вом бируи,

Ши-н маря фамилие а Униуний,

Молдова Советикэ-н вечь а-нфлори.

</poem>

|<poem>I

Moldova Sovietică, plaiul nostru-n floare,

Alături de alte republici surori.

Pășește împreună cu Rusia mare,

Spre al Uniunii senin viitor.

II

Doina înfrățirii proslăvește Țara,

Cu înțelepciune condusă de Partid.

Cauza lui Lenin – cauză măreață –

O înfăptuiește poporul strâns unit.

III

Slavă în veacuri, renăscut pământ!

Munca să-ți fie creator avânt!

Și comunismul – țel nestrămutat –

Înalță-l prin fapte pentru fericirea ta!</poem>

|<poem>1

[molˈdo.va soˈvje.ti.kə ˈpla.jul ˈnos.truɱ̩ ˈflo̯a.re

aˈlə.turʲ de ˈal.te reˈpu.blit͡ʃʲ suˈrorʲ

pəˈʃəʃ.te ɨm.preˈu.nə ku ruˈsi.je ˈma.re

spre al u.niˈu.nij seˈnin vi.jiˈtor]

2

[ˈdoj.na ɨɱ.frəˈt͡si.rij pro.sləˈveʃ.te ˈt͡sa.ra

ku ɨn.t͡se.lepˈt͡ʃu.ne konˈdu.sə de parˈtid

ˈkaw.za luj ˈle.nin ˈkaw.zə məˈre̯a.tsə

o ɨɱ.fəp.tuˈjeʃ.te poˈpo.rul strɨns uˈnit]

3

[ˈsla.və ɨɱ ˈve̯a.kurʲ re.nəsˈkut pəˈmɨnt

ˈmuŋ.ka sət͡sʲ ˈfi.je kre.aˈtor aˈvɨnt

ʃi ko.muˈniz.mul ˈt͡sel nes.trə.muˈtat

ɨˈnal.tsəl̩ priɲ ˈfap.te pen.tru fe.rɨ.ˈt͡ʃi.re̯a ˈta]</poem>

|}

{|

!Russian translation

!English translation

|- style="vertical-align:top;text-align:center;white-space:nowrap;"

|<poem lang="ru">I

Молдова Советская, край наш цветущий,

В единой семье республик-сестер

С Великой Россией вместе шагает

К светлому грядущему Союза.

II

Дойна единенья славит нашу Отчизну,

Ведомую мудро Партией могучей.

Дело Ленина, великое дело,

В жизнь воплощает сплоченный народ.

III

Славься в веках, земля возрожденная!

Труд твой да будет творческим порывом!

И коммунизм, цель непоколебимую,

Воздвигай делами для счастья своего!</poem>

|<poem>I

Soviet Moldavia, our land of flowers,

Along with our sister republics,

Together with Great Mother Russia we march on,

Toward the serene future of the Union.

II

The fraternal country praises the doinas,

As our great Party sagaciously leads us.

The cause of Lenin, a cause so noble,

Brought about by our undivided people.

III

Of aeons glorious, O land renewed!

For you may labour be a sire great!

And communism, this goal unshaken –

You raise it through the achievements for your blessing!</poem>

|}

See also

  • Anthem of Transnistria
  • "Deșteaptă-te, române!"
  • "Limba noastră"
  • "Tarafım"
  • State Anthem of the Soviet Union

References

  • Vocal recording in MP3 format
  • Instrumental recording in MP3 format (1945-1980, Full version)
  • Instrumental recording in MP3 format (1945-1980, Short version)