Anatol Vieru

Anatol Vieru (Romanian pronunciation: [anaˈtol viˈeru]; 8 June 1926 – 8 October 1998) was a Romanian-Jewish music theoretician, pedagogue, and composer. A pupil of Aram Khachaturian, he composed seven symphonies, eight string quartets, concertos, and chamber music. He also wrote three operas: Iona (1976), Praznicul Calicilor (1981), and Telegrame, Temă și Variațiuni (1983). He was awarded the Herder Prize in 1986. Vieru was born in Iași. He married in 1954 Nina Shutikova, with who he had one son and one daughter; his son is the pianist, writer, and mathematician Andrei Vieru. He was a conductor at the Bucharest National Theatre from 1947 to 1950, when he became editor of the Muzica magazine. He died in Bucharest at age 72.