Vidu, Ion

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(b Mânerău, Arad district, Dec 17, 1863; d Lugoj, Feb 7, 1931). Romanian composer, choral conductor, and folklorist. He began his musical studies at the Conservatorium der Gesellschaft der Musikfreunde in Arad (Austro-Hungarian Empire) (1880–81), and continued them in Caransebeş (1885) and at the Conservatory of Music and Declamation, Iaşi (1890–91). In Iaşi he studied harmony, composition, and choral conducting with Gavriil Musicescu, a well-trained musician who had studied in Saint Petersburg. He was a music teacher and choir conductor (with the Reuniunea română de muzică şi cântări (‘Romanian Convention for Music and Song’) in Lugoj), and he managed the most important local institution dedicated to the promotion of national culture – the Asociaţia corurilor şi fanfarelor române din Banat (‘The Choral and Brass Band Society of Banat’, 1888–1927). He was a passionate folklore collector active in Western Transylvania and the Banat (he had connections with Bartók, Musicescu, and Kiriac-Georgescu). His exclusively choral compositions are representative of both lay works (folklore adaptations, patriotic songs, etc.) and religious ones, inspired by the Orthodox chanting music from the Banat. His first collection of choruses, ...