At the age of 86, Anatoly Yosypovich Pigel, a former teacher of the Sokal State Secondary School, an excellent musician, the head of the district culture department, an amateur composer, died.
On March 19, 2023, Olga Penyuk-Vodonis reported the sad news
He was born on September 21, 1937 in the village of Dutriv, Tomaszów County, now Poland. At the age of 8, Anatoliy and his family were taken to the Kherson region. But they did not settle in the steppes and in 1946 they moved to Volyn. The childhood years of the future composer were spent there.
Eventually, fate threw him to the Sokal region. Here he worked at the Sokal Music School (now the Viktor Matyuk Art School), led the variety orchestra of the district cultural center.
After graduating from the music-pedagogical faculty of the Drohobytsk Pedagogical Institute, he headed the Sokal district department of culture. The artistic peak of the artist falls on this period. In the words of local poets Pavel Khomlyak, Volodymyr Khramtsov, Oleksa Nazaruk, Volodymyr Polyanchuk, Dmytro Iskiv, Halyna Gorbai (Khortashko), Semen Davidyuk, Hennadiy Rodychev, Volodymyr Sirk, as well as authors from various parts of Lviv region, in particular, Tymosh Odudko, Vasyl Storonsky, Many songs were written by Evgeny Letyuk and T. Melnichenko. The most popular at that time were the songs “The golden summer has passed” by P. Khomlyak, “First love” by O. Nazaruk, “Moonlit night” by V. Khramtsov, “The clear stars are fading” by V. Storonsky, “Where are you? “, “Quiet sadness”, “Blooming blue ears around” – V. Polyanchuk, “Evening song” – H. Gorbai, “March of the Cossacks”, “Smile, Ukraine” – V. Sirka and others. These songs were heard at district and regional reviews of artistic amateur performances, on Lviv radio, and were in the repertoire of many ensembles and performers. In addition to solid song work, Anatolii Pigel wrote several other instrumental works, concertos for trumpet and piano, etc. After retirement, he managed the “Kholmshchyna” and “Povstanets” choirs, and was an active member of the folk brass band. Many of his students became professional musicians.
May the bright memory of this wonderful musician and his significant achievements remain in our hearts.