Dimitrie Cantemir was nearly everything: writer, ruler, soldier, and, of course, composer. In the early 18th century, Cantemir was the voivode – the vassal governor of Moldavia, a state of the Ottoman Empire in the lands now divided between Romania and Moldova. While Cantemir was well-loved in Istanbul, he saw the Ottoman Empire as a state in decline, and Cantemir decided to ally Moldavia with Peter the Great of Russia against the ruling Ottomans. When this gamble ended in defeat, Cantemir gave up politics and went into a comfortable exile, being granted the status of prince by both the Russians and the Holy Roman Empire.

Without a domain to rule, Dimitrie turned to writing, including histories of the Ottoman Empire, Romania, and Moldavia. In addition, Dimitrie composed music and – before his betrayal – transcribed for the Sultan a collection of hundreds of traditional Ottoman musical works, especially those using the saz (bağlama), a seven-stringed instrument. In addition, he combined Ottoman music with Western styles, creating a new fusion that later musicians would work hard to rediscover. He died in 1723 and is remembered across the former Moldavia, in Turkey, Moldova, Romania, and beyond.