[2] After he began primary education at the communal school in Sliven, the Petrovs fled the region during the Russo-Turkish War of 1806–1812 and settled in Chișinău, Bessarabia, where Anton was first employed by a Russian Orthodox choir.

[2][4] Anton Pann carried on with his choral activities in Wallachia, was employed as a sexton by the Romanian Orthodox Olari and Sfinților Churches, before being tutored by the Greek musician Dionysios Foteinos (1777–1821)[9] and allowed to attend the religious music school founded by Petros Ephesios (d.

[1][2] From 1842 to 1851, with support gained from Metropolitan Neofit, Pann was employed as a music teacher by the main seminary in Bucharest (in parallel, he continued to sing at the Albă Church [ro]).

[4] A passionate collector of classical-Ottoman and Romani music, which formed the staple of the lăutari repertory ever since the Phanariote period, Pann later printed some of the earliest manele tablatures.

[2] Pann's comprehensive and innovative textbook for music, Bazul teoretic şi practic al muzicii bisericeşti ("The Theoretical and Practical Basis of Church music or the Melodic Grammar"), was officially endorsed by the Metropolitan and taught at the seminary after 1845 and became a template for similar works;[1][2] in addition, his printing shop sold cheap copies of popular novels, such as the Alexander Romance, the Book of 1001 Nights, the Book of Til Owl-Mirror, and the Story of Genevieve of Brabant.

[1][2] The following year, after falling severely ill, he wrote down the first version of his testament in verse (Adiata), in which he asked to be buried in Viforâta Monastery [ro] (where he hoped that his wife Catinca would become a nun).

[2] After a series of other satirical works, Pann produced a collection of writings centered on the figure of Nastratin Hogea and owing inspiration to Balkan folklore at large (first published in 1853).

[1] Pann's literary creation was noted for its reliance on a vast oral tradition, which he claimed to have codified, thus drawing comparisons to his predecessors François Rabelais, Giovanni Boccaccio, and Miguel de Cervantes.

[4] Appealing primarily to a semi-educated audience, his creations have been celebrated for their familiar tone and use of plain Romanian, during a period when literary language was beginning to rely on formalism and a large number of neologisms.

[1][4] In the final decades of his life, several of his printed works, especially Memorialul focului mare and the manele lyrics collection Spitalul amorului, came to be appreciated by a younger generation of boyars.

Aideți să vorbim de geabă Că tot n-avem nici o treabă, Fiindcă, Gura nu cere chirie, Poate vorbi orice fie.

[4] In researching various fables which Pann had used to expand on his proverbs, Gaster noted that they echoed obscure medieval material (including the Gesta Romanorum, Giulio Cesare Croce's Le sottilissime astutie di Bertoldo, and even Siberian Turkic folklore).

[4] Călinescu defined Povestea vorbei as "a false collection of folklore, given that Pann does not abide by peasant authenticity, but embellishes popular language with the cultured one, often obtaining an amazing chromatic effect".

[14] While commenting on Pann's focus on social developments of his time as "the completely mechanical ease with which current issues are put into verse", Călinescu noted that Hristoitia contained "advices which presume a state of supreme animality".

[14] O șezătoare la țară, believed to be one of Pann's most accomplished works, is written as an epic frame story in verse, and constitutes a satire of life in mid-19th century Wallachia.

[4][8] Reflecting the perspective of simple folk, the poem is marked by sarcastic remarks on social contrasts, Westernization, superstition, as well as tensions between estate lessors and workers (with the former stereotypically depicted as Greeks).

His associate Gheorghe Ucenescu is known to have arranged the melody to the lyrics of Andrei Mureșanu,[5][15] but Pann's direct implication in the creative process was allegedly not confirmed by sources.

[5] Mihai Eminescu, one of Romania's most influential poets, made a reference to Pann in his poem Epigonii (1870), which, in its opening verses, traces the development of early literature and the impact of Romanticism.