Ukrainian Composers of the 19th Century

[Christopher]

Having a bit of time of my hands at the moment, and being a bit of a Slavophile (musically anyway) I decided to research the "youtubeosphere" to see what (orchestral) Ukrainian music has been posted up - recordings of live concerts, old Soviet broadcasts, old Soviet LP transfers, etc.  There is quite a lot there.

My current favourite is a Christmas carol "Oh what a Miracle" ("Shcho to za Predivo"/"Що то за предиво") by Vasil Barvinsky (1888-1963) - two youtube recordings stand out - https://youtu.be/W6anVr0jln0 (solo soprano, chorus and orchestra) and https://youtu.be/SJ8TTw7IEdc (soprano + a capella)   Unusually I like the a capella more.    Lovely lush late-romantic stuff and melodious in the extreme.

Other Ukrainian composers, all "unsung", whose orchestral music I have found include:

Hordiy Hladkiy (1849-1894)
Stanyslav Lyudkevych (1879-1979)
Petro Nishchynsky (1832-1896)
Levko Revutsky (1889-1977)
Denis Sichynsky (1865-1909)
Yakiv Stepovy (1883-1921)
Mykhailo Verbytsky (1815-1870)
Mykhailo Verikivsky (1896-1962)

What has become very clear is the central role that the Ukrainian poet Taras Shevchenko (1814-1861) has on the "Ukrainian soul" - he is to the Ukrainians what Burns is to the Scots, Pushkin to the Russians and Goethe to the Germans. His major poem "Testament" ("Zapovit") has been set to music by Boris Lyatoshynsky (1895-1968), Hladkiy, Verbytsky, Lyudkevych, Revutsky, Barvinsky, Gliere - and others who fall outside "our" period" (Kabalevsky, Silvestrov, Frolyak...).

When I am dead, bury me
In my beloved Ukraine,
My tomb upon a grave mound high
Amid the spreading plain,
So that the fields, the boundless steppes,
The Dnieper's plunging shore
My eyes could see, my ears could hear
The mighty river roar.

When from Ukraine the Dnieper bears
Into the deep blue sea
The blood of foes ... then will I leave
These hills and fertile fields --
I'll leave them all and fly away
To the abode of God,
And then I'll pray .... But until that day
I know nothing of God.

Oh bury me, then rise ye up
And break your heavy chains
And water with the tyrants' blood
The freedom you have gained.
And in the great new family,
The family of the free,
With softly spoken, kindly word
Remember also me.

Anyway, I am going to convert the youtube recordings which I like of the above composers, and others that I find, into mp3 files for my own enjoyment. I will, needless to say, abstain from anything that is commercially available.  If it falls within the rules of UC, would people be interested if I were to post them up in downloads?

[jerfilm]

i surely would.  Thanks.

J

[Delicious Manager]

Kabalevsky was Russian through and through.

[Gareth Vaughan]

I don't think Christopher was saying (or even implying) that Kabalevsky was Ukrainian - just that he had set Shevchenko's poetry to music.

[Christopher]

Yes that's what I meant, thanks for clarifying that Gareth.   Delicious Manager - thank you for reading, would you care to comment as to my query at the end?

Kabalevsky used Hladkiy's music as the basis for a vocal-symphonic poem that he wrote for a Soviet movie, Shchors, in a funeral scene that is a key part of the film (the film is a biography of the partisan leader and Ukrainian Bolshevik Nikolai Shchors).

[eschiss1]

Just finished watching a well-known film which was based loosely on/often mentioned the life of a Ukrainian composer (though alas one of the 18th century). Still, interesting topic!

[Christopher]

Which composer eschiss? And what is the name of the film? I would be very interested.

[eschiss1]

Maksym Sozontovych Berezovsky (1725-1777 ca.), a fictionalized version of whose life is recalled at several points during the Tarkovsky movie "Nostalghia" (1983).
(In Nostalghia, Berezovsky is called Sosnovsky, and one character in the film is, iirc, partially following in the composer's fictionalized footsteps - in Bologna, Italy, where the real-life Berezovsky and, of course, Sosnovsky both spent a fair amount of their lives.)
Offtopic, though notable for being believed to have been Ukraine's first symphonist, among other things, and unsung and interesting (and a serf rather than a noble), just not unsung interesting and Romantic. (The more conditions, says this ex-mathematician, you place on your set, the smaller it's going to be...)

[Christopher]

Thanks for this Eschiss.

There's a very small record label called Caro Mitis which has recorded some of Berezovsky's secular music with a Russian orchestra called Pratum Integrum.

They have also made two Bortnyansky CDs ("The Russian Album" and "The Italian Album").

www.caromitis.com/eng/catalogue/catalogue.html

[Christopher]

Some of the youtube "rips" that I post up aren't of the best audio quality. Live concerts have the inevitable coughing etc, while less formal gatherings have more, or background chatter, or "blips", or (in a couple of cases) the first and/or last notes cut short!  But in the absence of any other recordings of the music of these composers, this is what we have.  If those things irritate you beyond distraction (and this is understandable), then best not listen!

[Christopher]

Vasyl Barvinsky's piano concerto was posted up here a couple of years ago.  I thought it sounded like a good piece poorly played. Very melodic.  - http://www.unsungcomposers.com/forum/index.php/topic,1196.msg18295.html#msg18295

I post here his Ukrainian Rhapsody, his setting of Taras Shevchenko's "Testament" ("Zapovit"), and two recordings of his carol "Oh what a miracle", which I mentioned above (and which I really love). One a capella, and one with orchestra.  Performer details in the downloads section.

Barvinsky's wikipedia entry reads as follows:

Vasyl Oleksandrovych Barvinsky (Ukrainian: Василь Олександрович Барвінський) (20 February 1888 – 9 June 1963) was a Ukrainian composer, pianist, conductor, teacher, musicologist, and music related social figure.

Barvinsky was one of the first Ukrainian composers to gain worldwide recognition. His pieces were published not only in the Soviet Union, but also in Vienna, Leipzig, New York (Universal Edition), and Japan. Barvinsky directed a post-secondary musical institution in the city of Lviv (1915-1948), and was considered to be the head of musical life at the time. Currently there is a College of Music named after Barvinsky in Drohobych city of Ukraine.

Vasyl Barvinsky was born in Ternopil, on 20 February 1888. Barvinsky descended from an older aristocratic family. Barvinsky's father, Oleksander Barvinsky, was famous Ukrainian pedagogue, politician, and public figure. In 1917 he was appointed a member of the Austrian upper chamber. Vasyl's mother, singer and pianist, became his first music teacher.

Barvinsky gained professional music education in Lviv conservatory. Barvinsky continued his music education in Prague. Among his teachers were Vilém Kurz (piano), and Vítězslav Novák (composition).

Barvinsky has written about 30 works. Barvinsky's compositions are said to be impressive by their "... matureness', thoughtfulness and delicacy". Barvinsky composed in various genres except ballet and opera. His style, late romantic with impressionistic features, was also strongly influenced by Ukrainian folklore. Although many of Barvinsky's works were lost, most of his creative inheritance remained and is performed worldwide.




and a rough translation from Ukrainian wikipedia:

In October 1939 he was elected to the People's Assembly of Western Ukraine, which was proclaimed the accession of Western Ukraine to the USSR.

In 1939-1941 and 1944-1948, respectively, while as a director and chairman of the Lviv Conservatory Lviv branch of the Union of composers he wrote several works mostly vocal genre. These were portrait sketches to the musical based on the songs of O. Dovbush.

In early 1948 he was arrested. He was forced to sign a document, "Allow destroy my manuscript." And his manuscripts were destroyed. Then there was a long exile for 10 years in the Mordovian gulag camps.

After returning from exile (1958) all his strength was focused on restoring the memory of his works, which had been destroyed during his arrest (he worked on this until his death).

He was buried in Lviv in the Lychakiv Cemetery in the family tomb (field number 3).

1964 the long-term efforts on the part of Lviv-based composers (especially A. Kos-Anatolsky) reached their goal:  Barvinsky was rehabilitated. Nevertheless, his music for almost 25 years was almost everywhere removed from the concert repertoire.

[Christopher]

Yakiv Stepovy is the brother of Fedor Akimenko (Fedyr Yakymenko), who has been discussed on this site before (http://www.unsungcomposers.com/forum/index.php/topic,4020.msg46338.html#msg46338) - I don't know why they have different surnames.

Most of his recorded output that I have found consists of songs with orchestra.  Plus his Prelude in Memory of Taras Shevchenko, for which I have uploaded three recordings.

Songs:
Scatter in the Wind, after Ivan Franko (Ukrainian poet, 1856-1916)
Do not sing happy songs
Because the sun rises, after Taras Shevchenko
Oy three wide roads
My evening star
Ukrainian serenade



His wikipedia entry reads as follows:

Yakiv Stepovy (Ukrainian: Яків Степовий) (born October 20, 1883 – died November 4, 1921) – was a Ukrainian composer, teacher, and music critic. Stepovy was born Yakiv Yakymenko ( Akimenko) in Kharkiv, in the Russian Empire (in present-day Ukraine). Stepovy's older brother, Fedyr Yakymenko (Theodore Akimenko (fr)), was also a composer.[1] Stepovy was a representative of the Ukrainian musical intelligentsia of the 20th century. He was one of the founders of the national school of composition and composed in the tradition of Mykola Lysenko.[2]

Stepovy was a graduate of the St. Petersburg Conservatory, where he studied with Alexander Glazunov and Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov and graduated in 1914.[1][3]

During World War I, Stepovy was recruited to the military, where he worked as a secretary on a hospital train.[3] He served in the military for almost three years, until he managed to get released in April 1917.[4] After this he settled in Kiev where he worked as a teacher at the Kiev Conservatory and a musical critic.[2]

He was a master at choral and piano works, the author of music collections for children, teacher of the Kiev Conservatory and founder of the State vocal quartet

and roughly translated from Ukrainian wikipedia:

Yakiv's father worked in the church choir, elder brother - Fedyr Yakymenko - studied singing at the St. Petersburg court chapel and later became a famous Ukrainian composer.
Yakiv also was admitted to the St. Petersburg court chapel, and during his stay in the chapel (1895-1902 gg.) Mastered the profession of conductor, learned to play the piano, clarinet.

In May 1917 the composer was able to rid of the hated service in the royal army, and in the same year he became a teacher and head of the Kyiv Conservatory of Music and Drama State Vocal Ensemble.
After another concert tour Stepovy suddenly fell ill with typhus and in 1921 died in Kiev. He was buried at the cemetery Baikove. He is a representative of the Ukrainian intelligentsia music of the first quarter of the XX century, and one of the founders of the national school of composition and successor of the traditions of Mykola Lysenko. He was a Kyiv Conservatory teacher and founder of the State of vocal quartet, head of section in the Ukrainian national music committee of arts, music and educational activist, promoter of world classics in Ukraine. In 1921 the State Vocal Assembly was named after him. In 1969 a street in Kyiv was named after him.

[Christopher]

Fedyr Yakymenko (or Fyodor Akimenko) was the brother of Yakiv Stepovy.

Two of his recorded works are posted on youtube and are in the downloads section: Lyric Poem, and Angel poem-nocturne. I have "ripped" these and placed in the downloads section.

There is also a recording of his Nocturne for Strings on IMSLP (http://imslp.org/wiki/Nocturne_in_D_major_%28Akimenko,_Theodore%29)

His Ukrainian wikipedia reads as follows (rough google-translation):

Fedyr Stepanovich Yakimenko (20 February 1876, Kharkiv - † 3 January 1945, Paris) - Ukrainian composer, pianist and teacher. Brother was Yakiv Stepovy.
Born in the village of Piski near Kharkov. 10-year old Yakimenko was selected for the court chapel in St. Petersburg. In 1886 - 1895. Studied piano with Russian pianist and composer M. Balakirev. 1900 graduated from the St. Petersburg Conservatory (composition class of Rimsky-Korsakov and A. Liadov). Since 1897 worked as a teacher of conducting courses in the court chapel. Later became director of music schools in Tiflis in the Caucasus (1901 - 1903 years.) And in Nice (France, 1903 - 1906).
After a short stay in Kharkiv, he became a professor of the music department of the Drahomanov Ukrainian Higher Pedagogical Institute in Prague. Among his students were Z. Lys'ko 3. M. Kolessa and others. In pedagogical work, Yakimenko performed as a concert-pianist and conductor of the choir. From this time came his "Practical Course in Harmony" (Prague, 1926). From 1928 he lived in France (Nice, Paris), where he died.
As a composer, Yakimenko - one of the prominent members of the current neo-romantic music of the twentieth century. with a noticeable influence of Impressionism. Prominent in his work takes instrumental music: two symphonies, symphonic poems, orchestral suite, overture, string trio Sonata for cello, Sonata for violin and numerous piano works (Sonata, Sonata-fantasy "Ukrainian Suite" Preludes, Etudes) . Some works Yakimenko built on melodies from Ukrainian folk songs. He was the author of numerous songs, Church works ( "Our Father", "Cherubim" and others.) And Ukrainian choral arrangements of folk songs. Many of Yakimenko's works were published in German, French, Russian and Ukrainian publishing houses. Other works include the opera "Snow Fairy", a ballet (name unknown.) "Lyric Poem" for orchestra, several instrumental pieces, songs, quartet, trio, piano pieces on the theme of Ukrainian songs.
He is the author of a collection of songs for choir arrangements and a Ukrainian textbook on harmony.
Works of Fedyr Yakymenko showed influence of some contemporary modernistic direction.

[jerfilm]

Thanks, Christopher.   For anyone inclined to search for old lps,  I have one back in Wisconsin that features Barvinsky String Quartet in g and Variations in G for piano quintet.  Likely an old Melodiya.

J

[Christopher]

Thanks Jerfilm - and there's more to come.  The Barvinsky string quartet would certainly be very interesting to hear!