Mykola Vitaliyovych Lysenko ( uk, Мико́ла Віта́лійович Ли́сенко; 22 March 1842 – 6 November 1912) was a

Ukrainian composer This is a list of Ukrainian composers of classical music who were either born on the territory of modern-day Ukraine or were ethnically Ukrainian. List by century of birth 15th century 16th century 17th century 18th century 19th cen ...

, pianist, conductor and ethnomusicologist of the late Romantic period. In his time he was the central figure of Ukrainian music, with an ''oeuvre'' that includes operas, art songs, choral works, orchestral and chamber pieces, and a wide variety of solo piano music. He is often credited with founding a national music tradition during the Ukrainian national revival, in the vein of contemporaries such as Grieg in Norway, The Five in Russia as well as Smetana and Dvořák in what is now the Czech Republic. By studying and drawing from Ukrainian folk music, promoting the use of the

Ukrainian language Ukrainian ( uk, украї́нська мо́ва, translit=ukrainska mova, label=native name, ) is an East Slavic language of the Indo-European language family. It is the native language of about 40 million people and the official state lang ...

, and separating himself from Russian culture, his compositions form what many consider the quintessential essence of Ukrainian music. This is demonstrated best in his epic opera ''

Taras Bulba ''Taras Bulba'' (russian: «Тарас Бульба»; ) is a romanticized historical novella set in the first half of the 17th century, written by Nikolai Gogol (1809-1852). It features elderly Zaporozhian Cossack Taras Bulba and his sons An ...

'' from the novella of the same name by

Nikolai Gogol Nikolai Vasilyevich Gogol; uk, link=no, Мико́ла Васи́льович Го́голь, translit=Mykola Vasyliovych Hohol; (russian: Яновский; uk, Яновський, translit=Yanovskyi) ( – ) was a Russian novelist, ...

, in which the grandeur, complexity and Ukrainian-language libretto prevented its staging during Lysenko's lifetime. To promote and cultivate Ukrainian culture, Lysenko set works by many Ukrainian poets to music, especially

Taras Shevchenko Taras Hryhorovych Shevchenko ( uk, Тарас Григорович Шевченко , pronounced without the middle name; – ), also known as Kobzar Taras, or simply Kobzar (a kobzar is a bard in Ukrainian culture), was a Ukrainian poet, writ ...

, who he was particularly devoted to. His musical setting of a patriotic poem by Oleksandr Konysky, known as the " Prayer for Ukraine", has become Ukraine's spiritual anthem. Lysenko had a profound influence on later Ukrainian composers, including Stanyslav Lyudkevych, Alexander Koshetz, Kyrylo Stetsenko, Yakiv Stepovy, and most importantly, Mykola Leontovych. He is the namesake of the Mykola Lysenko International Music Competition and the Lysenko music school, which is now the Kyiv National I. K. Karpenko-Kary Theatre, Cinema and Television University. Despite his immense renown in Ukraine, Lysenko remains relatively unknown outside of his home country.

Life and career

Early life

Mykola Vitaliyovych Lysenko, also transliterated as Nikolay Vital’yevich Lïsenko, was born in Hrynky, near

Kremenchugsky Uyezd Kremenchugsky Uyezd (''Кременчугский уезд'') was one of the subdivisions of the Poltava Governorate of the Russian Empire. It was situated in the southern part of the governorate. Its administrative centre was Kremenchug (Kremench ...

of the Poltava Governorate (now Kremenchuk, Poltava Oblast, Ukraine) on 22 March 1842. His hometown was a small village near the

Dnieper } The Dnieper () or Dnipro (); , ; . is one of the major transboundary rivers of Europe, rising in the Valdai Hills near Smolensk, Russia, before flowing through Belarus and Ukraine to the Black Sea. It is the longest river of Ukraine ...

river, and between the major cities of

Kyiv Kyiv, also spelled Kiev, is the capital and most populous city of Ukraine. It is in north-central Ukraine along the Dnieper, Dnieper River. As of 1 January 2021, its population was 2,962,180, making Kyiv the List of European cities by populat ...

and Dnipropetrovsk. At the time, the modern region of Ukraine was split under the foreign control of the

Russian Empire The Russian Empire was an empire and the final period of the List of Russian monarchs, Russian monarchy from 1721 to 1917, ruling across large parts of Eurasia. It succeeded the Tsardom of Russia following the Treaty of Nystad, which ended th ...

and

Austro-Hungarian Empire Austria-Hungary, often referred to as the Austro-Hungarian Empire,, the Dual Monarchy, or Austria, was a constitutional monarchy and great power in Central Europe#Before World War I, Central Europe between 1867 and 1918. It was formed with t ...

. The

Lysenko Lysenko ( uk, Лисенко; russian: Лысенко; be, Лысенка Lysienka) or Lisenko is a Ukrainian surname. It most often refers to: * Mykola Lysenko (1842–1912), Ukrainian composer, after whom the Lysenko music school and Lysenko S ...

family was wealthy and educated; they were an old aristocratic family stemming back to Cossacks of the 17th-century. Among their descendants were the

colonel Colonel (abbreviated as Col., Col or COL) is a senior military officer rank used in many countries. It is also used in some police forces and paramilitary organizations. In the 17th, 18th and 19th centuries, a colonel was typically in charge ...

() who had commanded the

Chernihiv Regiment The Chernigov Regiment (also known as ''Chernihiv Regiment'' or the ''Regiment of Chernigov'', uk, Чернігівський полк, translit=Chernihivs'kyj polk, russian: Черниговский полк, translit=Chernigovskij polk) was one ...

and fought in both the Chyhyrin Campaigns and Azov campaigns; Ivan Lysenko's son, () had served as a yesaul and . Mykola Lysenko's father was , the great grandson of Fedir and a colonel himself. The composer had two younger siblings, a sister, and a brother, . Lysenko studied music at an early age, first receiving piano instruction from his mother. At the age of nine, he was brought to Kyiv to continue musical study in boarding schools. He studied piano under and music theory with Nejnkevič. His early compositions from this time survive, including a Polka () and Nocturne (1859–1860) for piano, as well as a piece for string orchestra, ''Moldavskaya, Russian Pizzicato'' (1859–1860). In 1860, Lysenko attended the Gymnasium of

Kharkiv Kharkiv ( uk, wikt:Харків, Ха́рків, ), also known as Kharkov (russian: Харькoв, ), is the second-largest List of cities in Ukraine, city and List of hromadas of Ukraine, municipality in Ukraine.natural sciences at the city's university, and later at the Kyiv University. At the latter he continued his music studies with Dmitriyev, Wilczyk and Wolner, and graduated in 1865 with a degree in the natural sciences. Lysenko then completed two years of

civil service The civil service is a collective term for a sector of government composed mainly of career civil servants hired on professional merit rather than appointed or elected, whose institutional tenure typically survives transitions of political leaders ...

in Tarashcha county as a for disputes involving former serfs and their land-ownership claims. He pursued further music studies at the Leipzig Conservatory, Germany, from 1867 to 1869, where his primary teachers included Carl Reinecke for piano as well as Ernst Richter for composition and theory.

Emerging composer

Since his youth, Lysenko had developed an intense enthusiasm for Ukrainian music and culture, particularly from the influence of his grandparents, and his enjoyment of peasant songs. In the early 1860s he began to collect and publish Ukrainian folk songs, often with the minstrel Ostap Veresai's help. He would later publish seven volumes of arrangements and transcriptions of these between 1868 and 1911. The philosophers Vissarion Belinsky, Nikolay Chernyshevsky and

Alexander Herzen Alexander Ivanovich Herzen (russian: Алекса́ндр Ива́нович Ге́рцен, translit=Alexándr Ivánovich Gértsen; ) was a Russian writer and thinker known as the "father of Russian socialism" and one of the main fathers of agra ...

influenced him. His early works included musical settings of Ukrainian poets, particularly

, an important figure of early Ukrainian literature, whose text he set in the choral work ''Zapovit'' ('The Testament'). Two other factors were important to his nationalistic fervor: close relationships with his cousin,

Mykhailo Starytsky Mykhailo Petrovych Starytsky ( uk, Михайло Петрович Старицький; 14 December 1840 – 27 April 1904), in English Michael Starycky, was a Ukrainian writer, poet, and playwright.Volodymyr Antonovych and the scholar Tadei Rylsky; and also his association with the hromada in Kyiv, the . Lysenko concluded that music was the best way he could express his patriotism, and aimed to create an independent school of Ukrainian music, rather than duplicate existing styles of

Western classical music Classical music generally refers to the art music of the Western world, considered to be distinct from Western folk music or popular music traditions. It is sometimes distinguished as Western classical music, as the term "classical music" ...

. In 1869 Lysenko returned to Kyiv, and in the words of music historian

Richard Taruskin Richard Filler Taruskin (April 2, 1945 – July 1, 2022) was an American musicologist and music critic who was among the leading and most prominent music historians of his generation. The breadth of his scrutiny into source material as well as ...

, "he returned home a committed musical nationalist". On his return to Kyiv he continued to arrange and study Ukrainian folk melodies. He split his time between numerous activities: giving piano lessons, working at the Russian Musical Society (RMS) chapter in Kyiv, and composing. During this period Lysenko wrote his first opera ''Chernomortsy'' (the 'Black Sea Sailors') between 1872 and 1873. Also during these years he wrote an orchestral fantasia, entitled ''Ukraïns′kyy kazak-shumka'' (Ukrainian Cossack Song) and a chamber piece for flute, violin and piano, the Fantasy on Ukrainian Themes. Lysenko went to

Saint Petersburg Saint Petersburg ( rus, links=no, Санкт-Петербург, a=Ru-Sankt Peterburg Leningrad Petrograd Piter.ogg, r=Sankt-Peterburg, p=ˈsankt pʲɪtʲɪrˈburk), formerly known as Petrograd (1914–1924) and later Leningrad (1924–1991), i ...

from 1874 to 1876 to study

orchestration Orchestration is the study or practice of writing music for an orchestra (or, more loosely, for any musical ensemble, such as a concert band) or of adapting music composed for another medium for an orchestra. Also called "instrumentation", or ...

with

Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov Nikolai Andreyevich Rimsky-Korsakov . At the time, his name was spelled Николай Андреевичъ Римскій-Корсаковъ. la, Nicolaus Andreae filius Rimskij-Korsakov. The composer romanized his name as ''Nicolas Rimsk ...

. Besides Rimsky-Korsakov, he met with other members of The Five, particularly

Modest Mussorgsky Modest Petrovich Mussorgsky ( rus, link=no, Модест Петрович Мусоргский, Modest Petrovich Musorgsky , mɐˈdɛst pʲɪˈtrovʲɪtɕ ˈmusərkskʲɪj, Ru-Modest Petrovich Mussorgsky version.ogg; – ) was a Russian compo ...

, who was working on an opera set in Ukraine, '' The Fair at Sorochyntsi''. During this short stay in Saint Petersburg Lysenko conducted a choir and wrote many piano compositions, writing more than 10 works in a variety of genres.

Settling in Kyiv

Lysenko led another choir when he returned to Kyiv 1876. Many of the choristers under Lysenko's instruction would become composers, including Levko Revutsky, Porfyrii Demutsky, Kyrylo Stetsenko and his son . Other acitives included organizing concerts for Veresai and giving music lessons, often at the . By the late 1870s, Lysenko was recognized as a leading figure in Ukrainian music. As a Ukrainian composer living in a Russian-controlled state he endured continued difficulties from the government. His relationship with the RMS gradually deteriorated, until he was completely ignored. Unlike his Russian colleagues, Lysenko received no state support, and sometimes active resistance from Russian officials. He was repeatedly monitored by the government and often attacked in the local press, because his activities in support of Ukrainian culture made him suspicious to the political officials – in particular his frequent meetings with other Ukrainian patriots, and later, his support of the

1905 revolution The Russian Revolution of 1905,. also known as the First Russian Revolution,. occurred on 22 January 1905, and was a wave of mass political and social unrest that spread through vast areas of the Russian Empire. The mass unrest was directed again ...

and heading of the

Ukrainian Club {{onesource, date=December 2018 The Ukrainian Club is a social organization that was created in Kyiv in 1908. It was closed in 1912, but revived in 2002. Personalities * Kukharuk Roman - head of Ukrainian Club; * Lytvynenko Vitaliy Viktorovych ...

. He was jailed for his stance on the revolution in 1907. The Ems Ukaz decree of 1876 that banned use of the Ukrainian language in print was one of the obstacles for Lysenko; he had to publish some of his scores abroad, while performances of his music had to be authorized by the imperial censor. For his

opera Opera is a form of theatre in which music is a fundamental component and dramatic roles are taken by singers. Such a "work" (the literal translation of the Italian word "opera") is typically a collaboration between a composer and a libre ...

libretti A libretto (Italian for "booklet") is the text used in, or intended for, an extended musical work such as an opera, operetta, masque, oratorio, cantata or Musical theatre, musical. The term ''libretto'' is also sometimes used to refer to the t ...

Lysenko insisted on using only Ukrainian. He was so intent on promoting and elevating the Ukrainian culture that he didn't allow his opera ''

'' to be translated – he maintained that it was too ambitious to be staged in Ukrainian opera houses.

Tchaikovsky Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky , group=n ( ; 7 May 1840 – 6 November 1893) was a Russian composer of the Romantic period. He was the first Russian composer whose music would make a lasting impression internationally. He wrote some of the most pop ...

was impressed by the opera and wanted to stage the work in

Moscow Moscow ( , US chiefly ; rus, links=no, Москва, r=Moskva, p=mɐskˈva, a=Москва.ogg) is the capital and largest city of Russia. The city stands on the Moskva River in Central Russia, with a population estimated at 13.0 million ...

. Lysenko's insistence on it being performed in Ukrainian, not Russian, prevented the performance from taking place in Moscow.

Later career

In his later years, Lysenko raised funds to open a Ukrainian School of Music, known as the Lysenko music school. Lysenko's daughter Mariana followed in her father's footsteps as a pianist, and his son Ostap also taught music in Kyiv.

Music

A composer, pianist, conductor and ethnomusicologist, Lysenko was the central figure of Ukrainian music in his time. He was a prolific composer, writing many piano pieces, over a hundred art songs, operas, as well as orchestral, chamber and choral music.

Operas

Lysenko wrote a number of operatic works, including the classical Ukrainian opera ''

Natalka Poltavka ''Natalka Poltavka'' ( uk, Наталка Полтавка, ) is a Ukrainian play written by Ivan Kotlyarevsky. The Opera in 2 acts, ''Natalka Poltavka'', was the last scheduled performance by The Kyiv Opera Company at the National Opera House o ...

'', '' Utoplena'' (''The Drowned Maiden'', after

Gogol Nikolai Vasilyevich Gogol; uk, link=no, Мико́ла Васи́льович Го́голь, translit=Mykola Vasyliovych Hohol; (russian: Яновский; uk, Яновський, translit=Yanovskyi) ( – ) was a Russian novelist, ...

's '' May Night'') and ''

'', ''

Nocturne A nocturne is a musical composition that is inspired by, or evocative of, the night. History The term ''nocturne'' (from French '' nocturne'' 'of the night') was first applied to musical pieces in the 18th century, when it indicated an ensemb ...

'', and two operas for children—''

Koza-dereza ''Koza-dereza'' (Ukrainian: Коза-дереза) is an opera for children in one act by the Ukrainian composer Mykola Lysenko , native_name_lang = uk , birth_name = Mykola Vitaliyovych Lysenko , birth_date = 22 March 1842 , bi ...

'' and ''

Mr. Kotsky ''Mr. Kotsky'' ( ua, Пан Коцький) is an 1891 children's opera, based on the traditional Ukrainian fairy tale. The Ukrainian fairy tale is also called "The Story of Mr Kotsky", Sir Cat-o-Puss, Pan Kotsky, or Sir Puss O'Cat. The 1891 ...

''.

Art songs

Of his Ukrainian colleagues, Lysenko was the composer most committed to art songs ( uk, lirychni pisni, italic=yes). His works in this genre number 133, and "relate a wonderfully descriptive and passionate story of 19th- and early 20th-century European life". These songs are usually through-composed and attentive to the details of the text. His approach blends characteristics from traditional Ukrainian music and Western classical music. From the former are the frequent use of

ornamentation An ornament is something used for decoration. Ornament may also refer to: Decoration *Ornament (art), any purely decorative element in architecture and the decorative arts * Biological ornament, a characteristic of animals that appear to serve o ...

, unusual

meter The metre ( British spelling) or meter ( American spelling; see spelling differences) (from the French unit , from the Greek noun , "measure"), symbol m, is the primary unit of length in the International System of Units (SI), though its pr ...

s, and folk melody-like affects, while from classical music there is a

Romantic Romantic may refer to: Genres and eras * The Romantic era, an artistic, literary, musical and intellectual movement of the 18th and 19th centuries ** Romantic music, of that era ** Romantic poetry, of that era ** Romanticism in science, of that e ...

use of intense

chromaticism Chromaticism is a compositional technique interspersing the primary diatonic pitches and chords with other pitches of the chromatic scale. In simple terms, within each octave, diatonic music uses only seven different notes, rather than the ...

and rapid shifts between

tonal center In music, the tonic is the first scale degree () of the diatonic scale (the first note of a scale) and the tonal center or final resolution tone that is commonly used in the final cadence in tonal (musical key-based) classical music, popul ...

s, typical of

20th-century classical music 20th-century classical music describes art music that was written nominally from 1901 to 2000, inclusive. Musical style diverged during the 20th century as it never had previously. So this century was without a dominant style. Modernism, impressio ...

. His songs cover a wide variety of topics, described by the musicologist Dagmara Turchyn as an "astoundingly wide ange��passionate dramatic monologues and meditative elegies, profound philosophical statements and colourful folk scenes, lyrical serenades and ecstatic love songs, a melancholy waltz and a heroic duma, an extensive romantic ballad and a tone poem". Lysenko set music to many poets, particularly the Ukrainian

modernist Modernism is both a philosophy, philosophical and arts movement that arose from broad transformations in Western world, Western society during the late 19th and early 20th centuries. The movement reflected a desire for the creation of new fo ...

s, which he found the best way to express his patriotic and political beliefs. These included Ivan Franko, Yevhen Hrebinka, Oleksandr Oles, , Shchegolev, Staryts′ky and

Lesya Ukrainka Lesya Ukrainka ( uk, Леся Українка ; born Larysa Petrivna Kosach, uk, Лариса Петрівна Косач; – ) was one of Ukrainian literature's foremost writers, best known for her poems and plays. She was also an active ...

, but also others such as

Heinrich Heine Christian Johann Heinrich Heine (; born Harry Heine; 13 December 1797 – 17 February 1856) was a German poet, writer and literary critic. He is best known outside Germany for his early lyric poetry, which was set to music in the form of '' Lie ...

Adam Mickiewicz Adam Bernard Mickiewicz (; 24 December 179826 November 1855) was a Polish poet, dramatist, essayist, publicist, translator and political activist. He is regarded as national poet in Poland, Lithuania and Belarus. A principal figure in Polish ...

and

Semyon Nadson Semyon Yakovlevich Nadson (russian: Семён Яковлевич Надсон; 14 December 1862 – 19 January 1887) was a Russian poet and essayist. He is noted for being the first Jewish poet to achieve national fame in Russia. Biography Nad ...

. He was particularly devoted to Taras Shevchenko, and set 82 texts from the poet's '' Kobzar'' collection. In Ukraine, comparisons are often drawn between Lysenko and Shevchenko, both of whom form what many Ukrainians consider the essence of their culture and identity.

Other vocal music

Aside from art songs, Lysenko's vocal work includes three cantatas for choir and orchestra, all to

's texts: ''Raduisia nyvo nepolytaia'' (Rejoice, Unwatered Field), ''Biut’ porohy'' (The Rapids Roar), ' (To the Eternal Memory of Kotliarevsky). He also arranged approximately 500 folk songs for voice and piano, choir and piano, or choir a cappella. He wrote two works for anniversaries of Shevchenko's death, a Funeral March (1888) on words by Ukrainka for the 27th, and a Cantata (1911) for the 50th. His 1885 choral setting of a patriotic poem by Oleksandr Konysky, originally intended for a children's choir, became known internationally as " Prayer for Ukraine", a spiritual hymn for the country.

Piano music

Lysenko's larger works for piano include the ''Ukrainian Suite in Form of Ancient Dances'', two rhapsodies (the second, ''Dumka-shumka'' is one of his most-known works), ''Heroic scherzo'' and Sonata in A minor. He also wrote dozens of smaller works such as nocturnes, polonaises, songs without words, and program pieces. Some of his piano works show the influence of

Frédéric Chopin Frédéric François Chopin (born Fryderyk Franciszek Chopin; 1 March 181017 October 1849) was a Polish composer and virtuoso pianist of the Romantic period, who wrote primarily for solo piano. He has maintained worldwide renown as a leadin ...

's style.

Chamber music

Lysenko's chamber music includes a string quartet, a trio for two violins and viola, and a number of works for violin and piano.

Ethnomusicological work

Overview

Lysenko made the first musical-ethnographic studies of the blind kobzar Ostap Veresai which he published in 1873 and 1874; they are still exemplary. Lysenko continued to research and transcribe the repertoire of other kobzars from other regions such as Opanas Slastion from

Poltava Poltava (, ; uk, Полтава ) is a city located on the Vorskla River in central Ukraine. It is the capital city of the Poltava Oblast (province) and of the surrounding Poltava Raion (district) of the oblast. Poltava is administrative ...

and Pavlo Bratytsia from

Chernihiv Chernihiv ( uk, Черні́гів, , russian: Черни́гов, ; pl, Czernihów, ; la, Czernihovia), is a city and municipality in northern Ukraine, which serves as the administrative center of Chernihiv Oblast and Chernihiv Raion within ...

. He also made a thorough study of other Ukrainian folk instruments such as the torban. His collection of essays about Ukrainian folk instruments makes him the founder of Ukrainian

organology Organology (from Ancient Greek () 'instrument' and (), 'the study of') is the science of musical instruments and their classifications. It embraces study of instruments' history, instruments used in different cultures, technical aspects of how ...

and one of the first organologists in the Russian Empire.

Writings

Source: * * * * *

Legacy and influence

The influence of his music and nationalistic style was immense for subsequent Ukrainian composers. Composers such as Stanyslav Lyudkevych, Alexander Koshetz, Kyrylo Stetsenko, Yakiv Stepovy, and mostly importantly, Mykola Leontovych, have acknowledged his influence. Despite his high renown in Ukraine, Lysenko is not particularly well known outside of the country. From 1950 to 1959, Lysenko's complete works were published in Kyiv in 22 volumes. A group of Ukrainian composers and musicians, including , Ariadna Lysenko (the composer's granddaughter), Yevhen Rzhanov, Andriy Shtoharenko, Myroslav Skoryk and Yevhen Stankovych founded the Mykola Lysenko International Music Competition in 1962 in honor of Lysenko. Lysenko's home in Kyiv which he stay from 1894 to 1912 was converted into the

Mykola Lysenko House-Museum The Mykola Lysenko House-Museum () is one of the museums of outstanding figures of Ukrainian culture in Kyiv. It is located in the house of the teacher Mykola Gvozdik, where the Ukrainian composer Mykola Lysenko rented the 2nd floor from August 18 ...

in 1987, one the city's many museums for important cultural figures.

References

Notes

Citations

Sources

* * * * * * * * (Old) Ukrainian Art Song Project Website * *

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Lysenko, Mykola 1842 births 1912 deaths People from Poltava Oblast People from Kremenchugsky Uyezd 19th-century classical composers 19th-century classical pianists 19th-century male musicians 19th-century musicians from the Russian Empire 20th-century classical composers 20th-century classical pianists 20th-century Russian male musicians 20th-century Russian musicians 20th-century Ukrainian musicians Burials at Baikove Cemetery Hromada (society) members Kyiv National I. K. Karpenko-Kary Theatre, Cinema and Television University people Lviv Conservatory Male classical composers Male classical pianists Male opera composers National University of Kharkiv alumni Romantic composers Ukrainian classical composers Ukrainian classical pianists Ukrainian expatriates in Germany Ukrainian music educators University of Music and Theatre Leipzig alumni Ukrainian opera composers