Vasyl' Kuzmych Shevchenko (; 1882–1964) was one of the most active Ukrainian

bandurist A bandurist () is a person who plays the Ruthenian plucked string instrument known as the bandura. Types of performers There are a number of different types of bandurist who differ in their particular choice of instrument, the specific reperto ...

s and

torban The torban (, also ''teorban'' or ''Ukrainian theorbo'') is a Ukrainian musical instrument that combines the features of the Baroque lute with those of the psaltery. The Тorban differs from the more common European bass lute known as the theo ...

ists at the turn of the 19-20th century.

Biography

Very little is known about Schevchenko. We do know that he was a high school teacher in

Moscow Moscow is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Russia by population, largest city of Russia, standing on the Moskva (river), Moskva River in Central Russia. It has a population estimated at over 13 million residents with ...

teaching singing, having also worked as a stagehand at the

Bolshoi Theater The Bolshoi Theatre ( rus, Большо́й теа́тр, r=Bol'shoy teatr, p=bɐlʲˈʂoj tʲɪˈat(ə)r, t=Grand Theater) is a historic opera house in Moscow, Russia, originally designed by architect Joseph Bové. Before the October Revoluti ...

. In 1904 he traveled to

Poltava Poltava (, ; , ) is a city located on the Vorskla, Vorskla River in Central Ukraine, Central Ukraine. It serves as the administrative center of Poltava Oblast as well as Poltava Raion within the oblast. It also hosts the administration of Po ...

province and recorded '' dumy'' (sung epic poems) from the

kobzar A ''kobzar'' ( ; ) was an itinerant Ukrainian bard who sang to his own accompaniment, played on a multistringed kobza or bandura. Tradition The professional kobzar tradition was established during the Hetmanate Era around the sixteenth cen ...

s, in particular Mykhailo Kravchenko, and performed with his bandura in

Myrhorod Myrhorod (, ) is a city in Poltava Oblast, central Ukraine. It serves as the Capital city, administrative center of Myrhorod Raion. Myrhorod also hosts the administration of Myrhorod urban hromada, one of the hromadas of Ukraine. It is locate ...

, Reshetelivka and other cities. From

Mykola Lysenko Mykola Vitaliiovych Lysenko (; 22 March 1842 – 6 November 1912) was a Ukrainian composer, pianist, conductor and ethnomusicologist of the late Romantic period. In his time he was the central figure of Ukrainian music, with an ''oeuvre'' tha ...

's letters it can be seen that at one time negotiations were taking place for Shevchenko to teach bandura at Lysenko's music school in

Kyiv Kyiv, also Kiev, is the capital and most populous List of cities in Ukraine, city of Ukraine. Located in the north-central part of the country, it straddles both sides of the Dnieper, Dnieper River. As of 1 January 2022, its population was 2, ...

, however it does not seem that they came to an understanding. In 1912 Shevchenko organized a bandura ensemble in

associated with the musical and dramatic group "Kobzar" which popularized the

bandura A bandura ( ) is a Ukrainians, Ukrainian plucked string instrument, plucked-string folk-instrument. It combines elements of the zither and lute and, up until the 1940s, was also often called a kobza. Early instruments () had 5 to 12 strings and ...

amongst the general Muscovite population. In 1914 he published a bandura handbook. It was originally planned in five parts, however the final two sections were not published. The manuscript of Shevchenko's "Bandura Primer" is currently located in the Central Museum of Musical Culture named after M. Glinka in Moscow, which also preserves his

References

* Mishalow, V. and M. - Ukrains'ki kobzari-bandurysty - Sydney, Australia, 1986 * Kyrdan, B - Omelchenko, A - Narodni spivtsi-muzykanty na Ukraini - Kiev, 1980 {{DEFAULTSORT:Shevchenko, Vasyl 1882 births 1964 deaths Kobzarstvo Bandurists Torbanists 20th-century Ukrainian musicians Musicians from the Russian Empire