#ClassicsaDay #UkrainianClassics Week 1
For several years, the Classics a Day team has made Soviet composers the theme for May. This, of course, was inspired by May Day. For many, though, the terms “Soviet” and “Russian” have become conflated. Many composers active in the Soviet Era were actually from Armenia, Azerbaijan, Estonia, Latvia — and Ukraine. This year the team chose to make Ukrainian classical music the theme for May.
The challenge is to post music from Ukrainian composers. Some were subjects of Imperial Russia. Others were citizens of the USSR. And some live in the independent nation of Ukraine.
In my research, I found two common threads running through the history of Ukrainian classical music. The first is that Ukrainian composers were proud of their heritage and expressed it through music. The second is that the Russian rulers, be they Czars or Commissars, continually sought to obliterate Ukrainian culture.
We celebrate what survives with this month’s theme. Here are my posts for the first week of #UkrainianClassics
5/2/22 Borys Lyatoshynsky (1895–1968) Symphony No. 3 “Peace Shall Defeat War”
The work was premiered by the Kyiv Philharmonic in 1951. Soviet authorities objected to the symphony’s message. Lyatoshynsky had to rewrite the work and remove the subtitle.
5/3/22 Mykola Roslavets (1881–1944) – Piano Sonata No. 1
Sometimes called the “Ukrainian Schoenberg,” this composer’s music was suppressed by Soviet authorities from the 1930s through the end of his life.
5/4/22 Maksym Berezovsky (1745–1777) – Symphony in C major
Berezovsky is credited as the first Ukrainian composer to write an opera, a violin sonata, and a symphony. Most of his music is lost, but this c.1770 symphony was rediscovered in 2002.
5/5/22 Mykhaylo Verbytsky (1815–1870) – Symphony No. 7 in A major
Verbytsky was a Greek Catholic priest, and full-time composer. He wrote the music for the Ukrainian national anthem. This is the seventh of his nine symphonies, composed in 1865.
5/6/22 Mykola Leontovych (1877–1921) – Shchedryk, shchedryk
Leontovych wrote this composition, based on a traditional Ukrainian folk chant. The English version, “Carol of the Bells,” is a Christmas staple, though Leontovych is seldom credited as the composer.
