Boris Lyatoshynsky
Encyclopedia
Boris Nikolayevich Lyatoshinsky or Lyatoshynsky was a Soviet
Ukrainian
composer
, conductor
, teacher
. A leading member of the new generation of twentieth-century Ukrainian composers, he was awarded a number of accolades, including the honorary title of People's Artist of the Ukrainian SSR and two Stalin State Prizes.
Lyatoshinsky was born in Zhytomyr
(also the birthplace of Sviatoslav Richter
), in the Russian Empire
(now Ukraine
). His father, Mykola Leontiyovych Lyatoshynsky, was a history teacher and activist in historical studies. He was also the director of various gymnasiums in Zhytomyr, Nemyriv
, and Zlatopol
. Lyatoshynsky's mother played the piano and sang.
Lyatoshinsky started playing piano and violin
at 14, he wrote a mazurka
, waltz
, and quartet
for piano. He also attended the Zhytomyr Gymnasium, from where he graduated in 1913. After graduating, he attended Kiev University
and later the newly-established Kiev Conservatory
where he studied composition with Reinhold Gliere
in 1914. Lyatoshynsky graduated from Kiev University in 1918 and from the Kiev Conservatory in 1919. During this time, he composed his String Quartet
No.1, op.1, and Symphony
No.1, op.2.
In 1920, Lyatoshinsky began teaching music theory at the Kiev Conservatory. From 1922, he taught composition
. From 1922 to 1925 he was director of the Association of Modern Music in the name of Mykola Leontovych
.
From 1935 to 1938 and from 1941 to 1944 he taught concurrently at the Moscow Conservatory.
He wrote a variety of works, including five symphonies, symphonic poems, and several shorter orchestral and vocal works, two operas, chamber music, and a number of works for solo piano. His earliest compositions were greatly influenced by the expressionism of Scriabin and Rachmaninov (Symphony No.1). His musical style later developed toward surrealism
(Schoenberg, Shostakovich) which caused significant problems with Soviet art critics of the time, and as a result Lyatoshynsky was accused (together with Prokofiev and Shostakovich) of formalism and creation of degenerative art. Many of his compositions were rarely or never performed during his lifetime. The 1993, a recording of his symphonies by the American conductor Theodore Kuchar
and the Ukrainian State Symphony Orchestra (on the NAxos/Marco Polo label) brought his music to worldwide audiences.]]
Soviet Union
The Soviet Union , officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics , was a constitutionally socialist state that existed in Eurasia between 1922 and 1991....
Ukrainian
Ukraine
Ukraine is a country in Eastern Europe. It has an area of 603,628 km², making it the second largest contiguous country on the European continent, after Russia...
composer
Composer
A composer is a person who creates music, either by musical notation or oral tradition, for interpretation and performance, or through direct manipulation of sonic material through electronic media...
, conductor
Conducting
Conducting is the art of directing a musical performance by way of visible gestures. The primary duties of the conductor are to unify performers, set the tempo, execute clear preparations and beats, and to listen critically and shape the sound of the ensemble...
, teacher
Teacher
A teacher or schoolteacher is a person who provides education for pupils and students . The role of teacher is often formal and ongoing, carried out at a school or other place of formal education. In many countries, a person who wishes to become a teacher must first obtain specified professional...
. A leading member of the new generation of twentieth-century Ukrainian composers, he was awarded a number of accolades, including the honorary title of People's Artist of the Ukrainian SSR and two Stalin State Prizes.
Biography
Zhytomyr
Zhytomyr is a city in the North of the western half of Ukraine. It is the administrative center of the Zhytomyr Oblast , as well as the administrative center of the surrounding Zhytomyr Raion...
(also the birthplace of Sviatoslav Richter
Sviatoslav Richter
Sviatoslav Teofilovich Richter was a Soviet pianist well known for the depth of his interpretations, virtuoso technique, and vast repertoire. He is widely considered one of the greatest pianists of the 20th century.-Childhood:...
), in the Russian Empire
Russian Empire
The Russian Empire was a state that existed from 1721 until the Russian Revolution of 1917. It was the successor to the Tsardom of Russia and the predecessor of the Soviet Union...
(now Ukraine
Ukraine
Ukraine is a country in Eastern Europe. It has an area of 603,628 km², making it the second largest contiguous country on the European continent, after Russia...
). His father, Mykola Leontiyovych Lyatoshynsky, was a history teacher and activist in historical studies. He was also the director of various gymnasiums in Zhytomyr, Nemyriv
Nemyriv
Nemyriv is a historic city in the Vinnytsia Oblast of western Ukraine. It is the administrative center of the Nemyriv Raion . Nemyriv is one of the eldest cities in Vinnytska oblast, Ukraine...
, and Zlatopol
Zlatopol
Zlatopol is a small city in Ukraine, located about 80 km northwest to Kirovohrad, near Kiev.- History :Before the Holocaust, Zlatopol was a prosperous very rich Jewish Shtetl. There was also a gymnasium for rich people in Zlatopol...
. Lyatoshynsky's mother played the piano and sang.
Lyatoshinsky started playing piano and violin
Violin
The violin is a string instrument, usually with four strings tuned in perfect fifths. It is the smallest, highest-pitched member of the violin family of string instruments, which includes the viola and cello....
at 14, he wrote a mazurka
Mazurka
The mazurka is a Polish folk dance in triple meter, usually at a lively tempo, and with accent on the third or second beat.-History:The folk origins of the mazurek are two other Polish musical forms—the slow machine...
, waltz
Waltz
The waltz is a ballroom and folk dance in time, performed primarily in closed position.- History :There are several references to a sliding or gliding dance,- a waltz, from the 16th century including the representations of the printer H.S. Beheim...
, and quartet
Quartet
In music, a quartet is a method of instrumentation , used to perform a musical composition, and consisting of four parts.-Western art music:...
for piano. He also attended the Zhytomyr Gymnasium, from where he graduated in 1913. After graduating, he attended Kiev University
Kiev University
Taras Shevchenko University or officially the Taras Shevchenko National University of Kyiv , colloquially known in Ukrainian as KNU is located in Kiev, the capital of Ukraine. It is the third oldest university in Ukraine after the University of Lviv and Kharkiv University. Currently, its structure...
and later the newly-established Kiev Conservatory
Kiev Conservatory
The Tchaikovsky National Academy of Music is a Ukrainian state institution of higher music education. Its courses include postgraduate education.-History:...
where he studied composition with Reinhold Gliere
Reinhold Glière
Reinhold Moritzevich Glière was a Russian and Soviet composer of German–Polish descent.- Biography :Glière was born in Kiev, Ukraine...
in 1914. Lyatoshynsky graduated from Kiev University in 1918 and from the Kiev Conservatory in 1919. During this time, he composed his String Quartet
String quartet
A string quartet is a musical ensemble of four string players – usually two violin players, a violist and a cellist – or a piece written to be performed by such a group...
No.1, op.1, and Symphony
Symphony
A symphony is an extended musical composition in Western classical music, scored almost always for orchestra. A symphony usually contains at least one movement or episode composed according to the sonata principle...
No.1, op.2.
In 1920, Lyatoshinsky began teaching music theory at the Kiev Conservatory. From 1922, he taught composition
Musical composition
Musical composition can refer to an original piece of music, the structure of a musical piece, or the process of creating a new piece of music. People who practice composition are called composers.- Musical compositions :...
. From 1922 to 1925 he was director of the Association of Modern Music in the name of Mykola Leontovych
Mykola Leontovych
Mykola Dmytrovych Leontovych was a Ukrainian composer, choral conductor, priest, and teacher of international renown. His music was inspired by Mykola Lysenko and the Ukrainian nationalist music school, along with Kyrylo Stetsenko, Alexander Koshetz, and Yakiv Stepovy...
.
From 1935 to 1938 and from 1941 to 1944 he taught concurrently at the Moscow Conservatory.
He wrote a variety of works, including five symphonies, symphonic poems, and several shorter orchestral and vocal works, two operas, chamber music, and a number of works for solo piano. His earliest compositions were greatly influenced by the expressionism of Scriabin and Rachmaninov (Symphony No.1). His musical style later developed toward surrealism
Surrealism
Surrealism is a cultural movement that began in the early 1920s, and is best known for the visual artworks and writings of the group members....
(Schoenberg, Shostakovich) which caused significant problems with Soviet art critics of the time, and as a result Lyatoshynsky was accused (together with Prokofiev and Shostakovich) of formalism and creation of degenerative art. Many of his compositions were rarely or never performed during his lifetime. The 1993, a recording of his symphonies by the American conductor Theodore Kuchar
Theodore Kuchar
Theodore Kuchar is a Ukrainian American conductor of classical music and a violist.-Biography:Kuchar was born in 1960 in New York City. He started to learn to play the violin at ten years of age, later switching to viola...
and the Ukrainian State Symphony Orchestra (on the NAxos/Marco Polo label) brought his music to worldwide audiences.]]
Honours and awards
- Stalin Prizes:
- second class (1946) - Quintet for Ukrainian
- first class (1952) - for the music for the film "Taras Shevchenko" (1951)
- Shevchenko National PrizeShevchenko National PrizeShevchenko National Prize , the highest award given for works of art and literature in Ukraine. It is named after the Spiritual leader of Ukrainian national revival Taras Shevchenko.-History:...
(1971) (posthumous) - for the opera "The Golden Hoop" (1930) - People's Artist of the Ukrainian SSR (1968)
- Honoured Artist of the USSR (1945)
- Order of LeninOrder of LeninThe Order of Lenin , named after the leader of the Russian October Revolution, was the highest decoration bestowed by the Soviet Union...
- Shevchenko National Prize
Stage
- The Golden Ring, opera in 4 acts opus 23 (1929) (revised in 1970)
- "Shchors", opera about Nikolay ShchorsNikolay ShchorsNikolay Aleksandrovich Shchors was a Red Army commander, member of the Russian Communist Party, renowned for his personal courage during the Russian Civil War and sometimes being called the Ukrainian Chapayev. In 1918-1919 he fought against the new established Ukrainian government in Kyiv...
in 5 acts after I. Kocherha and M.Rylsky opus 29 (1937) - The Commander, opera (1970)
Orchestral
- 5 symphonies
- Symphony No. 1 A major opus 2 (1918–1919)
- Symphony No. 2 B minor opus 26 (1935–1936) Revised in 1940.
- Symphony No. 3 B minor opus 50 "To the 25th Anniversary of the October revolution" (1951)
- Symphony No. 4 B minor opus 63 (1963)
- Symphony No. 5 C major "Slavonic" opus 67 (1965–1966)
- Fantastic March opus 3 (1920)
- Overture on four Ukrainian Folk themes opus 20 (1927)
- Suite from the Opera "The Golden Tire" opus 23 (1928)
- Lyric Poem (1947)
- Song of the reunification of Russia opus 49 (1949–1950)
- Waltz (1951)
- Suite from the Film music "Taras Shevchenko" opus 51 (1952)
- Slavonic Concerto for piano and orchestra opus 54 (1953)
- Suite from the Play "Romeo and Juliet" opus 56 (1955)
- "On the Banks of Vistula", symphonic poem opus 59 (1958)
- Orchestration of String Quartet No. 2 A major opus 4 (No. 2 Intermezzo) for orchestra (1960)
- Polish Suite opus 60 (1961)
- Slavonic Overture opus 61 (1961)
- Lyric Poem "To the Memory of Gliere" opus 66 (1964)
- Slavonic Suite opus 68 (1966)
- Festive Overture opus 70 (1967)
- "Grazyna", ballade after A. Mickiewicz opus 58 (1955)
Vocal/Choral Orchestral
- Festive Cantata "To the 60th Anniversary of Stalin" after Rilskov for mixed chorus and orchestra (1938)
- "Inheritance", cantata after Shevtshenko (1939)
Chamber/Instrumental
- 5 string quartets
- String Quartet No. 1 D minor opus 1 (1915)
- String Quartet No. 2 A major opus 4 (1922)
- String Quartet No. 3 opus 21 (1928)
- String Quartet No. 4 opus 43 (1943)
- String Quartet No. 5 (1944–1951)
- Piano Trio No. 1 opus 7 (1922) (revised in 1925)
- Sonata for violin and piano opus 19 (1926)
- Three Pieces after Folksong-Themes for violin and piano opus 25 (1932)
- Piano Trio No. 2 opus 41 (1942)
- Piano Quintet "Ukrainian Quintet" opus 42 (1942)
- Suite on Ukrainian Folksong-Themes for string quartet opus 45 (1944)
- Suite for wind quartet opus 46 (1944)
- Two Mazurkas on Polonian Themes for cello and piano (1953)
- Nocturne and Scherzino for viola and piano (1963)
Piano
- Elegy-Prelude (1920)
- Piano Sonata No. 1 opus 13 (1924)
- Seven Pieces "Reflections" opus 16 (1925)
- Piano Sonata No. 2 "Sonata Ballade" opus 18 (1925)
- Ballad opus 22 (1928–1929)
- Ballad opus 24 (1929)
- Suite (1941)
- Three Preludes opus 38 (1942)
- Two Preludes opus 38b (1942)
- Shevchenko-Suite (1942) Not finished.
- Five Preludes opus 44 (1943)
- Concerto Etude-Rondo (1962–1965)
- Concert-Etude (1962–1967)
Vocal
- "Moonshadow", song after Verlaine, I.Severyanin, Balmont and Wilde opus 9 (1923)
- Two Poems after Shelley opus 10 (1923)
- Two Songs after Maeterlinck and Balmont opus 12 (1923)
- Four Poems after Shelley opus 14 (1924)
- Poems for baritone and piano opus 15 (1924)
Choral
- The Sun Rises at the Horizon, song after Shevtshenko for chorus
- Water, Flow into the Blue Lake!, song after Shevtshenko for chorus
- Seasons after Pushkin for chorus
- Po negy kradetsya luna after Pushkin for chorus
- Kto, volny, vas ostanovil after Pushkin for chorus
Incidental and Film music
- Music to the Play "Optimistic Tragedy" (1932)
- Music to the Film "Taras Shevtshenko" (1950)
- Music to the Play "Romeo and Julia" (1954)
- Music to the Film "The Hooked Pig's Snout" (1956)
- Music to the Film "Ivan Franko" (1956)
Band
- March No. 1 for wind orchestra (1931)
- March No. 2 for wind orchestra (1932)
- March No. 3 for wind orchestra (1936)
Transcriptions
- Orchestration of Lysenko's opera Taras BulbaTaras Bulba (opera)Taras Bulba is an opera in four acts by the Ukrainian composer Mykola Lysenko. The libretto was written by Mykhailo Starytsky after the novel Taras Bulba by Nikolai Gogol. The opera, which was unrevised at the time of the composer's death in 1912, was first performed in 1924...
(Co-operation with L. Revutsky) - Orchestration of Gliere's Violin Concerto (Co-operation with K. G. Mostras)