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October 20, 1883

One of Ukraine's most popular composers and arrangers of folk music, Yakiv Yakymenko, known primarily as Yakiv Stepovy, was born on October 20, 1883, in the village of Pisky, on the outskirts of Kharkiv. At age 12 he was recruited to sing at the St. Petersburg court choir (his older brother, Fedir, received a similar summons nine years prior) and then remained in the imperial capital to study under the Russian composer Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov until 1909.

Even before he returned to Kyiv, Stepovy became a leading figure on the Ukrainian musical scene, and is credited with helping to establish a "national school" of Ukrainian music. He composed a cycle of miniatures for piano (1909-1913), two suites for orchestra based on Ukrainian folk songs, and 50 folk song arrangements for choirs.

Stepovy set to music the poetry of Taras Shevchenko (including an unfinished opera to his poem "Nevolnyk" (The Captive), Ivan Franko, Pavlo Tychyna, Maksym Rylsky and Lesia Ukrainka. The works of Oleksander Oles inspired a cycle of songs titled "Pisni Nastroiu" (Songs of Mood, 1907-1909).

Stepovy also arranged works for children's choirs, including the cycle "Prolisky" (Glades) and a collection of songs set to Shevchenko's "Kobzar."

In 1917 he was given a lectureship at the Kyiv Conservatory, and two years later was appointed director of the State Vocal Ensemble. He also served as musical director for the Muzychna Drama Theater.

Tragically, Stepovy contracted typhus as the epidemic raged through Ukraine, and died in Kyiv on November 4, 1921. He was only 38. His brother, an accomplished pianist and composer, survived, emigrating to Prague in 1923 and eventually settling in Paris.

Source: "Stepovy, Yakiv," Encyclopedia of Ukraine, Vol. 5 (Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 1993).

Copyright © The Ukrainian Weekly, October 18, 1998, No. 42, Vol. LXVI

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