Dictionary of Ukrainian Composers now available in U.S. (02/14/99)

Dictionary of Ukrainian Composers now available in U.S.

NEW YORK - A Dictionary of Ukrainian Composers, compiled by Dr. Ihor Sonevytsky and Natalia Palidvor Sonevytska, has become available in the U.S.

The English-language publication offers essential information on Ukrainian composers in Ukraine and in the diaspora. There are 523 entries that provide concise biographical information, a comprehensive list of the composers' major works, with a selective list of smaller works, and a bibliographic reference.

Given the complex political history of Eastern Europe, many of the composers listed in this volume have frequently appeared in other reference works under other nationalities, most often Russian. Among them are such renowned figures as Bortniansky, Iakymenko (variant spelling: Akimenko), Mandycheskyi and Khandoshkin, while still others have been entirely overlooked.

Another area of revision is the classification of works, particularly those that fall under the category of religious or sacred music, given that in Soviet sources religious works were often referred to as "concerti" or placed under the general residual category of "others."

The compilation of the volume involved the examination of various sources available in Ukraine and in the West, including major biographical and musicological studies, standard reference works, on-line databases, and materials in public libraries, archives and private collections. In the fall of 1991 questionnaires were also distributed to composers in Ukraine. The sources used are acknowledged in each entry.

A composer and musicologist, (with a Ph.D. in the latter), Dr. Sonevytsky is the author of several books on Ukrainian music, including "Artem Vedel and His Musical Legacy." He is also founder and artistic director of the Music and Art Center of Greene County in Hunter, N.Y. Mrs. Sonevytska has been head, for the past 35 years, of the reference department at the Barnard College Library in New York.

A Dictionary of Ukrainian Composers is the first such publication in English. It came out in Lviv in 1997 as a publication of the Union of Ukrainian Composers. The work was reviewed in the 1998 American Reference Books Annual published by Libraries Unlimited in Littleton, Colo.

The dictionary may be ordered from Dr. Ihor Sonevytsky, 62 E. Seventh St,; New York, NY 10003 by sending a check, payable to "UUC - I. Sonevytsky," in the amount of $25 (plus $4 for shipping and handling).

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