FOCUS ON PHILATELY: Composers on stamps of Ukraine (04/01/01)

FOCUS ON PHILATELY

by Andrij Solczanyk

Composers on stamps of Ukraine

Regular readers of The Ukrainian Weekly and the "Sounds and Views" articles of Roman Sawycky are well aware of Ukraine's rich musical heritage. The composers who have appeared on stamps of Ukraine to date, however, do not give a true picture of the rich history of music in Ukraine. After almost a decade of stamp production, only a few composers have appeared on Ukrainian philatelic issues.

Collectors are still awaiting stamps to honor such giants of Ukrainian music as Maksym Berezovsky (1745-1777), Dmytro Bortniansky (1751-1825), Artem Vedel (1767-1808), and others of the 19th and 20th centuries.

Of the five composers who have been honored on stamps, the first chronologically is Marusia Churai (1625-1650). This legendary amateur composer and singer is pictured on a stamp of February 2000 (Figure 1). A native of Poltava, this short-lived talent is regarded as the author and subject of the well-known Ukrainian folk song "Oi Ne Khody Hrytsiu Tai na Vechornytsi" (Hryts, Don't Go to the Village Dances).

The legend about Marusia Churai was formed under the influence of 19th century literary works such as the novel "Marusia, Malorosiiskaia Sapfo" (Marusia, the Littlerussian Sapho) by C. Shaknovsky (1839). Many writers used the theme of "Hryts" in their works: M. Starytsky's play "Oi Ne Khody, Hrytsiu" (1892), V. Samiilenko's drama Churaivna (1894), O. Kobylianska's novel "V Nediliu Rano Zillia Kopala" (She Gathered Herbs on Sunday Morning 1909), I. Mykytenko's drama Marusia Churai (1935), L. Kostenko's novel in verse Marusia Churai (1979), and others.

Franz Liszt composed "Ballade d'Ukraine," a piano piece on the theme of "Hryts." The song "Oi Ne Khody Hrytsiu" was translated into Polish (1820), Czech (1822), German (1827), French (1830), English (1848) and other languages.

Two other songs are attributed to Marusia Churai: "Kotylysia Vozy z Hory" (The Wagons Were Rolling Downhill) and "Za Svit Staly Kozachenky" (The Kozaks Were Ready to March at Dawn).

Hryhorii Skovoroda (1722-1794), the well-known philosopher, writer, and educator was a musician as well. He is seen on a Ukrainian stamp of December 1997 (Figure 2).

Skovoroda was born in the village of Chornukhy, now in the Poltava Oblast. He studied at the Kyiv Academy (1733-1742) where he received a liberal education, which included music. During 1742-1744, Skovoroda sang at the St. Petersburg court choir. He visited Hungary, Austria, Slovakia, Poland, and Italy during the years 1745 to 1750, and later taught at colleges in Pereiaslav (1753) and Kharkiv (1759-1760). For the last 25 years of his life (1769-1794), he travelled across Ukraine preaching his philosophical views. He died in the village of Pan-Ivanivka, now Skovorodynivka, Zolochiv raion of the Poltava Oblast.

Skovoroda played the violin, flute, bandura and psaltery. He composed the musical works "Khrystos Voskres" (Christ is Risen), song no. 4 "Anhel Znyzhaitesia" (Angels Descend), "Pastyri Myli" (Dear Shepherds), song no. 18 "Oi Ty Ptychko Zheltoboka" (The Yellow-Sided Bird), "Akh, Ushly Moyi Lita" (My Years Have Passed By), "Pro Pravdu i Kryvdu" (About Truth and Injustice), "Akh Ty Svite Lestnyi" (Oh, Insidious World) and others.

His song No. 10 "Vsiakomu Horodu Nrav i Prava" (Every Town has its Customs and Rights) was adapted by Ivan Kotliarevsky for his play "Natalka Poltavka" (Natalka from Poltava).

Mykola Lysenko (1842-1912), the father of the Ukrainian national school of music, is pictured on a stamp of March 1992, at the bottom of which appear the first notes of the overture to his opera "Taras Bulba" (Figure 3).

Lysenko was born in the village of Hrynky, now in the Hlobyne raion of the Poltava Oblast. He studied at private schools in Kyiv (1852-1855) and Kharkiv (1855-1859), and graduated from Kharkiv University in 1865. From 1867 to 1869 Lysenko studied at the Leipzig Conservatory in Germany. After his return to Kyiv, he worked as a professional musician and composer. In 1904 he founded the Music and Drama School in Kyiv.

Lysenko's musical oeuvre is tremendous. Instrumental works include a symphony (1869) and a Kozak song fantasy (1872); 10 works for chamber music; 55 works for piano; 20 opera, operetta, or musical scores to dramatic works; over 500 arrangements of Ukrainian folk songs; over 80 pieces of music to poetry by Shevchenko; and over 75 pieces of music to the poetry of others.

His best known and most popular works are the operas "Taras Bulba" (1880-1890) and "Natalka Poltavka" (1889) and musical settings to Shevchenko's works. These include the solos: "Oi Dnipre, Mii Dnipre (Oh Dnipro, My Dnipro), "Hetmany, Hetmany" (Hetmans, oh hetmans), "Reve ta Stohne Dnipr Shyrokyi" (The Wide Dnipro Roars and Moans); the cantatas: "Biut Porohy" (Rapids are Raging), "Raduisia Nyvo Nepolytaia" (Rejoice the Arid Land), "Na Vichnu Pamiat Kotliarevskomu" (To the Eternal Memory of Kotliarevsky); and for solo and choir, "Zapovit" (Testament).

His most famous compositions to the poetry of other writers are: "Bezmezhneie Pole" (Boundless Field, words by Ivan Franko), "Aistry" (Asters, words by O. Oles), "Tykhesenkyi Vechir" (Quiet Evening, words by V. Samiilenko), "Vichnyi Revolutsioner" (The Eternal Revolutionary, words by I. Franko) and "Bozhe Velykyi Yedynyi" (Great and Singular God, words by O. Konysky).

Composer Victor Kosenko (1896-1938) is depicted on a stamp of December 1996, below a treble clef (Figure 4). Born in St. Petersburg, he grew up in Warsaw (1898-1914), where he studied music with O. Michalowski. He then attended the St. Petersburg Conservatory (1915-1918). Between 1919 and 1928 he taught at the Zhytomyr Music School. From 1929 to the end of his life, Kosenko lived and worked in Kyiv. Here he taught at the Lysenko Music and Drama Institute (1929-1934) and at the Kyiv Conservatory (1934-1938).

His works include "Heroichna Uvertiura" (Heroic Overture, 1932), "Moldavska Poema" (Moldavian Poem, 1937), a piano concerto (1937), piano trios, sonatas, introduction and prologue to I. Kocherha's comedy "Feia Hirkoho Myhdalu" (Fairy of the Bitter Almond), mazurkas, nocturnes, etc.

Kosenko composed vocal works to poetry such as "Komsomolska Pisnia" (Komsomol Song, words by O. Zhurlyva), "Druzhba" (Friendship, words by V. Zorovyi), "Na Maidani Kolo Tserkvy" (On the Square by the Church, words by P. Tychyna, 1927) and "Mobilizuiutsia Topoli" (Poplars Mobilize).

Kosenko also composed music to the film "Ostannii Port" (The Last Port, 1934). He began work on the opera "Maryna" (after Shevehenko), but did not complete it.

We end our brief survey of Ukrainian composers with Volodymyr Ivasiuk (1949-1979), who appeared on a stamp in March of 1999 (Figure 5). Born in Kitsman, Chernivtsi oblast, Ivasiuk graduated from the Lviv Medical Institute (1973) and then studied at the Lviv Conservatory (1973-1979). He was found murdered outside of Lviv, undoubtedly because his Ukrainian songs, which were very popular throughout Ukraine, did not conform with the Soviet policy of Russification in all spheres of Ukrainian life, including entertainment.

Out of the roughly 60 songs he composed, some were set to his own words, such as "Vidlitaly Zhuravli" (The Cranes Flew Away,1965), "Vodohrai" (Fountain, 1969), "Dva Persteni" (Two Rings, 1973), "Kolyskova dlia Oksanochky" (Lullaby for Little Oksana), "Myla Moia" (My Darling), "Mii Kokhanyi" (My Sweetheart), "Pisnia Bude Pomizh Nas" (The Song will Stay with Us, 1971), "Chervona Ruta" (Red Rue, 1969), "Pisnia pro Tebe" (Song about You), "Ya Pidu v Daleki Hory" (I Will Go to the Remote Mountains, 1968).

His other songs were written to lines by Ukrainian poets, including: "Balada pro Dvi Skrypky" (Ballad about Two Violins, words by B. Marsiuk), "Balada pro Malvy" (Ballad about the Mallow, words by B. Hura), "Balada pro Otchyi Dim" (Ballad about My Home, words by R. Bratun), "Vidlunnia Tvoikh Krokiv" (Echoes of Your Steps, words by V. Vozniuk), "Dolyna" (Valley, words by D. Pavlenko), "Den bez Tebe" (A Day without You, words by R. Bratun), "Zaprosy Mene u Sny Svoi" (Invite Me into Your Dreams, words B. Stelmach), "Kalyna Prymorozhena" (Frostbitten Guelder-Rose, words by M. Petrenko), "Klenovyi Vohon" (Maple Glow, words by Yu. Rybchynsky), "Kolyska Vitru" (Wind Cradle, words by B. Stelmakh), "Lysh Raz Tsvite Liubov" (Love Blooms but Once, words by B. Stelmach), "Nad Morem" (At the Seashore, words by D. Pavlychko), "Nestrymna Techia" (Rushing Current Stream, words by B. Stelmach), "U Doli Svoia Vesna" (Fate Has its Own Spring, words by Yu. Rybchynsky), "Chebrets" (Thyme, words by D. Lutsenko), and "Ya Tvoie Krylo" (I am Your Wing, words by R. Kudlyk).

Likewise, his songs were very popular abroad among the Ukrainian diaspora. In the 1970s and 1980s, many records of his songs appeared on the North American market. His songs were heard in entertainment programs and people enjoyed dancing to his melodies. Every summer Saturday, echoes of his songs would fill the Soyuzivka estate in the Catskill Mountains.

The fact that only five composers have been honored on stamps in almost a decade of independence does not reflect very favorably on the postal service in Ukraine, which has produced over 300 stamps since 1992. Let us hope that this oversight will soon be corrected.

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